The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1873-12-25
The Tax Lew and the Public Debt.


The Legislature has benin session over TWO
months, was called together in extra SEES
sion fossthsezpress purpose ofsin vestigating
and re -afrahgings.he publicsdebt, aud making
provision forleysing taxes for the present fiscal
year The House of Representatives, concluded
their part ofsthe business several weeks ago.
and the Senate went to work in earnest last
week. The bill to raise supplies and the bill
to reduce the volume Of the public debt have
been actually passed, and received the signature
of the Governor on Monday night.
The bill to raise supplies, as finally passed,
levies total tax of fifteen mills, State and
County, apportioned as follows:
l. One and quarter mills for executive and
judicial departments.
Q. One and quarter mills for penal, chari-
table and educational institutions.
8. Two mills for common schools.
4. One and a half mills for expenses of extra
and regular session.
S. One mill for public printing.
6. Three and quarter mills for deficiencies
of last year.
2. Three quarters of mill for claim OF 5. q.
Bank and Trust Company.
8. One mill for half yearly interest on the
public debt.
9. Three mills for county purposes.
AS the County Commissioners of Anderson
have agreed that tax of two and half mills
will be sufficient for the present year, the tax
payers of this County will only be required to
paw fourteen and a half mills, besides the local
school tax, which will make the aggregate fif-
teen mills-tbe same as last year. We confess
to an agreeable disappointment that there is
not large, increase in the rate of taxation.
Some of the levies are enormous, especially
for public printing and Legislative expenses,
which ought to have been reduced at least one
half. But even these figures are an improve
u,ent upon the past, and we suppose there has
been giant struggle to obtain this reduction.
The County Auditors and the County Treas
urers re required, without further notice, to
proceed. on and after the lst of January, 1874,
to the collection of the taxes, in the manner
prescribed by law.
The bill to reduce the volume Of the public
debt proposes to scale the entire bonds OF the
State at fifty cents on the dollar, by exchanging
new bonds for those now in existence. This
will reduce the debt to s6,00O,0O0 in round
numbers, provided the stockholders accept the
scaling process. The issue known rs the con-
version bonds, between five and six millions of
dollars, are declared to be absolutely null and
void, as these were put upon the market with
out any authority of law. We have not seen
the full text of the BILL and are not able to de-
termine its merits as financial measure.
Should the creditors of the State accept the
terms offered therein, and relieve the people OF
this burden to that extent we shall sincerely
rejoice at the result, and shed no crockodile
tears over the fact, even though theorists berate
the measure as an act of repudiation The
taxpayers are able to stand it, and, under the
circumstances, the States credit will improve
among. the fnancicrs, provided an honest,
economical and decent government can ever
again take control of our affairs. Without this
consummation so dcvoutly to be wished, the
State is better off without credit abroad, and by
the State we mean the citizens of every class
and both races who are not participants in the
plundcriug schemes Of hungry officials.