Orangeburg times. [volume] (Orangeburg Court House [S.C.]) 1877-1881, 1878-03-23
[coMMUNIcATED.]
Taxing Commercial Travellers
Editor I rnn.lcLnru Tlnes

Editor ra"y"b"'y Times
AS the question of taxing drum.
~mers is ..now being discussed by the
newspaper press of the country, | beg
that YOU grant space in your columns
for the following well timed article
from the Mobile Register, Il Journal
which thoroughly und darstla L. the
wants Of the South. What is appicab
to Mobile is also applicable to Orange
burg and to all South Carolina.
Commercial travellers do not iniure
us, on the contrary their system
saves to our merchants their rxpen es
to New York rs well os their va!u.
allie time. b. 81 les ,hcy help our
hotels, our railroads. onEibus pro
l>prlctors, liv-ry stables and the pub
lie generally. Ii two Of the II W ere to
come here where only one comes now
we would he the better of for it.
lhc more Of them there are the cheap
cr will he the bargains obtained from
them hy our merchants, and hence
the consumer in the end derives
benefits from the commercial! trave-
Ter:
"ln looking around for subjects Of
tnxnfiom, crnd,. legis ntnrs in Snnth
ern cities have fallen upon the com
mcrcinl traveller; bat urnp.. inva
riabiy Il short experience has shown
That tax upon these tra rlcrs drives
them away, adds II thing the re-.
venue, and is onl, successful IN de
strnying an important source Of CON
,mcrcc and prosperity Such taxes
have been an,>t universally aban
drned. But Mobile now attempts to
derive an income by reSortin5 to this
unjust restraint upon commerce after
all the world has abandoned, de.
nonnceI, and hiSrat,lad it. \ tax of
so upon the commercial travel II
drives away ninct n,hs of those wi, /,
have been in the h.,t O.; vi,linr No.
bile and spending ,,Eeil money with
us. Last vcar over 800 90 were
LEFT in this ely by these travellers.
The hotels, the hack Crivc-s, the cal
lug houses, the li7.ry stables. the
saloons, the boarding houses, The cigar
stands, and other branches Of business
derived an income from these visits.
"ln word, the money which would
have lC.n carried by our merchants
10 Northern cities and spent there
was kept home, and in its place we
received like amount of money
from the agents Of outside merchants.
The system Of commercial travelling
is now in practice all over the civi-
lizcd world The manufactures and
great merchant of the central empor-
iums now seek the provincial mer-
chant through their agents, and they
spend i'll Mobile, in their serch for
tradc-in their hot rivalry for bust
ness-thc vast sums which our mcr-
chants i'll days gone by were accustom-
ed to spend in seeking the importer
and manufacturer at his own door.
Evidently il is not to our interest
to drive this tide oftravel from our
door. W G say that not one-tcnth of
them can afford to pay the tax which
we impose. The rivalry is so hot be-
tween them, that the few orders with
small margins Of profits which each
receives, will not enable him to pay
the tax of twenty i've dollars. These
travellers are generally Southern men,
who have secured places in Northern
cities, whose salaries are small, and
who, if they are compelled to pay
such license tax in many towns,
would be driven out of business.
"In order to collect Il tax ofpcr.
haps five hundred dollars, which is
as much ms this unjust license will
realize, We drive away trade which
leaves two hundred thousand dollars
upon our streets annually. and which
saves our merchants from spending
two hundred thousand more in North
ern cities
"liut this tax is not levied forrc-
venue. 1t is levied admittedly for