The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1913-04-30

Inc Tribune mas on several Occa-
sions introduced the question OF this
three mill constitutional tax. At one
time 1t asked the following question to
the people Of that portion of Laurens
county now sought by Fountain Inn:
Are you satisfied to keep on paying
out your good money to help support
schools In the poor districts, or do you
want to become part of new county
that is practically all garden spot,
and thereafter get a dollars worth of
value for dollar spent in taxes?
The Tribune therein implied that the
upper portion of Laurens county is
now paying out by way of this three
mill tax more money than it receives
in return and that the lower portion
of Laurens county benefits at the ex-
pense of the upper. We will not
charge The Tribune with wilful mis-
representation in this matter, for we
believe that it is so engrossed in it's
own arguments that 1t has forgotten
to examine into those of others. We
will merely lay the misrepresentation
to the credit OF ignorance of the true
facts in the case and proceed to pre-
sent those facts.
For this purpose it is necessary to
choose some units from which to Sc
cure figures on which to base any
conclusions. AS the figures in the
county books are made up by town
ships our figures will be based on the
same. Dials township. though it is
the only township in the contested
territory with railroad in it, is TAX
en- as representative Of that territory.
AS Laurens and Hunter pay the bulk
of the taxes in the county at present
and as both of them lie wholly with
out the proposed new county, we will
take them as representative of the
lower section of the county. They
are not, however, really representa-
tive for they are the richest town
ships in the county.
The total taxable property in Lau-
rens and Hunter townships is s4O42,-
600 and the three mill tax on this is
sl2,126. OF this $12,126 these two
townships receive S6,22S They, there
fore, contribute to the, other town
ships of the county the sum of $5,S9S.
The total taxable property in Dials
township is $597,OOO. The three mill
tax on this is $1,791. Instead of not
eating all of thic &c Tho Tr;b,,ro
would have US believe, it receives
$2.lS4, which is about % per cent
more than she contributes by this tax
The conclusions are inevitable.
pay out more than they receive in
return and since Dials pays out less
than it receives in return, then Hun
ter and Laurens contribute to the de-
examined the figures as to Youngs and
Sullivan, it is safe to presume that the
same conclusions apply to those town
ships. only with added force because
of the absence of any railroad or
large town. Thus the fallacy as to
the three mill tax is exploded. Since
The Tribune has weighed" its words
so carelessly on this phase of the new
county question, it is natural to fear
less it has been equally careless as to
other phases.
In considering the other phases Of
the tax question, the people of the up
per part of Laurens county doubtless
bear in mind the fact that the cotton
factories and railroads in the lower
part of the county pay upon almost as
much taxable property as is contain
ed in the entire proposed county The
time has passed in South Carolina
when the farmers pay the tax that
supports the government. The cities,
factories and railroads are now the
principal tax producers in these days
and times. We hardly think that the
people of the upper part of this coun-
ty are guileless enough to be lead
to think otherwise.
CHARLESTON GIVES