The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1874-07-30
S. G..
Thursday Morning. July 80. 1874.
Thirty-six to One-Taxation with q
Vengeance.

"eIcuhus "a suAo olty, WHO pays
heavy tax, and is keenly alive to th,
subject Of assessments and the actua
amount OF taxation. was on visit, no
long since. to, New York city. II,
learnt from friends there of whom b,
inquired; that assessments made o.
property for purposes Of taxation, wer.
Tar below it's actual value. In come
cases mentioned to him. they reached
net more than the half or one-third o.
the price the property would bring i
put on the market. Stopping on Iii
return In Philadelphia. he made simi.
lar Inquiries. and ssoertained a sineils.
state of facts to exist in that CITY. a
reaa estate property.holder, also Of this
city, who has been made 10 ~inoe
under the lash OF severe taxation, has
waited upon us with some statements
which are Instructive and curious. BE
'ealls.onf attention to 'theSsthAllnassS S6f
tho tax levied in Ohio for the year
1873. it being only 81 mills, one m i'll
OF which is levied for common schools,
and is returned to the Counties in pro.
portion to their school children. This
portion of the ta1 is as purely local in
its nse as the levies made by the local
authorities. The rate. then, for State
purposes is "a mills, and that is an
increase OF six-tenths of a mill on the
dollar for the current year. Real
estate property is appraised for pur.
poses of taxation at not more than
one-third its value, and not more than
one quarter OF the personal property
Ns listed for taxation at all, aud that at
"a Iate far below its value. These lat
Ter statements We get from the Cinnin-
natl Enquirer, in notice OF the State
Auditors report.
In fbis State. under the Oonstitu.
'don. sllprQperty is subject TO- taxation
in proportiqneto lite value. and;ve may
tbe sure that Of late years. the valdd-
tion has never fallan below il. ND
such generous usage p55ssy4ilSSpf plac-
ing at;st ona. third the value, as pre-
vails Id 'ohie.' Tho Auditors, on the
CONTRARY. have been directed to .siay It
on thIck." The habit has bean in.
dulsed In b5lthena and tIle Boatd OF
Equalization to put property up to
4he highest figure It could be made to
oear. The over. assessments last year
ward complained oiilll Over tM State,
and In some Counts Jed til such Il
determined attitude of the people as
made the State Government moderate
its demands. In Nation, in couee-
quenoe OF the exorbitant assessments
made by the tax officers and the COM
'plaiats Of the aggrieved taxpayers,
sthe Legiel,ture was compelled to re-
vert to the assessments OF the year
1872 Tor that County. But the citi-
xens of Mar on were more fortunate in
fhis respect than the taxpayers OF the
sSs0te generally. The real estate pro-
perty owner az ColumbIa. to whom We
have alluded, owns two squares in this
city. which he would gladly cell at
$500 each. But while they attract no
purchasers at that price. they are
salued by the State, for its purposes,
at$1,000 each. Tho tax being fifteen
milis. our friend q tax last year was 2l5
ON each block: Lot .us see what he
would have to pay on this property In
Ohio. The .esr.. value ssisE aa5soo
9os the block, would afford the sum OF
$16R.6e to he taxed, end The t>s cs 2%
mills on this sum wonld amount to
tosty-onc cents. Fifteen dollars in
South Carolina and forty-one cents in
Ohio, or thirty.six times more here
chan therei The valuation for taxing
purposes is six times greater, and the
tax itself is six times greater in the
one State than in the other. These
arc facts, strange aud incredulous as
they may seem.
The diversion OF the tax funds to
other than legitimate uses has some.
times led to the remark that suoh mis-.
appropriation is worse than the tax
itself. Radical writer's and speakers