The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1872-02-29
More Taxes Still.

tlDlcs anu tchpiu aieyo, "oeef' wv "ie' N"'
die (on sales banks, and in fact every spe
cics of industry and every department o.
business. Non-co compliance with the law is
made msdemcauor. punishable by fine and
imprisonment.
This represents tax of not less than
$500, ,oOopcr annum oyer and above, all
other taxes.
There will be needed, according to the estl-
mate now before the Legislature, submitted
by Mr.. Neagle, Comptroller General the sum
of S., 2,46s:OOO for the expenses of the State
Government for the. present fiscal year. Add
to this tho usualcounty taxes SS23 900, and
we find, that in all probability tho taxpayers
will be called upon to pay, during the ensu-
ing twelve months, no less a sum than fire
miHions Of dollcuy (sa,00O, ,00V. As Il
nlatter Of course, it is. simply impossible to
eay such a tax. Lct no man. Gf, all. these
tax bills arc passed. pas cent ef'ar, let Mr
hmd Jc soM and JM mIy tie Stot", and there
will be an end of the matter There is no
virtue in our paying tribute to Government
which is the cspawn ofcorruption, the cmboli
mcnt of robbery, the willing instrument. Of
oppression. We have been cheated and rob
bed of our money until it is folly to submit
To it any longer. "-HiiionS for d.fnc$ but
not one rent for rt1atc."
The taxes which they propose to RAISE
amount to confiscaton. Suppose our sug.
gestion be adopted. Each year the State
sells and buys in more and more of the land.
until after tire it Ohc Statc) would own
every inch of her soil. Suppose, however.
that the State sells the land: thus purchased,
it will not alter the case, for the taxes contn
nc to accrue, and the purchaser will gain
nothing. But, in the interval which must
elapse between the purchase aal sale,
where will the State get the mon. y necessary
to carry on the government? Not by bonds,
(thc only available means) because under
the circumstances, no one would buy them.
If private individual purchases, he does
not get titles for two years, and cann't
take possession until Il a: time, and it is not
probable that with the opportunity given to
the original owner to redeem, any man would
make the investment in lands whereon. he
would be compelled to pay taxes and yet not
bo remunerating him for two years; by which
time as we have demonstrated, the govern
ment would have run down.
\ man could not by any possibility make
money with such taxes to pay, because it
must be remembered, that out Of seven hun
drei thousand inhabitants in the State,
about two hundred thousand, perhaps not 50
many, pay taxes, and out of this number
about t'oenty:fcc h.ousond pay e:sht-tenths
of the whole amount. IF this be true. even
if a person should cndcavor to speculate upon
the misfortuncs of his nciShbor, the greater
the speculation, the greater the tax, and con-
scquently nothing could be made
So, if the government should resort to
some compulsory method of lcvying
the taxes, it could be thwarted by our con-
filming ourselves to making bare support,
since there would be no way of taking that
from US, and it has boon shown that no one
could become rich under such onerous tuxa-
tion. Desperate diseases require desperate
remedies, and it is time that VIC we're awake
and realizing the extremity ofour distress. We
are now in a desperate condition, and the
further we 80, the more desperate does our
situation become. We should meet the re
quiremcnts of our situation, and submit to
;hy sacrifice in order that we may defeat
those who seek to plunge us ntopoverty and
strip us of our birthrghts. This is not Il !
time for idlencss, it is ssentially time for
action.
Those fair fields which are now hcipg pre-
pared to receive tho seed which produces
the gladstone harvest had better be left un-
titled, than cultivated for the benefit of the
plundcrcr. With taxes trcblcd, after labor is
paid and the f.mily fed, where is the proGt
If uo,c, it is hard TO make both ends meet,
hor will it be when taxes are three times a:
great?
The State Government finds it necessary
to resort to extreme measures, at this time,
to meet its expenses, and these last acts arc
the indications of its necessity. We arc the
people. From us, our labor, comes the
whercwithal to keep tho machinery moving.
Let US also resort to extreme measures and
withhold our own from thieves. Do this,
and the game is ended, and in our favor
Do this not and concession on our part will
but serve to encourage the vampires to take