The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1910-12-08
Iaar.e vs.. o.l.l444 CouALAcs.

Large vs.. o.i.1.4l CouAALAes.
Qulle al Interesting; use on h..s
aeI aid ami tlu Walteiuoro Sress
ana STANDARD on the Subject or LAKES
in large and in small countles. lie
laeraIo holas tnaL .a-Aes lie Just as
low in small counties as they are III
large counties, while the Press anu
holds that taxes are lower
in .ar:ts. counties. Mr.. A. w. Brao-
ham, Of Bamberg county, wrote a
letter to the Press and Standard en-
dorsing it's position in the matter.
I he Herald replied to Mr.. Brabham,
claiming that he was mistaken. This
brought reply from Mr.. Brabham,
in which he said: II can produce
tax receipts which show that the
taxes here now are from two to four
times as high as we paid to BarnWell
county before the formation Of Bam-
berg county. I paid taxes for my
wife In Colleton county on six times
as much land as own here and bet
ter land, and the taxes on one-sixth
Of the amount (my own place here)
was almost as great as hers. And
have this statement also to make,
that each year I am paying higher
taxes; and this is true of my near
neighbors, and hear complaint on
all sides of the advance in taxes.
Many coed men refuse to vote, on
account of the yearly increase in
taxes, and If a good slice can be OBJ
tained from Colleton in a year or
SO, Bamberg will almost be sure tc
lose all the Salkahatchie valley. Any
ono doubling any statement 1 have
made, can refer to the records IN
Bamberg, Barnwell and Co!leton.
The Colleton property was returned
by Augustus Verdier In Sheridan
township, my own was returned in
Barnwell county from Three-mlle
township and is thus returned In
.Bamberg county.
The Herald makes his reply to Mr..
Brabham:
"If our good friend, Mr.. A: W.
Brabham, will look up the report of
the comptroller general he will find
that lands are returned sc cents per
acre higher in Bamberg than in
Barnwell, and that .Bamberg's levy is
o1e-fourth of one mill higher than
Barnwells. we have not discussed
the matter of anybody's tax receipts
for the reason that we don't know
anything about them. Our conten-
ton was and still is thct the official
reports show that there il very little
difference in the taxes of Bamberg
and BarnHell AS to the valuation
of special pieces Of property in the
different courties, it is likely that
some was returned much lower in
one county than the other, hence
the difference in the amount of take,
paid"
The Herald frankly admits that
the assessment in Bamberg is little
higher than it is in Barnwell, and
that the levy is a little higher also
in Bamberg than in Barnwell, which
confirms MT. Brabham's claim about
the taxes in the two counties. Put
the Herald does not comment on the
claim made by Mr.. BrahEam that tAe
taxes in Bamberg county are nearly
six times as much as the taxes in
Colleton county. How in the world
than can he so, Is q mystery to US,
but as the Herald allows the state
ment of Mr.. Brabham to pass un-
challenged We will have to accept
1t. Yet, if Mr.. Brabham's statement
is true, we can't see why anr part
of Colleton crlntt should whnt ~
vote itself into BAN berg county. The
tax levy Of county does not @la'll
cate accuratel' what the taxes are
in it as compared with scmc, other
county. For 1tance, one county
might have a tax levy the same as
an adjoining county, but nave the as
sessment of property twice, as high
as the adjoining county. TO Judge
by the levy one would think tea:
the taxes in the two counties would
be the same, while, as matter Of
fact, the taxes in one county would
be exactly double what they are in
the other. The above cannot apply
to Mr.. Brabham's case, however, as
he figures from his tax receipts,
which. OF course, shows the amount
of cash paid for taxes in the two
counties. This claim of Mr.. Brab-
hams would indicate that large
counties can be run cheaper than