The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1914-09-15

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and children turned ont o home; and.
as the State has borrowed this year all
the money she wants at u per cent,
and no individual can borrow money
at all. or if so. for not less than eight
or ten per cent therefore, it is better
for all the individuals. AS ONE,
called tn State, to borrow money to
run tie government on until April 1st,
at 3 1-2 per cent, or even at per cent,
than TO force the one individual citizen
to mortgage all ne has to borrow
money at eight or ten per cent in or
der to pay his pro rata share of the
running expenses of the government,
of which government he is one. l have
repeatedly called the attention OF the
legislature to the fact that eXtrava
CANT appropriations made extravag giant
levies, and if the legislature had list
ened to me at its last session, and sus-
tanned all my vetoes, the levy this year
could nave been much less than it is;
however, it is too last now to discuss
that situation. We must discuss the
one that faces us. There is many a
poor man who will not be able to pay
his taxes this fall-in fact he will not
be able to pay for what he and his
family have already necessarily had to
consume in order to sustain lie, and
VIII have a hard time to make ar
rangements to continue to get the ne
cessities of life under the present IL
nancial panic; and it most assuredly
would be unjust, unfair and tyrannical
for the whole to say to the one, We
will take your property and force it
on the market and force your wife
and children out in the street if you
do not pay your taxes by certain
date, particularly when the whole
knows that it is impossible for the
one, the individual to make such ar
rangements, or if he does make it, to
do so by the payment of an eXorbitant
profit to the money lender. To Illus
trate-suppose a corporation is COM
posed of ten men and they owe $780,
000-each being required to pay in
$4,000 If the corporation could bor
row the amount needed at 3 12 per
cent, and no individual could borrow
his $4,000 for less than 10 per cent
by mortgaging all he had, would it not
be better for the corporation, as a
whole to borrow the 100000 than
FOR each individual to be forced to boT-
row his 100000? Any one will answer
Yes for the individuals make the cor
poration. Just so with the State. 1t is
much cheaper for the State, as a
whole to borrow the amount needed
to run the government than it is to
force each individual to pay an exorbi-
tant rate of interest, by mortgaging all
of his property to pay his pro rata
share; and as with the corporation,
the individual makes the great corpor-
ation-namely, tae State.
CAS- l stated in my inaugural ad-
dress, in 1910, Which l repeat noW-it
is far better to have a poor govern
ment and wealthy people than it is
to have a wealthy government and a
poor people, If our general assembly
mad listened to me then, and acted
upon that presumption, which is abso-
,lutely true, our people would not be
as closely pinched as we are lin the
present crisis; but the legislature;
being Overwhelmingly opposed to me,
carried out its usual policies and
showed the world that anti-Blease-
ism was the oppression Of the poor,
while BIeaseism was then, as it is to-
day, the refuge Of the poor and the
oppressed.
It will be noted that Governor
Blease places special stress upon the
idea Of a conference between a non
factionaI committee from the South
Carolina assembly and similar COM
i1tee from other States. He thinks
this viii accomplish more in the way
OF results taan conference OF gov
ernors.
If tie people Of the State and the
general assembly want stay law or
its equivalent Governor Blease thinks
it can be done.
! August Kohn.
1S EVTPA SESSI0NS SO FAR