The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-03-07
Taxes, Direct and Indirect.

| 4MESSHS. EDITORS: Lakes, direct
and indirect, must be levied, that the
wheels of Government may not be-
come locked; but just SO long as they
are indirectly assessed, the nation never
chafes under the burden. For exam
pie: we who cultivate and export cot
ton, seldom make inquiry about the
| duty imposed upon the manufactured
article imported. If we can buy Eng
Ilsh prints as cheap us Yankee cali
GOES, we think all Well; England can
pay the cost Of transportation and
compete with Northern mnnufacto-
rleS, because her labor is chcupcr and
machinery more perfect than in Amc-
rica. Never, for moment. do tho
mass OF consumers reflect, that Eng
land shoulders II heavy tariff in .his
competition, which is. Of course, u
tax imposed indirectly upon thcSc
consumers themselves: Tor ii these
fabrics were imported free rt duty
just that much chcapcr could they be
bought from English factories, How
many thousanys-ave. ml!icns-of
tribute money have we thus paid into
the Golfers Of the Lowells Of the
North?
Again: The Southern planter. who
formerly owned his labor, seldom Mt
tached u per diem estimate to that
labor. \ certain amount of labor
was considered necessary to produce
certain effect III given time. So
many hands would cultivate so many
acres, and harvest the crop in Il
twelve month. The planters Income
arose from the constantly enhancing
value OF his slaves, as we'll rs from
the sale of his crops, and so identified
WAS this species of personal property
with his real estate, that they both
were often an inapprcciable but
heavy tax. Idle negroes and idle
lands were necessary concomitants to
q Southern plantation, and seldom
viewed as direct tax. So also Of
many other onerous, self-impose,l,
but inappreciable taxes to which the
Southern planter has always been
subjected. ''Worm fences" for in
stance, were built almost as a pas-
time. Land had to be cleared. and
mauling the rails to enclose the field
was part OF the clearing. What is
the cost of such a fence? was an idea
seldom entertained. Public roads had
to be worked, and the Commissioner
is authorized to exact of each male
laborer on the plantation twelve days
work during the year; but this exaction
was often compromised by each plant
er binding himself to keep in good re-
pair the public roads leading through
his own plantation; and this was
seldom considered a heavy tax, be
cause that job could be done on rainv
days, or when the land was too wet to
plough, or when there was ''notking
else to do on the plantation.
The new regime that has been
forced upon us will materially alter,
and doubtless amend, this unme-
thodlcal, loose system OF counting the
moneved costs of leading Southern
planters life. The daily value of the
freedman's labor Will hereafter be
recllonea, and few fences will be built
or roads worked without entering the
per diem cost upon the balance Sheet
OF profit or loss to the plantation. To
illustrate, let us calculate the cost of
enclosing Il ''new ground SAY of
sixteen acres, four acres square. This
will require five thousand rails. A
good ''hand'' Will cut and maui these
in just forty days. Such hand is
worth fifteen dollars for every twenty
six working days, including the cost
of rations and lodging. Thus one
day more than month and half
Will be consumed in the mauling, at
. cost OF exactly twenty-three dollars.
These rails are now to be hauled, and
the fence is to be built, which will
cost at least seventeen dollars addi-
tlonal. Hence the land will cost, and
always has cost, two and half dol
lars per acre to enclose it. Hereto
fore, the ownership and identity of
the labor alluded to above rendered
this such an indirect tax that it was
seldom the cause of complaint. Now
that this labor is purchased and must
be every way economical, will the
Planters OF the country long submit
to this direct, burthensome and use
less tax?
The old road law still exists, and
from this time forth will become an
onerous tax, to which our citizens
should not submit. Change, renova-
ton, improvement, are demanded in
l, "a L E IL