The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1886-11-10
Concerning Taxation.

II is prohahic that tho Farmers
Convention, which will meet in Co.
lumOia on the 9th Of this month, will
take into consideration wide range
Of suhjccts. if VIC are to Judge from
the proceedings Of the last convcn.
ton and from the speeches and let.
tcrs Of its leader. And most promi.
ncnt amuns tic topics that arc likely
TO come up is that Of taxation, that
being, to all appearance, the one
upon which the most stress is laid.
Now, we wish to suggest one or
two ideas in that connection. One
is to call attention to the well known
and long established principles that
taxation in itself 10 hardly ever harm.
tul to the taxpayers, provided the
taxes are used for the public benefit.
What impovcrshcs a country or Il
people is to tax them and then rob
the public treasury of the money
raised by taxation. When this is
done, No mattnr how small the tax,
the process IS one Of depletion, Of
sure nnpoverishlncnt, and it is
only a question Of time how long ul-
innate ruin can be postponed. We
realized the truth Of this proposition
in South Carolina during the years
Of Republican asccndcncy, when,
Notwithstanding n high rate Of taxa.
ton, the treasury was SO systematic
cally and boldly and continually
robbed that there WAS not enough
money left even to pay the per diem
Of The members Of the General AS.
scmhly. But TO use the proceeds of
taxation for the public benefit is
practically TO return the money to
the taxpayers. 70 keep or increase
the efficiency Of the government, to
afford protection to life, liberty and
property, to furnish al effective po.
lice, to erect public buildings or other
public improvements, to provide edu.
cational facilities for the people, to
preserve or extend Che public credit
all these increase Che value OF the
taxpayers property, improve the con.
ditiomS of life which surround him.
and iu9i;ish him with benefits and
advantages far greater chan he could
buy with the amount oi money taken
tronl h!ln in the shape OF taxes, cvcu
When The taxes are very M"h. An
other point is that there is no prop
erty qualification attached to citizen
ship in this country. and there ought
not to be. Hence it follows that tax.
payers are entitled to no more con.
SidHratinn in the discussion Of public
matters than non-taNraycrS. 70
hold that they arc would be cquiva.
lent TO raising property qualilica.
ton. And, besides, sec the absurdity
TO which it leads. Suppose q man OF
the highest intelligence, patriotism
and honesty, and yet without dol
lar of property in the world. This
is no exceptional case; there are
many such. lie would be entitled
to no consideration. Ills next door
nci%hbor might be man Of the very
opposite characteristics and yet have
enough property TO pay % cents
taxes on. lie would he entitled to
consideration. Again, some tax
payers pay on more property tEan
others do; some twice as much as
others. Under the erroneous idea
that we are ohiccting to the man who
pays - taxes has just twice the right
to participate in the management of
public affairs that he has who pays
only 81.
There is only one plane Of citizs n.
ship in America. Property cannot
add to or dctrac' from mans rights
as a citizen. IL is Just as wrong for
Il taxpayer to claim special consider
alton rs such rs it is for Socialists
or Nih,l;sts to array themselves
against property holders And the
assumption OF superior rights by
property holders tends to stimulate
socialistic doctrines into life and &c
Cuinh,Lim RccD1H.