The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-11-03
Excess radical year..................S

The statement of radical taxation prepare
by the executive committee includes poll
and al! spccial county taxes.
| We paid last year only SOL 900 or mills les
thln We paid in the widest days Of radlca
rule when Moses was Governor and Soutl
Carolina was "ihe PROSTATE State and hel
Government WAS q shame to civilization
We pai:i last year. according TO Comptrollc
General StOnry's report and the statement Is
sued by the Democratic executive committee
IS Ol,0Gj more than we did In l>G%69, with Scot
Governor, S3m.OW more than we did II
$50, with Scott Governor; S5O,"N more
than i'm lS7O.Tl, With Scott Governor; $40 0U
more than in 1S'l-72, with Scott Governor
$40. .0GO less than in 1872 10 with Moses Gov
ernor; St5l $50 less than VIC did in lS73-74 witt
Moses and about the same as in lSIl.Tj
with Chamberlain Governor.
We have gi.cn the figures in dollars. Blu
in l$73-14 cotton sold at ID cents q pound anG
last yCar it sold ut - cents. The Se,Gld,00O pait
in io73.7I represented 3a,3M bales OF cotton -
80 pounds 10 the bale, the product of 1910
acres At Il third Of IL ba lie tn the acre. the aver
age for this State. Tho sos Oj0 paid las
year rrprcscnted 1920 bales, the product o
l5,jlS acres. To pay the taxes OF last yea
lrnd more than was taken for thc taxes o
1857 Il. Land and labor make the whole cap
ital of the mass Of the taxpayers Of the state
and the lax @atho"cr now takes IL per cent
more of what tho capital yields than the car
pcthag ger and the Sc,lawHg did.
But while the price of cotton Is 10 per cent
below what it was in 1873, the farmer does not
lose heavily in his ordinary transactions, b2
cause the money he receives for his cotton Is
worth more than ii was-its purchasing power
is greater. Man was 49,. cents Il pound IL
1873. Now 1t is ~ cents Il pound. The take.
of 1871 represented nineteen million pounds
Of meat; those of last year represented TWEEN
ty-ninc million pounGs.
The product of an average acre of cotton
land in lS7i-7i would pay an eleven mill lax
on $3.50 OF property. The product Of the
sanlr acre in lS>!-Sj only pa;d seven mills on
the SAME assessment A bale OF cotton repre-
S.ntet Last year the same labor and lanai as
eleven Years ago, hat almost twice as muc!
meat ana ~ per cent. more corn ur flour. But
1t would pay forty per cent, less lax lhan II
did unGrr Radical rule, and the tuXrS were
but Il per cent. less, making the owner of the
bale Just p per cent. worse off under Demo
cratic than under lta'iical rule.
When our taxes represent more of what wc
produce AMI more of what W" have to buy
than they did some years ago We are cnt both
ways. Thcy take more of our labor and land
and deprive us OF more OF what we eat and
wear. Are they not. 1hrn. actually more than
they We're under the Radicals?
We do not Gclcvc there has been fraud IL
our State government. We know much o
the present taxation Is unavoidable and thai
We are gamers now over lS.:t-Ii hCcuUSe the
money We pay in is uScl TO pay old debts and
present expenses ana there is no dett bein:
piled on uS. The Democratic party ami "ov
crnmcnt is no more responsible for the b;ll
,icn put Oh us from lnt plSG LIln u Is lpE IIlt
decline in the price OF cotton or for the rail
road taxes.
Eat there is no use for Col John Peter Rich
arCl-on to go around thc State trying 10 prove
that we are Il lightly taxed people. The fig
urcS prove that We are more heavily taSct
than we were in Radical times, when taxa
ton was said to amount to confiScaliOn.
What we need IS 10 understand ana la"o The
fact that with our efforts to pay what VIC owe
to save ourselves from the curse Of universal
ignorance ~ ma. aiming public school sys
TEN, and to develop CIR country and utt,1l
our fortunes by building railroads, wcarc very
heavily burdCncd and injuriOualy taxed
Then apply the pain business principles used
by honest business men when they find debt!
pressing, business bad and credit strain ed
Cat down expenses to absolute necessities
abandon all luXurieS and SpccuiallOns; avoiC
the attempt TO continue i'm poverty tht
schemes, habits ard pleasures of wealth.
We have tried 10 answer the challenge q
."A Small Tax Payer" Now we vii! make an
other assertion aud see II he will challenge 1t
Here it IS:
The expenses Of our state can be cnt down
Si5AU below what they were last year. aIt
State taxes can be reduced Il mill and II fUurtl
on the present assessment wltiolt Injury Il
the public interests.
We waited for our brother Of the C0lnmbh
RcyiN'cr, but find he is ringing in Il SCra
story on us as editorial assault, and must
therefore, attend to The other customer