The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-08-05
Remarks of MIR. j. p. Nj. Epping, at the
Union Republican Convention, held In
Columbia July rs, 1867.


As there has been some difference of opinion re
garding the construction of Mr.. EPPINa's speech
on the division of lands, we append his remarks il
full-the question being on the 4th resolution, re,
ported by the Committee on the Platform, which
reads as follows
4. That as large land monopolies tend only to
make the rich richer and the poor poorer and orc
ruinous to the agricultural, commercial and social
interests of tho State, the Legislature should offer
every practicable inducement for the division and
sale of unoccuped lands among IL: poorer classes,
and rs an encouragement to immigrants to Settle
in our State.
Mr.. EppNa having proposed the following
amendment:
Resotped, That We desire no mans land or pro.
perty without adequate compensation, and Will
not favor any system OF confscation, but there
should be just as well as an equal and whole
some system Of taxation, 30 that it shall not be TO
the advantage of any one to hold in idleness and
unproducton large tracts Of uncultivated lands:
By such system, the waste and uncustivated
lands now yielding nothing to their proprietors,
actual settlers, who would make them productive,
and thus increase the wealth and prosperity OF the
State.
Said he introduced this with view
Of calling attention to the large quantity OF land
now lying idle in this State. We all know what a
vast Of land, fit for cultivation and which has
been heretofore cultivated, is now a barren waste,
and we also know that great bodies Of such lands
are in the hands Of persons who either cannot OF
will not make them productive.
We can have plenty of Industrious laborers,
plenty of men to cultivate them but nobody is
able to sell under such conditions as will enable
the freedman or the emigrant to purchase them.
No industrious and saving freedman, no newly AZ
rived emigrant can buy those lands, because of the
system of land titles prevalent throughout this
State, and the only measure that will overcome
this is change in our system of taxation. Unless
the poor man, tho man OF small means, can buy
forty or fifty acres of land now held by the large
landowner, unepcumbered and without having to
pay more lawyers fees and wasting more time than
the land is WORTH this State cannot regain its pros
perity.
The largo proprietor with all his lands may be q
poor man. His lands are too often encumbered by
mortgages, trusts, interests in remainder or other
membranes, and the poor man who buys small
section OF such persons land, may afterwards
find himself involved in an endless law suit, vast
ing all his hard earnings. He may find that after
improving and building up his place all his labor
may have been in vain, and his lands bo taken
from him for want. of a good title.
The present system Of law in this State is such
that even titles given by a Court of Equity arc,
in many cases, not valid widow has, ten years
after the death of her husband, to dispute the
title to all the lands and property sold by him.
Each child coming of age has also ten years in
which it may dispute sales made by parents, guar
dams and executors.
This is what makes titles so precarious, and we
can neither make an independent yeomanry OF our
freedmen nor have emigrants to come as settlers
in this State, unless some system is adopted. We
must see that the State get repossessed OF these
lands, by just and wholesome system of taxation,
80 that it shall not be to the advantage OF any one
to hold in idleness and unproductiveness large
tracts which others could cultivate.
By our present system Of State taxation the land
owner is too much favored; for while the improve
ments on town lot are taxed almost to their full
value, the improvements on farm or plantation
are not taxed at. all. A man who owns small
town lot and has improvements thereon valued at
$1O OOO pays at the rate Of GO cents per 100 dollars
GO dollars State taxes; but tho man who owns
10000 acres OF land; which was rated some fifty
years ago at one dollar an acre, pay only $50 taxes,
although he may have houses and improvements
thereon to tho value of $4,000. Consequently he
can afford to hold this vast quantity Of land in
idleness to the detriment of tho prosperity Of the
State.
The unjust discrimination in State taxation ex-
tends aLlo to the industry Of the inhabitants OF
the town; for while the industry Of the planter is
not taxed in tho least, the tradesman, mechanic
and professional man pays taxes on every thing he
does and earns.
NV object in offering this amendment was, as
have already said, to call attention to this abnor-
nifty and to propose o remedy. We must tax the
lands of tho State in proportion to their value for
agricultural purposes, whether cultivated or
not-divide tho samo perhaps into four or
five classes, and then put tax upon
the same, say ut from 10 to so cents per acre,
in order to make tho large landholder, who is
unable to cultivate all his lands, and cannot sell
them for reason that he cannot make valid titlo,
relinquish portion of them to the State, to salts
fy her demand for taxes, and who, having the
right Of eminent domain, may either sell them or
give them to our own laboring people, or to emf
grants, and furnish them with cheap and valid
title. Wo must abolish, also, the present barba-
rous sy- tenn Of selling mans whole estate and
driving him out of his house and homo, for fow
dollars taxes duo, by selling the same entire for
taxes, but instead, cnabo every one who from
some cause or other fails to pay his taxes, to re-
linauish portion Of the same to the State as an
equivalent.
Tho probable recognized debt Of the State
amounts to four and half millions Of dollars, re-
quiring the amount of $500 900 annual interest to
be paid. Tho State needs further the sum Of five
hundred thousand dollars annually for tho main
tenance of tho State government, for common
schools, for charitable institutions, &c.-in oil
about $3.50, 600 annually, and which must be raised
by taxation in some shape or other, and as al in-
dustrial pursuits are already overtaxed, the only
resource left is tho taxation of the lands in proper
manner as above Indicated
The area of this State contains nineteen and q
half millions of acres land Out of this only one
and quarter of million were cultivated in 1926
from that time to 1860 the quantity put under cul-
tvation was not quite doubled, but tho number OF
acres cultivated at present is hardly more than
was in 1926 in consequence OF the fearful struggle
through which we have just passed. 1t was com
puted by Mr.. MILLS that there were, besides the
quantity under cultivation in 1925, somo two and o
half millions of acres Of land capable Of being cu
tivated to advantage. This would give us about
three and three.quarter millions OF acres out o
nineteen and half millions for agricultural prr'
poses. In this, suppose, he does not include the
vast bodies of swamp, river bottom and marsh
lands, which are as rich as any lands in the world
and only noed clearing ditching, draining and
dyking to mako them eminently productive; but
this cannot be done by their present impoverished
owners. 1t can only be done by the State, and il
compact bodies, after she has obtained her SOY.
ereignty again and re. established her credit upon
solid foundation, by proper system of taxation
Thus, tby such proper system of taxation