The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1914-12-09
Citizen of Proposed New Coun-
ty Protests Against Change.
December 1st, 1914.

ty Protests Against Change.
December 1st, 1914.
Editor Press and Banner:
see Mccormick is pushing the proposed
new county Of McDufie to be formed OF a
narrow strip of Abbeville and Edgeheld
countiesl
In the first place, this will make "a
BEAUTIFULLY shaped territory some Az
to As miles long and not over 10 miles vide
at widest points, with the northern or one
Of the long sides somewhat like a saw
edge. This zig-zag line so designed as to
cut off some influential citizen who mlght
strongly aid to defeat them.
Now. Mr.. Voter and Taxpayer, L would
like to ask a few questions and make a few
statements. Now, as I see it, there are a
few people about Mccormick who. seem to
want to lave things their own way and
are :disgruntled with Abbeville for some
cause; and some who think they will be
able to get the offices; and still others who
expect to gain in a material way (regard-
less OF injury to otherS) in thinking that q
c~ounty-seat will necessarily bring new Gus
toners to the place. Their main argu-
ment, is, that small counties, like small
farms: are more prosperous than. large
ones. Now, Mr.. Voler, are they not wrong
in their reasoning For does not the
small farmer do his own work and raise
and sell more things than the large one
who hires his labor2 While on the other
hand, the small county has to maintain
the same set Of officers as the large coun-
ties; Ia fixed salary list Of ten thousand
fs1O, OOO) dollars or more They say this Is
not so, but do not the Supervisor Of roads
and his department get a fixed salary?
Does not the Auditor get a good salary ?
The Sherif's Office, including the jail, has
to be paid a fixed amount, supplemented
with fees, as is also the rest Of the offices.
Therefore 1 cannot see how they can Jug
gle figures so as to fool themselves that
they can get two men to do work at the
price Of one.
Then they are arguing that the Court
house, Jail and road outfit will not cost the
taxpayers anything, as we can issue
twenty-year bonds for this. They might
as we'll tell a man that to buy a farm on
twenty-years time would cost him moth
ing-you can pay for it with the mortgage,
but the only way I can see how he could
get out of paying the principal and inter-
est, would be to give up his land and move
out. That's the way I see this bond issu
for a new court house, &C., for a bond is
IS. nothing but a mortgage on every foot OF
lane and every dollar Of property In the
territory covered by the bond, which the
taxpayer will have to pay to a sinking
fund annually to retire these bonds.
As for their contention that taxes are
less in small counties, it does not stand
the test, for Lincoln County, Georgia, our
next-door neighbor, pays $500 road and
poll tax, and their ad valorem tax is nearly
twice as much as ours. How is that for
small, shoestring counties?
Another thing: The only industry to
nav all these things is the farmar, as the
ma ltry little railroad village would only
amount to "a drop in the bucket" They
saw, "Oh, industries will come? Well
Left them come, and when they do come
will be time to try for a new county.
Consider the fact thBt the proposed Inc"
county gets about one-half OF the bridges
in Abbeyille and Edgefeld to keep up, and
in all the most expensive part to keep up
with the least amount Of taxable property