The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-11-04
HAGOOD AND PARIS SIMPKINS
THEIR SUPREME EFFORT MEETS
A MOST SIGNAL DEFEAT.

THEIR SUPREME EFFORT MEETS
A MOST SIGNAL DEFEAT.
The Friends and the Stockholders OF
the e. C. G. and C. r. r. Fail in
their Effort to Secure Tax on
the Property Owners Of Aiken.
(dsken Recorder.)
On Thusrday last, October ga. an e,ecslo;l c,,i'
was held to ascertain whether or not Cne ctCl. -
zcns of Aiken Township would subscribe De, tae y, =
sum Of Ave per cent. upon the assessed Vaiue
Of the taxable property, IN saiu ,n,isIImsn,S
and the result has been at WI Waterloo ugiea' " ~
the advocates Of subscription by axation' s as
win by the ta5niatea bSno resH,s Wto major.
III OF ls3 votes against the tax out oi toIai
In view of the extraordinary nature Of the
canvass and the bitter feelings II mas t 'e't hrief
review of the contest, in order tnat persoue
outside Of the County may properly appteS,,,
ate the character Of IA me ,s9e ss sna de1eas
So far as Aiken is concerned, this railroad
project originated in a scheme to build a
far0ad to 9bs shs EdseSed Trenten and
raiir"ad' consisting of u line Of about twenty
Ave miles. The roadbed OF this snort loe
was garded to Croft's mill. eont oetWeen
fnur and five miles Of Aiken, by convict laoor'
About this time the funds which had been
subscribed by private individuals gave oat,
and the towns along the line were aske9 10
subscribe by taSau9a. A,Sem hed %an md the tax
defeated by considerable majority. Inls
happened Ia 1850. Work was supended, ana
nfter = lapse of some months the !itt.e EdSe
Held, Trenton and Aiken road was consoiidat-
ed with five other roads ION paper ana incor-
norated under the style OF the Carolina Cum-
berland Gap and Chicago Railroad;
naeetings. backed by various pronuhciamen-
tns and interviews, containing vast anIount
OF verbiage, but absolutely .9othing tnat
!eSked or Sope "al abot
Obtaining aid from Engltsh, capitalists:
. Whereupon. in December, 1888, an act was
passed by the Legislature authorizing conn;
flies townships, cities and towns. Interested
I'm the construction OF the Carolina, Cunber-
land Gap and Chicago Railroad. 10 h9iu eiec-
tions on the question OF subscription 70 the
a majority Of the holders OF real estate: In
February, 1884, the application OF free-holders
was made, and an election was held IN tne
tcwn Of Aiken on the question OF suoScrio insataG
contest, the corporation decided py tne sInaii
Eiajority Of eleven votes asainst the suoscri p
This was the moment when the friends OF
the road should have made the supreme ef-
fort. but instead, the chief burden OF ehe
camgaign was left to the press, woiie sne exc e,
cutive management seemed to be conhned 70
one long interview, where IL was announced
chat sciiofield was stir hopeful, and some
other innocent diversions, Which thouSn
amusing. failed by a majority OF eleven votes
of securing the desired subscription. From
the strong opposition manifested at this eiec-
ton by almost the enlire bus ness coumun1'
erai, IT, seemed evident that If it ever came to
q township election, subscription by taxation
would receive Waterloo defeat, rs the cit1-
zens Of the township could ne ashea WIN M mo no
road, in which they had nttie or no .nter,
est, after the townS.people had twice refused
TO impnse the tax upon themselves, when
they, if any, were to reap the beneficial results
of the enterprise. The fact Of the matter Is,
that the road passes through only a conner OF
the township, and would practically he of lit
tadividuals who owu land in proximity to
Neyertheless, after the usual amount Of in.
terviews and meetings IN CharieSton and
10 try Aiken again, this time for the town
ship. as under the terms OF the act OF Decem..
Der, iSSs, another election for the town could
AtSer much difficulty the friends Of the tax
succeeded, a few weeks ago, In obtaining the
written call for an election, by q majority OF
and the election was ordered by. due adver-
tisement of the County Com missioners In the
columns Of the aiken Recorder for Thursday,
For weeks before this, an animated canvass
had been carried on by the friends of the sub
scription, but from this time until the finish
the work became fast and furious. Meetings
were frequently held and every effort made TO
enlist the support Of the "brother in black"
who. having no taxes TO pay, except on his
head, was in a fine position TO enjoy the can
especial benefit, regardless Of present or fu-
ture conSeq quences.
but, in quiet way. took good care that each
taxpayer should understand the merits OF
the case. and the large increase of the taxa
OF these who voted for the tax when the ques-
tion was submitted to the citizens or the
town, refused to participate In the manifest
Injustice OF voting TAX ,h upon me sarmefs Ssd %
twice refused TO bear 1t themselves. The tax
payers Of the township denounced the effort
te levy tax upon them, for the building of q
road In which they were not interested, as an
attempt at "whoesale robbery and oppres-
sion." They claimed 1t was no affair Of theirs;
that 1t was brought into the township by a
deviation nom the proper course, for the ben :
eft of three or four individuals, and that
these parties, tog ether with the citizens of
the town, were the pers ons 70 reap the oene.
M and therefore they shogd Ce wng
crease the bitterness incident to this cam
paign; what We write Is simply a record Of
the facts, and motives underlying tne StruS.
The friends OF subscription held frequent
meetings and endeavored in every way to
convince the people that 1t was public i'm
provementfor the general good. and laid great
stress upon the tact that the tax would not be
collected until the road was built from Tren-
ton tO Aiken.
The feeling on both sides was very strong,
and frequently manifested itself in acrimon-
lous aud offensive expressions. and 1t is an
open question whether the abusive tone and
injudicious expressions Of some Of the active
partisans, of the subscription party, did not
work greater injury to their own side than to
their opponents.
The day before the election a grand barbe-
cue was given by the friends of the tax, and
the crowd was addressed by ev-Gov. Hagood.
ex-senator Jas. Callison, Of Edgefeld, and
Others, and to cap the climax, the notorious,
Paris Simpkins, OF Edgefeld: who figured ex.
tenslvely during the good old days Of Radt.
cal stealase, and whose name graces the re.
places, was introduced as one of the speakers
The Introduction OF the Honorable Paris
Simpkins certainly was productive OF no
good results to the subscription party, as we
are crcdibly informed that the idoa CT utillz.
Ing such material as this INSCRIPTIONS color
ed Radical politician was like the last feather
on the Gamers back, for 1t drove several doubt
ful white votes to all unalterable determine
tion, TO oppose any scheme that found 1t nee
essary 70 utilize SO repulslve an agent
We have said enough to show that the
friends Of the subscription tax left no stone
unturned to carry their purpose, and that
while their opponent beat no drums, held nc
pensed no whiskey, yet they were vigilant
and active, and finally triumphed by the de.
cisivc majority OF one hundred and twenty
three votes.