Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1875-12-02
GOYERNOG,S MESSAGE.

The message of Go,..Lor Chamberlain was
read before both houses of the General As
sembly Oh Tuesday of last week. 1t is an
elaborate paper, insisting strenuously on per-
severance in the reforms which have been be-.
gun, and exhibits throughout tone of hope
fulness for the State. We give below an cpl
tome of the most important subjects treated in
the message:
The amount of taxes levied and collected, the
methods of their levy and collection and the OBJ
icctS upon which they arc expended, are the most
important subjects with which the State govern
ment has to deal.
By the present assessment OF real property,
which was made in 1874, the total value of real
property in the Statels O,095.4O7. While there
are, no doubt, individual instances of error and
hardship in the present valuation, yet 80 far as
my information extends, the general result Is as
far as can reasonably be expected. If the lndi-
vidual taxpayer will avail himself OF the means
afforded by the present laws for his protection
against unequal or excessive assessments, L
think the instances will be very rare in which in
Justice will be finally done. At the last session OF
the General Assembly, the taxation and assess
ment" acts were carefully revised ana All addi-
tional act relating to forfeited" lands was passed.
The tax laws of the State aie now, in my Judg-
ment, we'll adapted to secure, in the language OF
the Constitution, "equality and uniformity in
the assessment ofprOperty for taxation.
The total valuation of personal property undcr
the assessment of 1873 is $46 ,OO6 in which is
included considerable amount OF personal prop
erty which has hitherto escaped taxation.
am happy to express my belief that the tax
laws of the State are now administered with alr-
ness and ability, and no instances are known TO
me in which complaints duly presented have not
received due consideration. The results are high
ly creditable to the people, as well as To our TAX
officers. In the aggregate tax for the past year
of 81 900 POI GS only 81, ,5l7 II have been returned
as nulio bona, being less than fOur-fifths OF one
cent In 1872 the returns of nutl0 bona amounted
to s4S,3 ,392 IT, and in 1873 to s5l ,@3 80.
During the past year, under the decision OF the
United States Supreme Court the entire property
of the Northeastern Railroad Company and a
large part of the property OF the South Caroliha
Railroad Company, has been subjected to taxa
tion The question of the liability of the property
of the Savannah and Charleston Railroad Compa.
pending in the United States Courts, ard in the
meantime the State authorities are enjoined from
enforcing the collection of any taxes on their
property It is believed that during the present
wear final decisions favorable to the State VIII be
reached in these cases, and thus several nillohs
be added to the taxable property of the State.
Ihave no special recommendation to make upon
the subject Of our tax laws, but shall warmly
favor any changes which may promise greater
efficiency or fairness in the administration OF this
department ofgovernment.
EXPENDITURES.
In the matter of expenditures have the satis-
faction of saying that great advances have been
made during the past year toward proper scale
and measure.
The entire appropriation for Legislative expen-