The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-12-20
From the Me,ps,I and Courier.

g. t. > q b. . u. = :. =
Comptroller General Ellerbe, in one of
his ANNUAL flts Of reform, has addressed a
circular letter to the county auditors, in
which, in the true Tillnanite spirit, he
directs them to disregard the decisions of
the Courts and to assume to themselves
the duty of assessing property, which by
the law Is devolved upon the boards of
county assessors end the State board Of
equalization.
That there are certain inequalities in the
assessment Of taxes in this State no sane
man will deny, but such there ever will
be to a greater or less extent under any
system Of taxation. But it is the place
of the Legislature under the Constitu.
ton, and not Of the Comptroller Gem
oral, to regulate the system of ASSESS
ment.. It is the Comptroller Generals
place to carry out the law. The board
Of assessment and the State board of
equalization fix the values of property
for taxation, and the Comptroller Gem
efal and the Auditor have no right to
interfere with the assessment so fixed.
The Comptroller General has simply
found mares Fest when he declares
that all property must be assessed accord
ing to 'sits true money value," and un-
dertakes for himself to overrule the de-
cision of the board of assessors as to
what is "the true mouey value" It is
exactly that question which the board
of assessors are required TO decide, and
it is usurpation on the part of the
Com ptroller General to alter the de-
cision of the assessors to suit his own
views.
He says there is no law authorizing the
assessment of property at two-thirds Of
hot
value" and true money value are neand
been forced to nse his property in lieu Of
money knewu bstter than that. The "true
money value varies from the market
value according to the marketable char
acter uf the property. The market value
of bushel Of corn or oats and its true
money value are very much the same, as
the owner cain dispose Of 1t readily for its
market value, but household furniture
or iewelry or works of art, however new,
cannot be utilized for the ready money
at anything like the market prices.
Real estate also is seldom salable at
forced sale for its full value, and if the
owner wants to borrow money on 1t he is
not likely to obtain loan of more than
two-thirds the value of the real estate.
So, after all, the boards of assessors in
generally adopting two-thirds of the mar
ket value as the trqe money value seem
to us to be nearer right than the Comp.
trolIer General in his effort to have all
things taxed at their market value.
In another point of his letter Mr.. Ell
lerbe gets badly mixed. He seems to
confound an ad valorem tax, such as is
contemplated by our State Constitution,
with an income tax, which is an entirely
different matter and is not authorized By
our Constitution. If his suggestion was
followed out the intelligent and indus
trious farmer who makes two blades of
grass, or two bales of cotton; grow where
one grew BEFORE, would be taxed twice
as much on the same quantity Of land as
his stupid or lazy neighbor, who only
raised one bale.
We are quite In favor of any system Of
taxation which will make each man bear
his full share of the burden of taxation,
but we are not in favor Of legislation by
the executive branch of the Government,
or Of any legislation contrary to the Con-
stitution Of the State, and we consider
it the height Of indecency for an execu-
tive officer to instruct his underlings to
disregard the decisions ofthe Courts.
The most glaring instance of unequal
of taxation in the State is that
of the railroads, in which the Comptroll-
er General and the railroad board Of
equalization have attempted to override
the Constitution and the laws in the in
terest Of se-called reform.