Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-09-12

| mentS, that all townships should. as
near Is possible, be burdencd alike"
That is to say, that the valuation of
| Land all over the comfy should be
nearly or quit" uniform : Ills ,ugcn-
erons fling at the country can he ap-
| precltted by the country people. H:s
| statement that the expenses of ali the
| townships, except Wilni,igto... rur the
year ending August 31st, 1873, was
| 500, 64S, while the taxes collected IN
! 1872, from the same townships. were
only IS, 80, was uncaLdid and unfair.
| As all roads lead to Rome, SO does the
surplus money Of New Hanover gravi-
| tate to Wilmington. It is the soil
! which produces, 1t is the country
which creates capital, not the city.
| Wilmington, which derives so much of
| its Subsistence from the country,
steadily grows in population and
wealth. while the country does not adj
vance at all, and land in said eight
townships is lower III price to-day than
| II WAS one or two years ago. On the
other hand, ther,. is IN increasing
prosperity in Wilmington, and some
increase in the price OF real estate.
| The collective results of the
labor of tho country people gen
orally take permanent form
and Investment in the city. Cities are
always DESTROYS of improving the high
ways which lead to their markets. The
money that a city thus invests always
| is returned with high interest, in the
| increased amount of produce sent TO
the city over new bridges and improved
roads. The large amount of valne (es-
| timated) of farm products of 1869,
| q hove the cost nf r1rnII1tInn haI,Cr IN,
this county. $472, 0SS, so ostentatiorlsly
shown by Commissioner Rice, certain
! ~ did not improve the country people
of New Hanover TO that amount. If
this estimated value is correct. it may
| be safely asserted that three fourths of
that sum found its wav to the direct
advantage of Wilmington and not of
the country. Tt Is III no Ilnfricndlv or
| envious spirit to the city that these as
sertlons are made. They are the de
auctions Of political economy, attested
by observation, and the city cannot be
blamed for the operation OF laws as
old as society. In none of these tax
payers. meetings held in the country,
has q word of complaint or unkindness
been uttered against the generous and
progressive people Of this, Queen City
of North Carolina. IF Commissioner
Rice hopes by the showing he has made,
and the threat he has uttered. us to flu
ture appropriations by the Board
to country Townships, that he can
array the country against the
city or the city against the coun-
try, / can only say that his efforts to
that end will be as disastrous as they
are 1lucaIled for and disreputable.
| Whether in the certain growth and
continuous increase in wealth, popula-
| ton and greatness which awaits this
prosperous, hourisling and rapidly
rising city, and that so Justly secures
the admiration and pride of all other
| portions of our county, it may ulti-
mately become the interest and pre-
ference Of Wilmington to separate
| from all the other townships, o.
whether she is to remain indissolu.,Iy
connected in the long distant future
with every portion Of the noble old
county of New Hanover by those strong
and cndearing ties Of sympathy, of
| trade and of common interest, which
will never be broken, let us all, in city
and country, see well to it that no ill
directed attempts of any demagogue
shall produce alienation of feeling.
His report closes byagair expressing
an rnbelief that the complaint of ex-
ccssive taxation is general. This AS
PERsION OF OUR MOVEMENT COULD ONLY
| COME FROM ONE WHO WAS THE CAUSE
OF IT. Had the aUthorto the Finance
| Report been sensitive rs to the bur-
| dens we bear, and he is conspicuous
among those who placed them on our
shoulders. instead of the fn,tnt lie
| might have given us yefi,ct.-
Let the spontaneous uprising of the
people in firm protest of the
wrong attempted against them answer,
| in tones of thunder, this faithless
| guardian OF their interests. This
Complaint is not general, As we'll
might he go to the line of sand which
| limits the oceans bed, and because he
observed an interval between the break
of each wave, say that the pillows were
not constant
Among the remarkable facts which
my Investigations have disclosed, |
now invite your attention to one, the
most astounding of all. It is an ont
| terests and equitable taxation, that
will excite the astonishment, rs it
ought to secure the denunciation, of
every good citizen Of North Carolina
| Sub-sections and 3, under Section
| 9th of the act to provide for the col
| lection OF county and State taxes for
| 1873, requires that all mclcy on hand
| or deposit in or ont of the State, and
| all solvent credits. the latter subject to
n deduction of the debts owed by the
| party giving IN property, shall be
| listed. Here Is plain provision of
the General Assembly--so explicit and
SO just that none can evade
! or ignore 1t. NOT ONE DOLLAR
| OF MONEY ON HAND OR OK DEPOSIT
IN OR OFT OF THE STATE, OF:
| ONE DOLLAR OF SOLVENT CREDITS WAS
GIVEN TO THE SHERIFF UPON WHICH TO
COLLECT A TAX. This omission is such
n palpable violation Of an important
law that it is Impossible for Il thinking
man to referlttO Ignorance. 1t will be
almost as difficult to escape the sIs-
plclon that motives partaking of the
nature of personal kind must have
controlled the action of the last men
| through whose hands the tax books
passed. Other facts lead iii this di-
rection. The regular Chairman of the
Board eff County Commissioners, and
! who IS known to be quite wealthy, pays
a tax on only little more than twenty
Thousand do 'lars worth of property
and one Thousand dollars of income in
New Hanover county Tbs fact is
significant, and unless explained i'll the
most satisfactory manner must inevi-
tably suggest the opinion that the
failure 10 list such property was part
of deliberate scheme to take the
burden Of taxation off the rich and
impose it npon those less able to bear
1t. Money and solvent credits pay an
average interest from twelve to twenty
four pc. cent. annually, while land
devoted to agriculture in this
county does not pay more than
an average interest of six per cent
Besides, the interest on money invest
ed IN farming is on more pIecarious
footing than money loaned at the rate
OF interest demanded by the Insurers
Id our midst. Had this tax on money
and solvent credits been levied, as de-
manded III no ambiguous or unmean-
ing terms by our Legislature, thereby