Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1870-09-09
Tho DIty OF Assessors.

9
and assessing tho real and personal property,
preparatory to the collection Of taxes, Mr..
Reuben Tomlinson, tho State Auditor, has
recently issued a circular addressed to the
Assessors, and very clearly sscts forth the du.
tics Of the Assessors as well ss the tux payers.
We subjoin the following extracts for the in.
formation of our readers:
''lt cannot be doubted that the Assessors,
as body, neglected their duty in the assess
ment of Real Property for 1868. Such neg
lect should not occur asain. It is the AS.
scssor's duty to visit and examine cach piccc
of Real Property withinlhis District; to as
certain accurately tho number of acres Of
land-properly classified land the number Of
buildings thereon. 1t is-.his duty to Fix the
value of tho property, without any reference
to the value placed upon it by its owner. In
doing this the Assessor must dismiss from his
mind entirely tho old system of valuations.
If he believes a given pioco Of land to be
worth ten or twenty dollars per aero, he must
placo that value upon it, regardless of the
fact that it was formerly assessed, probably, at
two or three dollars per acre. It was also his
duty to secure an equal assessment of the Real
Property of his Dstricta Tie must discard
all personal or partisan considerations, in
whatever guise they may present themselves.
No discourtcsy on the part of tho owner Of
the property should prejudice the Judgment
of the Assessor in the slightest degree. He
should also be careful to set the name Of the
owneroftho property correctly ,and also careful
lyavoid all disputes with property owners res
pecting the value of their property In cases
where there is doubt as to the description
and quantity Of piece of property, the AS
SCISSOR may, under Section Gl of the Tax
Act call on the owner or occupant thereof to
or neglect to furnish the information re-
quircd, the Assessor may employ competent
surveyor to perform the duty, and the expense
of such surveyor will be added 20 the value of
the property on the "County Duplicate"
Although, under the law, the Assessor is in
dependent of the opinions Of tho tax payer, in
fixing the value Of the Real Property still
hearty cooperation on the part of she proper
ty owners will do much toward securing an
equal and satisfactory assessment of the prop.
erty of the State The chief complaint made
of the first assessment under the present law,
and in many instances justly made, was as to
its inequality. If a property owner in any
assessment District in the State, has reason to
believe that certain property in his neighbor,
hood is being assessed unequally, us compared
with his own or that of Others, it is his right
and his duty to call the attention of the AS
sessor to it, and to insist upon proper assess
ment of the property in question. If the
property owners will thus assist the Assessors
in their work, fair and equal assessment
may be secured, and the Stntc Board OF
Equalization will not only be relieved from
the performance of dsagrccablc duty, but
the complaint and dissatisfaction consequent
upon its enforced action will be avoided.
All property must be assessed in the name
of tho person owning or controlling it on the
lst day of September, 1870"
PARIS VS.. RIcuMoND.--Thc Cincinnati
Enquirer remarks
The loss of a battle in which but single
wing of an immense army was engaged, say
10000 out of 100000 men, two hundred
miles of, has thrown Paris, city of two mil
lions of souls, into apparent CONSERVATION
An easy promenade there by the Prussians
in the course of few weeks is anticipated by
mny journals in this country and in Great
Britain. If such an event is realized it will
strongly contrast tho American with the
French style of fighting. In 1861 the United
f,Statcs called out as large an army to conquer
the South, which did not exceed six million
OF white people, as the Prussians have to
overthrow the Empire of France, with its
forty millions of people. The objective point
was Richmond, the Southern capital. 1t
was but ono hundred and twenty miles from
Washington. Hardly any regular fortifcatious
existed until the confines of Richmond were
approached. Yet, with over one million men
in arms we failed to capture Richmond for
four long years. Army after army was launch
edagainst it, commanded by our ablcst officers
They werc repeatedly boaton and turned back.
Suoh was the way in which the American
citizens in the South, who we're opposed to