Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1873-10-30

! Gll6 OWueIS WOulU uOG nave oOiu ~
hundreds of dollars an acre, wer
valued, for the purposes Of taxation
at five cents per acre. Now, human
slavery is sabolished. Millions Of capi
tai invested in human chattels hav
been swept out of existence with
single stroke of the pen. Some othe
species of property must bear the ex
penses of government in its stead
Which is it? The experience of th
civilized world answers that
THE TRUE BASIS OF TAXATION
is real and personal estate, and tn
new regime, in conformity to that ex
perience, has adopted that system fol
the new order of things. The prac
tical operation of.this new and equi
table system in South Carolina is tht
same as that experienced in the NORTH
a half century ago. The taxes fal
chiefly where they belong-upon rea.
estate. The owner of real estate can.
not afford to keep thousands Of acres
idle and unproductive merely to graf
ify his personal vanity, and because
he inherited them from his fathers
and pay the tax upon them. Stern
necessity, therefore, will compel him
to cut up his ancestral possessions in
to small farms and sell to those who
can and will make them productive;
and thus the masses of the people
will become property holders /; wealth
will be more widely difused; the
people will become more prosperous
immigrants will come and settle
amongst us and develop the vast re-
sources of the State. Thus onward
the march OF civilization will make
its way, and no cry by the large real
estate owner of excessive taxation can
stay its progress But aside from
this view of the question there is an
other matter which Twill now pre-
sent. That the aggregate amaoat re-
ceived from taxation since 1860 has
greatly increased, is a fact which none
will deny; but this is also true Of the
National Government, and of every
State of the Union The question is
not whether taxation has or has not
increased, but whether the, compara-
tive rate of increase is greater in. this
than other States Of the Union.d.,
The following table will show the
increase of taxation between the years
1860 and 1870, in FIVE Democratic
States, as shown by the ninth census:
States Aessae ss TaHsIion' ,sI 5 I1, SI, in Asas ass
Gcorgla....s 7s1ss5 5 2,e21O2s 1927 % 7.lu
asn9sssss Nargisss s1sssss s1ssss ssss s s e OIL
Kentucky 9l4s.9ll 5,7sa,ll8 66 16 6-1o
Missouri. 4,lO0,653 13,oOs,49s 2l4 81 4-lu
General average annual increase, % Clio.
S. Car lima. ..lasSsss sS ss7s7,s7s 81 ls IL Clio
Thus it is seen that. while the .av
erage annual increase of taxation in
those five States has been 20 CLIO per
cent, in South Carolina it has been
only 1l6-l0 per cent. The aggre-
gate taxation Of the national govern
ment haseincreased from $94, ,lS6,746
in 1860, to $3.50, ,59l, 52l in 1870, OF
an average annual increase of l9 A.,
per cent.
The following table will exhibit the
per capita taxation in several of the
States, Gas shown by the ninth census
and by this table also South Carolina!
gain; b. the comparison:
States. popula- A.4ggregnte Per
Massachusetts. :. .A57,a5l .s24.9229O0 SIC S.
New York. 80. 4.3Ss, ,759 4s,55lSOs II 0!
Uhio.. .2y665,26n. g, 626,54s IS I.
I Kenlusky sTs31s =, Is g. g.
The per capita taxation of the Uni.
ted States, according to the ninth cen.
sus, is 81 27. The State Of Nevada
with per capita taxation of $l9 40
and the State of Florida, with pei
capita taxation OF So 64, probably
represent the extreme and mean oi
the per capita taxation of the differ
ent States. The average per capita
taxation OF the thirty-seven States
comprising the American Union, is
81 81, or 1886 more than that Of
South Carolina. The foregoing illus,
tratioas prove concfusively that the
rate of taxation in this State is not
excessive, and that the increase since
1860 has not been greater than that
of the United States .or the several
States. It. will be noticed from the
foregoing tables that the State o.
Massachusetts,, un9uestionably the
best governed State OF the Union, is
with one exception, the highest tared
of any State in the Union, and, not,
withstanding' the magnitude Of taxa.
ton, the aggregate receipts have, not
been sufficient to prevent anrannual
increase Of the public; debt; ,'!;t s.
CONCLUSION.
Senators and Representatives, per,
the person or persons 80 offending
shall be forever thereafter disqualified
from holding any Office Of profit OF
trust under the.gconstitution, unless
the General Assembly shall, by aitwo.
thirds vote relieve him or .t1 them N. Of
such disability, upon payment into
the treasury of the amount SO en-
t,ezzled or diverted. It will be ob:
served that the plan ! have proposed
for the extinguishment of +! the public
debt differs materially from the one
proposed by Governor Orr. The
scheme here presented is in successful
operation in the best governed States
in the Union. Experience has de
nlonstrated that a sinking fund ope
rating. at compound saterestis not only
liable to great abuse, but veryseldom
if ever, accomplishes the object '6ftit'
projectors. jj o 4 In, the words Of DR., Ham
ilton, of Aberdeen, "the increase o
revenue or the diminution Of expens'
are the only means by which, th,
4 sinking, 3 fund can.be enlarged it
operations rendered more seFectual
nd I'll lfhS1 the; "a hhames am for disc cRarginl
tide naebHal debt by sinking funds
/ nnarotinn of nnn1rnund intarastfnr i