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

tarred with the same stick along with
the common tax dodgers and the rest
of them keep mum for fear of being
] called common knocker"? So far
as placing all property on the tax
books upon equal basis at it's market
value Is concerned, the county au-
| ditor's office is farce. and the board
of equalization Is a huge joke.
Why Pays for the Rake.off Held Back
by the Tax Dodgcrsl
1t is stupendous fact that every
one who places his property on the
| tax books at current or customary
rates helps to pay the graft. or rake
| off held back by tax dodgers. which
fact should enlist the active coopera-
tion OF all law-abiding citizens with
Comptroller General Jones in his com
mendable crusade for tax equalization.
The Remedy.
Publishing all tax returns In county
papers every four years at reassess-
ment of real estate is the one fell
sweep that would attract the interest
and aid the people in each township
| of the State. This publicity is the
gattling gun or bombshell that would
drive every hider-out into the open
where the populace can inspect the
| returns and see to it that no one shall
pass muster without clean record
For the same reason that we require
establishing of expenditures of the
| peoples money that we may see
where it goes, we should also know
who is not turning in all the Just tax
money due the county and State.
The drag-net that would catch all
| the sharks that jump over and dive
under the first of January as the dates
for property on hand instead of nam
ing one day, the law should take an
average of several months for basis
of money on deposit or in any busi-
ness.
Tax Infuisitors.
n tax inquisitnr for each congress-
ional district having the right to ex-
| anime all public and corporation rec
ords and the power to summon wit
nesses as we'll as the right to convene
county boards OF equalization to suit
the itinerary OF his rounds would also
be the one limb of the law that might
be made to bring in a revenue OF $40
or more for every 81 spent on his
work ON either OF the plans of o. SAL
ary or percentage pay. Some think
that these tax inquisitors should be
required to change districts in their
rounds. after the plan OF the circuit
Judges
Kind OF Men to- Enforce Tax E9Ws.
These tax inquisitors should not be
foundering politicians or weaklings OF
the 80 cent calibre, but should be
selection from among the ablest men
we have and paid accordingly for their
work-men of spine, discretion and
diplomacy. that know the law more
than kith or kin. or friend or foe.
Something Must be Done
We have been moralizing over this
tax dodging graft about long enough
1t is time our representatives go for
these parasites upon the body polite"
with gloves off, and provide a sure
plan to tighten the screws down upon
all tax dodgers alike. We have sent
a Lyon out after the liquor grafters
| that fetched in the game, and we now
want gang of Bengal tigers. that
| can see. to go after the wiley tax
dodgers. Something must be done to
| relieve the strain upon the con-
science of our good people who are in
the habi. of sitting in the amen cor
| ners of churches singing psalms on
| Sunday, and go before the county au-
ditor on Monday and swear that the
| value of their COW is SIS. when they
know they could get $50 or $40 for
| her. or their land is worth ST per acre
when they know that other lands by
them are selling from $40 to 500 per
| acre; or they have no other property,
stock, notes, mortgages. cash or any
other property to their credit not
listed in their returns, and spend six
months afterward trying to relieve
the strain upon their conscience by
saying they all do It," or trying to
make themselves believe that false
swearing Is diplomacy or some other
left-handed thing with no harm in 1t.
A Show Down for the DcmagOgue.
Most any man who has the pluck
to say that the plain people do the
| double tax paving, while the cunning