Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-11-18
Twenty Years Ago and Now.

The statement published in the last
issue of The Enquirer, showing that
the total amount Of taxes collected
from the people Of York county is three
times as great now as it was twenty
years ago, is suggestive Of a good many
things. and not the least of them is
the tremendous growth and progress
of York county during the period in
cluded.
Considering the growth of the coun-
ty within the past twenty years, prob
ably S1S1, 900 is not a very heavy tax
to pay, compared with the $4,000 that
was paid then. Honestly and truly, we
don't think there is anything alarming
in the figures. The ugliest thing about
it all, is the doubling of the levy. 1t
would seem that with such tremen-
dous increase in wealth as is indicated,
the levy might have been held at the
same thing. But If we are honest
about this, we will simply have to con-
fess that we have not been honest with
the tax collector. Instead Of dealing
frankly with him as to valuations, we
have tried to deceive him as to val
ues, and he has gotten behind us by in
creasing the levy. But after all, we
are getting about the same proportion
of values out of the s1S1,000 that we
used to get out of the $4,000, maybe a
much larger proportion.
The best service of these compare
tive figures, is to show us how we have
grown.
Even as far back as twenty years,
York used to be spoken of as great
and rich county. 1t is fact that she
was great and rich, comparatively
speaking; but just think what a poor,
measly little county York was then, in
the light of conditions as they exist
today.
Twenty years ago York depended
solely on agriculture, or so nearly so
that such few additional sources Of In
come as she had did not amount to a
great deal. There were only two cotton
mills in the county and these two were
at Rock Hill. One had been in opera
ton for several years and the other
was just being completed. Both were
experiments and neither seemed to
promise a great deal. Now there are
fourteen cotton mills in different parts
of the county, and although altogether
they probably do as much business as
the whole county did twenty years
ago. theirs is but a fraction of the to-
tai business that is being done today.
The principal business of the county
twenty years ago was farming, and
farming is the principal business of the
county now. But twenty years ago the
farmers knew almost nothing as COM
pared with what they know now. Then
labor was so plentiful and cheap that
it was really problem as to how it
could be fed. 1t was only during a short
while at gathering time that all the
available labor could be employed. But
the reason of this was largely a mat
ter of the incapacity of those who made
it their business to direct labor. Now
there is no such surplus of labor as
there was then. Those who make it
their business to direct labor have de-
veloped to point where they are able
to use all that is available, and twice
as much more to good advantage.
Twenty years ago, two-hOrse plow
was a rare thing. and there were not as
many as a dozen disk harrOws in York
county. There was not a single disk
plow in use. There were no grain
drills and no harvesters. All these
things were looked upon as experiments