The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1875-04-09
CHAnLo,rE1rr, N.sC. .April,e as7sN

Stn luSt, replying 70 ltndssktyH}ofasHfTQtC8' g
editorial, of the Sd, as folIoWssS We had
aor our indebtedness, previous 20 the
lnew regime now in charge OF our State
1.-THE South Carolinn Railroad, Greenyille:
and Columbia Railread, Iaurensa Rail-
| road, Spartanburg and Union Railroad,
Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad,
Kings Mountain Railroad, North eastern
Railroad, Wilmington and Manchester
| hailroad, Oheraw and Darlington Rail
| road and others unfinished, the un-
| completed State House, tho South Caro-
lima College buildings, the Columbia
Canal of near seven miles in length,
! (sold by Radicals to non-residonts for
5000, with a contract of $4,000 year
for twenty years, thrown in by the city
Of Columbia, but for which sale you
! could now hear Mt your Office tho whirl
| OF spindles and machinery on "a grent
County, ION Catawba River, costing the
State So, 00O,o00, with its granite locks
| that will stand for the balance of time,
and other property of the State, which
, has boon sold, and proceeds ''gonc
where the woodbine twineth."
We have received the following benc-
| fits: Increased indebtedness, public anl
private, increased taxation, decreased
security to stock and produce, corrup-
ton in Office, race animositics, decrens..
of State assets, of taxable property, lnnds
rendered unsaleable at one to Ave dol
lars per acre, and being sold for taxes
worth before the war twenty to twenty
five dollars of our entire
railroad interests, causing their earnings
to be paid on account of interests to non
residents, the transfer Of much of these
| interests to non-residents by sales, in
tarQcfQ 10
| account of oity bonds, County, State and
| railroad bonds, being q constant drain,
| through taxation, on the mass of our in
dustrious people, and pnralyzing our ma
terlal interests, creating q bond slavery
to foreign capitalists.
A stihed moral conscience from being
forced to yield to e condition of things
contrary to our sense of right, thus de-
grading our people by forcing their con-
victions of right and self-respect; though
this sense of right is, to some degree,
wrong from training, its surrender to
force ls slavery of opinion and deyradcs
character.
We have also the baleful effect of cor
ruption in Office, with bribery and
temptations to the weak, the needy and
the avaricious, with it's power to tempt
and overcome the virtue of our people,
|
sion of the Charlotte, Columbia and Au-
gusta Railroad how much was contribut-
ed by the State? How much to connect
ing link of Wilmington, Columbia and
Augusta Railroad? How much to Ches-
ter and Lenoir Marrow Gauge Chester
and Cheraw, Port Royal or Airline
Railways, the latter developing our Pied
mont country, and under paralyzing in
huences of reckless bad government
how many Of all these enterprises (of 40
much value to the State) nre in thriving
condition?
F Villages are building on railroads all
| over the State, factories of various kinds,
new private dwellings, store houses, &C.,
swamp lands in many sections being
ditched out; and yet each year shows
decrease Of taxable property, and an
average decline of values, az witness
sales of Columbia city property, the
aggregate of tax returns. the increased
Indebtedness of the farmers to the mer-
chants Mt these growing railway stations,
the sales of property for taxes-all this
shows that our prosperity does not cor
respond with our industry or resources.
On railroads leading into Columbia
villages are taking the trade of the city,
heavy taxation of the city making the
cost of business greater than its profits,
and giving stations near by an opportu-
nifty of taking Columbus trade; each
year increasing this evil and depreciating
the property more, till the business now
in cotton is about one-tenth of what it
once was Another feature in the growth
OF these railroad stations is, that they are
commission houses for large cities and
money centres, and much of their trade
is through nominal agents, reducing the
business of other points in proportion,
taxing our country with additional mid
dlo men (non-producers) to distribute
on mortgages, liens, bills of sale. &C., in
creasing the labor Of book-kecpers,
recorders, &c, all of which is charged to
the poor laborer, making him poorer,
and through high interests making the
rich richer, and gradually tending to n
Capitalization Of wealth in the hands Of
the few, precluding the possibility of
Independence ever being attained by the
toil-worn farmer. Go back from these
railway stations into the interior of the
country and you can verify this state
ment.
There is local growth in the State-tho
result Of energy, coupled with natural
resources superior to the burdens of 90
vernment. Our people in the up-coun-
try have great energy, and ore working
with commendable enterprise. Many in
the middle and lower parts of the State
are making brave fight against high
taxes and consequent adversity. Our
people are as intelligent and industrious
as any people of similar climate. and if