The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1873-11-19
The State Taxation-An ( Appeal 70
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! The CharlestGt Ncus makes some
timely suggestions to the Legisla-
tare on the subject Of taxation, pr-
.ging that the present dcplorablec lec
financial condition Of. the State affords
a good reason for reducing the taxes
to the lowest practicable Limit, and
advancing somo strong considerations
for making the taxes payable in not
less than two installments. 1t truly
remarks that whilst the present fnan-
cial crisis bas beon disastrous, to blu
sincss Of all Kinds, it has been espe-
cially destructive to the interests of
the planter. With a. free expendi-
turc of money and credit, he has
made q good crop of cotton from
which he expected to realize IS or 20
cents pound, and finds himself now
compelled to take less than the cost
of production. Burdencd with debt;
and pooror than he was year ago,
he makes strong appeal for all the
indulgence and relief that the Lcgis-
laturo can give him. Last year the
rate Of taxation was one-and-a-half
per cent, a rate which is exceeded
in scarcely any other State, when it
is considered that our property is
assessed at a higher value than Fit
will cbrihg in The market, q and our
people have good reason to insist that
this rate shall not be exceeded, and
that if possible, it shall be reduced.
A tax of two or three per cent, can
not be borne at present, and it is bet.
ter that the debt should wait, and
the expenditures reduced to the lowest
possible point, than that universal
distress should result from the load
of intolerable taxation. But in ad-
dition the Neus urges the following
reasons for making rhe taxes payable
| in two instalmentsl:~ iskt : = n
"The estimates upon which the tax
bill is based are for the whole fiscal
year. There is not a single item of
expenditure which fs not nominally
spread over o considerable poriod.
Salaries are paid by the month or
quarter; 80 arc school moneys, Or
they SD ould be. Euenstkel members
of The Legislature. do not need their
pay in, . lump. They are usually in
session three or four months, and the
payment4ofg $3.50 arsmpnth'7 for fobfS
months would BE better FOR Them
than the receipt Of their whole 5000
at the beginning or end Of tho session.
When q tax is levied which will pro-
duce two million dollars, it, is ,ridiou-
lous and dishonest TO. say that 80
large sum is required in, the first,
three or four months, Of tho fiscal
year. AS the law stands, the tax for:
the year ending in October is collected
by the middle of the proceeding Jan
uary. The revenue for the year is
collected in couple of months. IT
is spent qujcAy as i is .reccircd, ,apd
j for hretk1assG The fiscal .geatxhe
State GouerWment IS pc1niless. This
has been proved true of every year
since the accession Of ,the;RepubHcaps
to power Paying a years taxes in
two Or three months, leads to- spend
ing years income in less than d
third of a year. That is reason
enough for changing the system dat
there is, as we have shown, an urgent
cause for Tightening the burden upon
the people, which can be, dono by
changing the manner of collecting
the taxes, as well as by reducing the
percentage of taxation. The propo-
siton we make is, that the State tax
for 1874 be payable in not less
than two instslments. This wilt give
the people breathing time. They can
pay a half when they cannot pay the
whole. The revenuo will be ample !;
because tho State government will
receive its supplies half yearly in
advance; and the people will be en-
couraged, blythe consideration shown
them, to meet their engagements
promptly and to work vigorously
during the coming season. -
The reasons here urged are that it
will apportion and thus lessen the
burden to the taxpayer, and bet
ter secure the application of the rev.
'enuc to its proper objects. But we
do not see that the planter will be
very much benefited by tho change.
His income is derived from his crop,
and bis" meney comes in only at
one period, and is generally spent be-
fore the lapse Of many months. In
fact this was the very reason assign
ed for making the tax collec-
table. in tho Fall rather than in
the spring. AS to the misappropria-
tion of the funds when collected, we
do not see, that much would bo gain
ed by changing the time of collection.
Unless proper safeguards are obtained
in the honesty of public officials, tho
money will be misused whenever it
comes to band. We are in favor of