The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-04-05
Are the Taxes Heavy Beyond Endu-
anee!

The Columbia Union, the administration
organ, buckles on it's armor, and endeavors
to prove that, after all, the people OF South
Carolina are very lightly taxed. 1t denies
| that there is any such thing IN this State as
! exorbitant taxation, and declares. that the
trouble is, ssnot in the amount OF taxation, out
eis in taxation ITSELF" We have the right
To. assume that the Union reflects the opin-
ions OF the State officials, and that It Is their
champion and apologist. At all events, it
presents the strongest argument it can find
to sustain it's of-hand conclusion that ''ne
some who has really examined the matter
carefully can, for n moment, conScien-
.4iously assert that the taxes levied by the
| State government 'tarc heavy beyond en-
"durance." The main argument OF the
Union is contained in the following para
graph
ssTbe state tax is nine mills on the dollar. or
| nine dollars on the thousand or, In other
| words and palmer terms, q man who 10 worth
| one thousand dollars in real estate or ether
property, would pay to the State just nine dol
lars, M no more. If the county added feur
| mills, which is about the extent Of any county
tax, that would add four dollars more, or a
| total OF thirteen dollars ON q thousand. A
person worth two thousand dollars would pay
t~enty-siX dollars Statepand, county tax; one
worth three Thousand dslfaFs would pay thirty
nine dollars. and one worth ten thousand dol
| lars would pay one hundred and thirty dollars
Now, we submit to the judgment Of a candid
| public II this Is exorbitant TAXATION? TIA per-
son worth ten thousand dollars cannot afford
to pay one hundred and thirty dollars tax, he
is indeed q poor stick. The trouble !s not In
the amount of taxation, but Is In taxation
ITSELF"
Even a hasty glance at these statements
shows their disingenuousness. They do DOT
tell the whole truth. The State tax is nine
mills on the dollar, aud the county tax does
not exceed four mills additional. But this is
the tax for 1870, due last month and in
November next a second tax Qor lS7D falls
due. For iDstance-the tax Of 1870, to
which alone the Union refers, is So, 4l5,e47.
Under the old law, the tax for 1871 would
have been payable in March, 1872 but the
General Assembly, at its last session, antiei-
pated the time Of payment, 80 that the tax
for 1871 should be due and coflectable IN No.
vember, 1871. The people have, therefore,
to pay, this gear, about ID mills on the dol
lar for 1870, and about 10 mills on the dollar
for 1871. The whole tax for the year Is.
81, 1876, 0O0-which is ten times the average
annual cost of the State gnuarnmant for tan
years preceding the war. The man who ts
s.worth one thousand dollars. must pay,
this year, q tax Of tw~enty-shree dollars, in
stead OF thirteen dollars, as stated by the
U,,ion. In the very beginning OF its argu-
ment, the administration organ suppresses
half the truth.
But the lallacy of the statement OF the
Union. lies deeper than this. 1t puts the
taxes ofa6e year at sl3 on $1,000 or $3.50 on
$40, 600, 1--WE have shown that they are
nearly twice as much,) and hippantly
says that, If a person worth ten thou
sand dollars caunot afford to pay one
hundred and thirty dollars tax, he is,
indeed, a poor stick. We say 80 too. But
the Union c%onfuses assessed value and real
value There ishot a man in South Caro-
lima who ia assessed f~or.taxation ut $40, coo
who is ,oorta ten thousand dollars, or whose
property, il sold, would produce anything
like that sum. The Union ssaines that the
assessment for taxation establishes the
uorth of the thiug-what it will bring. Ia
this way the Union may, at once, by increas-
ing the assessment double Or treble lin It's
own mind) the value Of all the property in.
South Carolina. To the outside world, it is u
conclusive explanation to say that the Caro-
lima ex-slavehotders are growing because
they now have to pay tax OF SIS on the
$1,000, while before the war they had TO pay
only q few cents. The. truth is, and the
Union ought to know it, that all the taxable
properly in South Carolina is assessed for
taxation at far higher than its market value.
In Charleston the assessment may be nearer
the reality than it is anywhere else, but even
here 81. OOa was added to the taxable value
OF a house, because the owner spent upon it,
in painting and repairs, just one thousand
dollars. And We eau say, without fear OF
contradiction, that in the country districts
property is assessed at double, treble and
quadruple its value. We have in our mind
now a tract of land in Orangeburg assessed
al $40, COO; which could. not be sold for
$4,000. The Union would say that theI
owner of this iaudis worth. SIG, 600 and must
be "a poor. stick" if hs can't pay $3.50 10
taxes. The truth is tnat the tax Of $3.50. is
upon property 0orM ouiy $4,000. 1t is u ta4
OF mure than four per cent. upon what the
planter fs reilly zoorM. In November there
will be as mucn mure 20 pay. According to
the Union, a man worth $40, 0Qs pays $3.50.
According to the truth, u man worth $4,000
pays tho hundred and thirty dollars. This
is a distinction with u difference.
We 20 further aud say that, the taxation
9th year must be measured By tie Income
ous of 1ohich Me ta1es are patd- Upon This
-. xo ,,,ont,r, II |