The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1911-01-18

Ing article. In the form of a printed
circular. from j. C. Stribbling OF Pen
dieton:
If rake-off in a liquor deal is graft
Ing the States money, what Is the
man doing who is false swearing
| about the amount of tax he is due
the State?
We often become awe-stricken over
| corporation or foreign graft, but have
to be lambasted into paying any at
tention to our big army of home
made grafters--tax dodgers-at our
own door.
If 1T is tiagrant violation of law
for the general whskey drummer and
dispensary men to fail to turn in just
revenue and profits to the State. is 1t
not also crime of the. same class
for our genial friends in other occu-
pations to fail to turn into the State
every dollar Of taxes he is due the
State according to law?
We farmers are prone to point to
corporations and the business world
as the great harbingers OF grafters,
but the plain truth is no man or class
Of men can point the finger or scorn
at any other class and say thief!
CRATER.
The farmer has the same kind of
human nature in his makeup that
everybody else has. All the farmer
has to do to rid himself of this con
! ceit, let him take a peep at Il few
pages of his county auditors book
and blush with shame at the black
sheep there is within his own flock
Why, bless you, not long since
farmer was looking over his county
auditors books after another matter,
and uncovered the tax returns of an
other farmer who is worth more than
100000, who returned his property
at less than $4,000
This well-to-do farmer pays less
than 800 tax, while another farmer
near by, who does not own one fourth
as much property. pays $500 tax And
worse still. this well-to-do farmers
son is on the county board OF equal
iZation, while yet another son is the
| county clerk. Now this may not be
a conspiracy to have one son holding
down the county board of equaliza-
ton and another holding down the
lid OF the books that contain records
of securities of his fathers. but at
the same time we are forced to say
that IL this ugly state OF affairs is not
conspiracy, that 1t Is at least an
all-flred convenient accident or coin
cident to protect tax dodgers.
Am Intolerable Outrage.
Many OF us know OF cases where
some unfortunate who owns nothing
taxable save his head and heels (poll
and road) has been chased for miles
over the country and finally run
down and In for from $S to $I3 cost
and the employer is compelled to put
up the cash for his unfortunate la
borer or tenant or his man goes to
the chaingang. while another we'll
to-do tax dodger, just as lawfully
due the State anywhere from $50 to
800, Is allowed to false swear and 20
free. Another case is the "home
builder" (the slogan for the safety
OF the State and nation who pays one
third on his purchase for home and
borrows the balance and after years
of toilng under the burden OF high
interest, taxes and family expenses is
closed out at last to satisfy the money
lenders claim. which is lawful but
the holder of these iron-clad securities
had not paid dollar taxes on these
notes and mortgages during the whole
time this home builder" was strug-
Cling to pay both interest and taxes
too.
Ask this money lender why he does
not pay the taxes on his securities
and he will have the gall to say
whole heap about double taxing, to
compel the farmer to pay tax on bor-
rowed money and the money lender
pay tax too, while the law says both
shall pay tax.
A King Tax DOdger In High Place.
am informed by reliable source
that we have in our State a corpora
| tion that has put more than 81 100000
cash into its business, that is paying
tax on only $4,000. for the reason
that one of the head officials of this
corporation Is on the board Of asses