The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-21
The nro,ap course for the Treasurer or

when this list was given him by the Sher-
if was to have turned said list over to the
Auditor whose duty it would have been TO
first find out whether these parties were
liable for poll tax for the year fer which IL
was proposed to make them pay; and II
satisfied that they were, then to nave Is
sured a supplemental poll tax return IN
duplicate, for each Of them; give one OF
these to the Treasurer, as his authority
for collecting the tax, and retain the other
in order that he might enter the same on
the tax duplicates at the proper time, and
thus charge the Treasurer Herewith; and
all the Treasurer would have had to lave
donein order to have collected the one
dollar and seven cents in the case Of each
of these negroes, would have been to have
notified MIR. -- of the amounts, as he
had already informed the Sheriff that he
was ready to pay whatever tax they were
liable for.
But what adds to the gravity Of this
matter is the fact that a large majority OF
these negroes were from other Counties In
this State, North Carolina, Virginia, and
Georgia, and were not living in this Coun-
IN 1906, the year for which they were made
to pay this tax.
But it is not so much on account OF the
fact that money was unlawfully taken
from these poor ignorant people, bad as
that was, that we find fault with, but 1t Is
on. account Of the wanton disregard OF the
law in the matter.
Should no cognizance Of a matter Of this
kind be taken, If it were permissible for
the County Treasurer to collect taxes In
any such manner, there is no telling to
what extent the same might be carried, If
nerchance q dishonest man should be
made Treasurer.
The County Auditor, not wishing to be
made a party to a transaction OF which ne
does not approve, has refused to have
ANYTHING to do with it, and SO, as we un-
derstand, no abstract Of the same has ever
been made out and sent to the Comptrol-
ler-General, and consequently the Treasur-
er is not charged by him with the amount
Of the taxes collected from these negroes.
We find that it has been the practice OF
the Treasurer before beginning the collec-
tion of taxes, to write out a receipt for
each tax payer, and then to lay aside the
tax duplicate and pay no further attention
to it during the time for collecting taxes.
In the Treasurer's duplicate given to
him by the County Auditor, and by which
he is expected to be governed in collecting
taxes, there is q column headed Date Q1
payment" in which he is expected to write
the date when a party pays. I..%
As before stated he does not use this
book at all in collecting taxes. but Is, gov
erned entirely by his receipt book, and
consequently the date when a party pays
his taxes is not entered on the tax pupil
cate. ,N
II the Treasurer always had an efficient
and a reliable person to call off the names
to him when writing the receipts, there
might not be any trouble grown out OF
this practice; but should it happen, as has
been the case, that the person calling OIL
the names should not be accurate, there
will always be trouble.
For instance: Suppose a party by the
name Of Martin should call to pay his
taxes, whose name had been mistaken for
that of Madden, and the receiptso written,
the Treasurer not finding Martins name
in his receipt book would inform the party
that his name was not on the tax books
and that he. must 60 to the Auditor and
get an assessment, slip, when all the time
his name had been properly entered on
the tax duplicate, which fact If the Treas,
urer had used his duplicate to collect by
he would have seen, and have saved this
trouble. (
And besides this, when the time comes,
for issuing executions, the receipt wrong
fully written out in the anne Of Madden,
would still be found in the receipt book
which would be satisfactory proof to the
lTrersurer that the tax had not been paid.
and an execution would be issued against
Madden, when really there would be no
such person.
This execution would be put in the hands
Of the Sheriff who Of course would fail to
find such party, and, so report to the
Treasurer, and the Auditor Is blamed for
the whole thing, whereas the fault lies
with the Treasurer, for, II he had collected
the taxes by the duplicate, as he should
aud the date OF payment entered in the
proper column, none Of this could have oc-
CURED, and the nulla bona tax list would
be that much less.
COUNTY SHERIFF, ..
While we are disposed to give the Sherlf1
credit for being, in many respects, q most