The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-05-28

School purposes. 4O-lUO
Total. ..................... u oV-IU
This tax Of sthree-fourths Of one per cent.
will produrs 81, $50, 1853, while the 'Appro-
priation bin passed at the LAST session Of the
Legislature expressly limits the total amount
70 bs assessed, and fxss it ct not exceed
ing one million OF dollars. .se.s = -
Under tho old system Of State taxation,
- e generally known, much valuable
pfopert1-Mas returned -at q nnminal rate.
No account was tsken Of the value OF I'M
provsmsnts, and some Of the most import
sat intsfssts IN thsstste escaped TAXATION
sasossshsr.s GROSS incomes from sh trades
spd projections, and the gross receipts Of
merchants were, however, heavily taxed. In
186a;fo. instsnds, the tax on alsnd was 80
cents On every 500, while the tax on gross
sales ef. warns, goods and merchandise was
&C. cents on evsry $1o0, on incomes from
smploJmsnts and professions. 81 on every
500, and on incomes from commissions SIS
on sssryi$1oo. This inequality in the rate
sftszstion, andth faet thst businsss msnof
Oh kinds. wsrs compelled .totpsy . heavy
tax on thsir gross receipts, whether their
business resulted in loss or proat, caused
the burden oftsxstion TO weigh with numb.
Ing force upon. the cities and towns, while
tho, country districts were comparatively
ffss from oppressive taxes. It WIS, there
fore, thought proper to change the whole
syitsm, and to bring every class Of prop
srty upon. the Tax bill At its true valuation.
This was proposed to be accomplished BY
the tax law Of 1sSS-one Of the most con.
fused and confusing laws ever adopted in
this Or any other State. The general policy
Of the law was, however, wise, the inten.
tion being to assess all property ct its mar
tst,yslus, and to tax nothing but acquired
properly. The merchant was to return for
taxation the balance to his credit after de-
Quoting his current liabilities. The pro-
fessional man or clerk returned only the
value Of his personal property. In every
instance the aim being to tax only what the
person taxed was worth in real and per-
sonal estate. The exemptions were but
few in number. Had the tax law been clear
and explicit, and had its- enforcement been
entrusted to intelligent men, the returns
would doubtless have been much more sat-
isfsstory than taey are. But the assessors
were, for the most part, ignorant and inex-
perienced, and 1t is matter for surprise
that anything like complete return should
have been made. One point may be noticed
in passing. Under the new constitution no
poll tax may be levied except for educa-
tional purposes, 80 that the oolored people
Of the State escape all taxation for the gen.
ersl purposes Of the State Government.
They vote and make laws, but the white
people alone supply the money to carry on
the government Of the State and redeem its
dnanolsl credit.
LII VVUoAookAu6 tno olaVuut Va IdAaol0
in the State under the new sys-
.em, it may be remarked that in 1860 our
whole taxable property was set down at |
s54S, l38,754, inclusive Of the slave prop.
srty, which may be set down at $3.50, 962, 400.
Governor Scott estimated that there should |
be not less than $500, ,OOO, 900 Of property |
As basis Of taxation. This, We said at |
The time, was an excessive estimate. The
value Of property Of all kinds had been de.
creased by the emancipation Of the slaves,
and il the whole property Of the State,
otaer than slave property, was worth less
han $500, ,0O0. 900 in 1880, it was our
opinion that, in 1868, the total amount
would not exceed $500. 100000. This We
IT'LL believe to be fair estimate Of the total
1alue Of all our taxable property. But
he whole taxable property in the State,
IS reported by the district assessors, was
,ut $114,9 ,274, viz: real property &c.,
rs, ,020, and personal property $SS, ,S5l, ,254.
This was undoubtedly far too low, and the