The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-10-16
Wednesday, Oct. 16, 1878
Who rs Right.-The People of Abbc-
Vile, or the State Board of Equal
iZation?

Vile, or the State Board OF Equal
ization.
We ask attention to the article In an
other column of the Press md Banner,
which gives an account OF the recent &C
ton of the State Board Of Equalization,
from whose DEGREES the taxpayer has no
lawful arpeal-thcir power being ever
greater than that of the verieSt despot.
This Board Of Equalization is organised
by authority of law, and is composed OF
n Democrat from each of the five
Congressional Districts of the State,
the Comptroller General, the State
Treasurer, and the Secretary OF state,
the latter three, by the grace OF the
late Democratic Convention, arc on the
State ticket for reelection, and next No
vcmber our insultcd and injured poo
pie will be required to kiss the rod that
smitcs, by voting forthose whohavc assist
cd in assessing Abbcville County some
thing like eight thousand dollars a year
for the next five years to come, more than
our proportionate share of the expense Of
the government.
Last week this Board, composed OF
Democrats, clothed with all the power
which Radical legislation could give, So,
in Judgment on the returns of the tax
PAYERS of the whole State, and in their
great wisdom and intuitive knowledge
of no value of real estate i'll 4 county
whose soil the feet Of some of whom
had never pressed, determined upon this
most extraordinary action which will, in
five wears, ~uniuStly take from the people
of .Abbcvillo County nearly forty thou-
sand dollars. While these gentlemen,
sitting IN Columbia, saw tit to allow the
assessment III lands ''outsidc Of towns
and villages" to standa at the returns aS
made by the property-owncrs III their
own respective counties, they nave pre-
sumcd to know more Of the value OF
lands in counties which had no represent
tativc on that Board, than the land-own-
erS themselves.
The law authoriSing the present assess
mcnt was made by the last Legislature
in respon to the request of many over
assessed taxpayers from every section OF
the State, and in no county was there
greater need or more calls for it thar III
Abbcville. Now, since we have gone &c
the great trouble and expense of a rc-as-
scssmcnt of the real property of tho
Stato, and when Abbeyillc County has
the most just assessment ever made. this
Board, Of Equalization DEGREES thai the
real estate of clowns and villages III
Abbcvil!c county, when it does not eX-
ceed, "shall be that of 1871" or more
properly that of 1874, the year i'll which
the assessment was really made. 1t is a
fact, patent to all, and which need not
here be rehcarscd, that values of every
kind since then have shrunk from an in
flatcd currency basis to a gold standard.
1t is true that the Radicals taxed us at
a higher rate in the number of mills
levied, but we fail to see the advantage
to be derived from the lower taxation by
the Legislature, when our property, "out-
side of towns and villages is to be as
sessed by the State Board of Equaliza-
ton at thirty per cent. more than its real
worth. The difference is, between twee-
dlcdum and tweedledee-eXcept that we
} paid Radical taxes in flush times, when
cotton brought the husbandman q hand
some profit for his labor and investment
Such action by a Board, who are &C
countable to nobody, and from whose fiat
there is no lawful escape provided, has
the most demoralizing effect upon the
people of any county who have made tc
the Auditor truthful and fair returns o.
their property. The Board, by their ac'
ton, have stignatized the whole of the
taxpayers of this County indiscrimin-
ately as dishonest, and it is reasonable
to fear That they may bring the force OF
the law to bear upon us, that they may cs-
tabliSh the correctness of their SANDER
Gus imputation against our people.
On last Saturday We made a partial X
animation of the Auditors books, and
from what we saw, we have no hesitancy
in ~propouncing them, in the main. cor
rect. 1t seems, however, that in some in
stances the owners themselves have fail
ed to realize the depreciation of their
property and have returned it at ever
moro than its present "money value
Among a number Of instances of this
kind, we would mention that of 4 widow
lady Of this town, who ONES property
that was once valuable, but which, from
various causes, is now of but little
''moncy value" This property in III
opinion, is returned at fully one-third
more than its cash value, but by the ac-
ton of the Democratic State Board of
Equalization her assessment must be
raised trclUc per cent. This is not by
any means an isolated case, where prop
crty is assessed at more than its real
value, but it is mentioned as an instance,
to show the great wrong that has been
pcrpctratcd upon us.
BY the sworn testimony Of the OWL
crs of the real estate of Abbcvillc Coun-
ty .'outside of towns and villages" the
total value Of the lands in the County is
s., 4O5, 1888, or 1872 an acre; but the auto
cratic BOARDING. member of which is
from Abbeville-iS not satisfied with this
very large assessment and iSsnt
their edict, i%nstructing the Auditor to add
thirty per cent, making the average as
scssment $50 an acre, when it is ar
indisputable fact that there is not IN
the county one farm in twenty which
would bring that amount of money if pu,
up and sold.
We are aware that this Board O
EQUALIZATION has levied this tax UNI
der the forms of law, as the law Oh this
subject directs that the State Board o
EQUALIZATION "shall add to the aggregate
"value of the real property of ever,
"County which they shall believe to b.
"valued below its true UGiue IN money
s'such per centum in each case, as will
i'raise the same to its true value in mon
"ey." To exercise the delicate privilege
v~ouchsafcd bysuch a law should cause TIN
conscientious officer to act with that grea
care, which would ~prcventhim from heed
lcssly walking on ground where angels
would fear to tread. The tampcring Will
fbn ta AVIATION of a paODlp is a SpriOuS mat