The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1882-09-26
The Difference between Then
and New.

The EconomiSf prints two tables-one
showing the value of and taxes on prop
erty in 1850. the other showing the value
of property and taxes thereon in 1881.
The difference is quite marked but then
the circumstances surrounding the State
in 1860 and those surrounding il no,c are
quite as marked as the difference in the
taxation and the value of property Sen
siblc people will not lose sight of this If
the Economist does. In 1860 the popula-
ton was 10000, nearly Jne-half of
which were slaves; the votes cast in that
year were about $4,000 The total value
of taxable property was so, 529.23I, of
which $29, 206,632 was the value of the
slaves and SIS, 3d., 599 was the value of
al other property. The State tax was
los cents on the hundred dollars of
property. There was no debt To speak
of, and consequently no tax was imposed
for interest. There was no school system
and no tax was assessed for schools
There was no State institution like the
Lunatic Asylum to be supported by taxes,
and the criminal costs were trifiing, for
the reason that the overseer was gener-
ally Judge, jury and executioner in nine
tenth> of the cases and this saved a large
outlay from the State treasury for Jurors
and witnesses
Now, all this is changed. There are
no more slaves to be valued as property
and taxation must fall on ''other j,roperty.''
In lNNo We had 100000 population, all
free; in that year we voted ) 900; our
debt was about 81 300 900: our annual
interest is $4,000; our State school tax
l. ten cents on every one hundred dollars
of property; our Lunatic Asylum costs us
annually 5000, while our criminal costs
are much greater than they were under
the old system before the war
Let us suppose that the burdens now
to he met by taxation had existed in 500
and that there was no slave property,
what would have been the rate of taxa
ton on the SIS, 1922 ,599 of " other prop
tay" reported in the tax-books of that
year necessary to meet the expenses of
the government Let us see:
Tax Tor ordinary expenses Sis 10 "a
Necessary f'T interest -..---.-.- $1,000 %
STATE school TAX -.... ss.sS-.. 5s
LunSiC ASYLUM Is upo ~
Total ...-..... -....... *2oI as6 IS
The tax for interest, the onemill school
tax and the expenses of the Lunatic Asy-
lam. amounting in all to $l43, 323 80, are
the additional direct burdens the changed
circumstances have imposed upon the
people, to say nothing of the indirect
burdens that a largely increased pop
ulation imposes. Now we say that had
these burdens existed in $50, as they ex-
Isl now. ii would have been necessary to
raise $26l $50 To meet expenses: and
If there had been no slave property then,
a. there Is none now, it would have re-
quired a tax of nearly Seren nails on the
then taxable property to have enabled the
government To meet the demands on its
treasury Democratic economy and good
management have reduced the taxes from
l.! mills, what they were under Radical
rule to @ere' mills inn -, and this re-
duction will keep pace nth the increase
in taxable resources. 1t is thus seen that
the fathers in 1850 ctuld have done no
better had the circumstances then been
what they are now.