Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1861-09-26
Gen. J. LoNGsTREET
The Direct Tax-.Increase of Officer


The act passed by the Confederate Con-
gress for raising direct tax Of fifty cents
on the 500 worth of property, makes every
provision for the collection of the tax by
Confederate officers, but at the same time
gives those States, which may choose to do
so, an opportunity to assume the collection
of the amount due by each. The act pro-
vides that if any State shall pay into the
Confederate treasury the amount of its as
sessed taxes, in specie or treasury notes, on
or before the lst of April next, a deduction
of ten per cent. on the gross amount shall
be made In order to ascertain the quota
of each State, au assessment is to be made
by assessors to be appointed by collectors IN
the various districts, on or before the lst
of November next, or cash valuation of
the property on the lst of October
We infer from indications in the South.
ern papers that all the States south of us
will take charge of the collection of their
respective quotas This course is recon-
mended by the saving in the cost of collec'
tion, and still more by getting rid of rave
nous troop of Confederate officers The
only difficulty that occurs to US to Virgin
las adopting the same policy, is that the
collectors and assessors must be appointed,
and the latter must act by the lst of No.
vember-an earlier day than that or which
the Legislature meets There is some OBJ
scurity 10 the act as to what the duties OF
the collectors will be if the State assumes
the collection. 1t is not expressly provi-
ded, as it should be that in that contingen.
CT their function shall cease. Such, no
doubt, was the desire of Congress, an a.
mendment in that particular can yet be
Incorporated otherwise, we shall present
the disgraccful spectacle of launching our
new Government with a whole batch of of.
licers, performing no duties and receiving
full pay. This would be something quite
as bad as anything to be found in the rot,
ten bureaucracy of the old Yankee con-
Germ at Washington. 1t seems necessary,
in order to get the assessment in time, that
the collectors must be appointed-for they
have the appointment of the assessors, who
have to act by the lst Of November But
for this, we might hope that President
Davis, in view of the probability of the
State taking upon itself the responsibility
of dodging the invidious and disagreeable
task of appointing collectors, and thereby
saving the new republic from the disgust
ing spectacle of a widespread scramble fol
office. @hough we do not know how it may
be done, we hope some expcdient may be
devised, by which this disagreeable task
may be avoided.
The rage for Office contributed more than
any one cause to the subversion of the
Government which Madison and Washing
ton established. The same prolific source
of decentralization transplantcd to cur sys
tenn will be attended by the same result
Enough of the old stock have come from
Washington to inoculate our system with
the seven year itch and the fourteen yea'
scuryy; and unless the wise and pure men
who have control of our Government, ar
rest the disorder at the start, we are on the
broad road to speedy destruction.-R'ch
mond Wiy.
@g The Government has given an or
der for small number of the newly inven
ted breeeh. loading cannon, to be executed
at one of the extensive iron shops at Allan
ia, Ga.