Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1888-02-01

VerSlty.
The weather was all that could have
been desired, and the attendance on the
Union was remarkably good. Much good,
no doubt, will be the result of the meeting
in the growing and prosperous town OF
Rock Hill, HAL.
For the Yorkyillc Enquirer. ~
STUDYING THE FINANCES.
CHAPTER II.
EDITOR OF THE ENQUIRER: 1 heartily
concur in the sentiment expressed by the
honorable Senator from York, THAT the
facts should be correctly stated, and let
the people Judge fairly, as they will do"
The Senator says that I "made many erro-
neous Statements" If l did, and made
them purposely, there can be no excuse for
~me-nothing will justify willful misstate-
ments, by whomsoever made. Herein my
position differs from that of the honorable
Senator-I can be excused for an errone-
u statement, due to lack of information.
Not so with the Senator-it was his duty
to be posted on these matters. But, did L
make any erroneous statements? And
more important still-has the Senator
made any?
NOW, LII OIuCI W SlOW al ollSSSu o% fAbS
of $500, the Senator says that az mill
raises $4,000, this for four years will raise
$40, 400, from which deduct $4,000 for de-
fciency, and you have a saving Of $500"
The Senator may not call it an "errOneous
statement" but the $4,000 deficiency is a
deficiency due to insufficient levies for
three (not FOUR years.. e., from Novem-
Der l, 1884, to November l, 1887. If we
are to deduct anything from $1,000, we
must assume that the rate of deficiency is
uniform, and deduct $4,000 plus $766.66)
So, OG6. 66. S766.66 is an '%'erroneous state
ment" of fair proportion, not altogether
overshadowed by a still larger 'erroneous
statement" of not less than $3.50!
Fellow citizens, do you save the In
QUIRER? If you don't, you ought to;
You could then turn to its columns and
ascertain that the "unappropriated bal
ance" of the "ordinary county tax" on
November l, 1884, was s7,241.2O. | admit
that a large number of unpresented claims
was then outstanding. The County Com
missioners have always asserted that the
unpaid claims would not reduce the ST.
421. 90 below $4,000. The County Treasu-
rer, however, in his report, in March,
1885, shows that $3.50 is nearer the exact
figures. He reported on hand County
fund.- 1,430, and neaO claims paid Sl,595,
making S3,O25. The error Of the County
Commissioners lay in not deducting certain
receipts Zines from trial justices, &C., sutfi-
cient to reduce the s3,025 to $780,. Let
US remodel the Senator's statement: a
J mill raises $4,000, this for three years will
raise 81, 500, from which deduct $4,000 for
deficiency, and the surplus 0fS2,SSW $3.50,
and you have a saving () in three years
of $500, including the amount withheld
from the ''outside poor" (Who remained
with us)!
The word "saving'' means n thing to
the Senator, to me quite another. There
has been in his eyes "a saving" when me
lem has been reduced. 1t takes q reduc-
tion in the expenses to satisfy me-. But, we
can not definitely fix the loss to the county
from her inability to "pay as she goes"
Is it saying too much to assert that every
bridge built on credit, costs the county
forty per cent. more than it otherwise
would? "Let the people judge"-will not
500 cash build the same bridge that would
cost $40 on credit? It Was "a pretty pic
ture." View it from this standpoint: At
the commencement Of the Senator's term,
there was a surplus in the treasury OF
$3.50; at the end Of the third year the
surplus is all gone, the county is $4,000 in
debt and has gone to borrowing money,
upon which she must pay Z per e n IN
terest! Are the gentlemen who are re-
sponsible, pleased at that view of things?
What will the jurors who had to discount
their pay certificates last summer say
when they speak?
The Senator says: "The county levy
from 1876 to 1884 was 3 mills" Now, my
tax receipts lie before me, covering a
longer period than that mentioned by the
Senator. What a pity he did not consult
his tax receipts-they would have saved
him Giving in a glass house, from throw
ing stones labeled ~'erroneous statements u!
They would have shown him this: County
levy for 1876 Il. e., November, 1876, to No
vember, 1917 g mills; 1877, . mills 1878,
3 mills !; 1873, 9 mills. 49,.
The Senator says, too, that my crItl-
cisms of his letter were inspired by hostil-
ity to himself. In the first place, 1 deny
il; in the second, there has been no cause
for personal hostility between the Senator
and myself. That does not deter me from
saving, however, that his attempt to make
me say 10y implication) certain things in
my first communication, is hardly 1alr.
For example, he says that he is not an
"otfice-seeker." Well, I never said, dI-
rectly or indirectly, that he was. There
is. then, no issue betWeen as. If he Wu not
an ofice-seeker,-not using the term in an
offensive sense-then the office sought nm:
The honorable Senator has the right
to say that much for himself, and he can
settle that issue, if any, with 1.-The people,.
Another example: l never said that the
past indebtedness of York county was $4,000.
There was not a word or line calling IN
question the statement of the Senator
that Sc, 300 was the deficiency. L accepted
that statement of the Senator as correct,
and have not ven attempted to VERIFY IT,
Still another: The Senator says, refer
ring to me, she intimates that the same
Legislature that stopped the printing OF
these reports, was the one that tlrst re-
quired their publication" Let the peo-
pie Judge" whether, in writing, l amt-
mated anything, or, DESTROYS OF drawing
their attention to a particular matter, Sala
what l wanted to say in that plain Engiish
that then understood, albeit a sensitive
Senator imagined that something else was
in1plied. Perhaps / was mistaken, but 1
thought l was doing some pretty plain
talking For the information OF my TEL
low-citizens, I will remind them that the
County Commissioners reports alone were
published from 1869 to 1888, when, BY
some law adopted in 1882, the reports OF
the Treasurer and School Commissioner
were also published.
In conclusion, the people, at least, will
not question my right to look into the
condition of the courty's finances: Still,
I did not enter upon "a careful study
of these important matters" until the hon
orable Senator had extended an inUtatiOn
to "the people" so to do. He may now
sheer at what 1 call "~studying the finances,
and ridicule the idea of ny attempting
such a thing. TO my fellow-citizens, L