The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1872-02-17
COLUMBIA, s.. .--G=
satur 'ay morning. February II. 1879.
Tt1atlen Ag4A.

-. - : y -
=, 81 Ttxatlen Ag4id. I
The Union, that staunchs supporter of
the ring that has already in manner
bankrupted the State. is out again, in
yesterdays issue. on the subject OF taxa
ton. It is an odd thing to SEQ journal
. advocating increased taxation, and is ex-
,plainable upon no other hypothesis than
this which we have so repeatedly main
tained. that the Radical sheet at onr
capital depends for its support more
upon the public pap which the taxes sup
ply than the patronage OF the people
whom 1t 'falaely pretends to represent.
In all our experience VIC have never
known q newspaper to take part with
pnblio swindlers in snoh e hsrefaoed and
shameless style. A few days since The
Union urged upon the General Assembly
TO be prompt with their bill to raise sup
plies. and to make it heavy enough to
raise funds sufficient to pay off all sour
j,iss debts and obligations" Yesterday
there follows q complement, as it were to
the preceding. article, and a siokly effort
il made to persuade the poor Taxpayers
that they are very leniently dealt with,
and don't pay .tear SO much as our dear
Governor and his tax-gatherers might
rightfully demand. A comparison is
sdtagpT katveen The thriving dairy aud
grain farms of the North and the cotton
farms;' so-oailed, OF South Carolina, as
to the respective productiveness per acre.
and the profits, which must prove very
gratifying and encouraging to the farm
ers of the State. were it only true. The
wise-acre OF the Union assumes his facts
and figures. and Of course works out a
most fattsring and satisfactory result;
sets mp man Q! straw and demolishes
him most effectually. Says he:
1.-THE dairy farms Of. New York and
several other Statea are worth in the
market from fifteen to fifty dollars an
acre. The average is about thirty five
dollars, while the annual product is
about twenty per cent. of this value. or
about seven dollars an acre. The annual
product OF grain farms is more; say sn
average of twenty dollars IN acre for all
under cultivation, while such lands are
valued at an average of forty-fve dollars
per acre for whole farms.
IAN assessment of ten mills on suoh
valuation will give q tax on dairy farms
OF thirty.fve cents on every seven dol
lars income. aud on grain farms forty
five cents on every twenty dollars in
come. And this tax must be increased
about one-third for non productive
lands"
"a like calculation for the cotton
farms of this State shows the following
advantages for the taxpayer:
III we put the average production Of
the short staple at the very low estimate
OF one-third Of q bale of $50 pounds per
acre. the annual production at fifteen
cents is $22.50; while the average mar
ket value of such lands will not exceed
3l0 per acre. An assessment of ten
mills on this valuation will give a tax of
ten cents on every 1922 SO income"
This all reads very smoothly and nice.
and may be true enough as regards the
dairy farms Of the North. At least, we
are not prepared to gainsay it. acknow-
Lodging, as We must, the more intimate
acquaintance of the Union man with
that latitude; but we claim the sume su-
perior knowledge Of the farming inter-
est in South Curolina that We accord to
him in respect to New York or Massa-
chusetts He starts out with O false es-
timntc, In tho first place. The average
yield OF cotton on the first GLASS farms
III the State is about "a he states-one-
third OF bale to the ncre-but general
average OF all classes, good. bad aud in
different, will not exceed bale to five
acres. So much for that. There is,
however, one fact which the Union man
has overlooked, or Intentionally sup
pressed, that of itself turns the tables
upon him completely. In New York,
and other fourishing States in the
North, almost every acre of ground is
made productive. In South Carolina.
not more than one-fifth of our area is
under cultivation, and of this ona-.,a,f
is devoted to corn, potatoes and small
grain, which yield, we may say, no net