The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1919-02-13
WOULD ASSESS SALARIES.
Mr.. Ben b. Sellers Calls Attention 60
Inequalities of Tax Laws.

To the Editor of The State:-
have just read Senator Niels
Christensen's charge in your paper
that the land owners are the ones
now clamoring for the destruction Of
the tax commission because they are
now being made to shoulder their just
proportion of the taxes. desire to
state emphatically as a citizen and
land owner that / am anxious to ac-
cept my part of the load and be-
lieve that all right thinking men
ought to be willing to do the same.
Let's see who are the tax dodgers
in this state, for some of those that
are screaming most about tax dodg-
ing are the very ones that are eat
ing heaviest at the tax bill.
Some time since I was in a pros
porous lawyers office discussing the
subject of taxes and he contended
that farmers were not being taxed
Ienough. I happen to know something
of that mans business. His practice
conservatively brings him in $1,000
per year, upon which he pays not
one cent of tax.
A farmer owning a plantation large
enough to make $1,000 worth OF cot
ton will pay about $3.50 in taxes. The
farmer along with other people, who
own visible property is taxed to build
roads for him to ride on and to bring
him clients. He is taxed to pay the
witnesses for him to examine. He is
taxed to bring jury for him to lay
his case before. He is taxed to build
court house for him to plead in
and without which his law would be
useless He is taxed to hire sheriff
to summon his jurors. He is further
taxed to build school houses and pay
teachers to educate his children and
lastly Is further burdened to build
colleges to send his children to.
For all benefits I have enumerated
the lawyer and other sa1aried men
have taken full advantage and have
not contributed one cent.
know a young farmer who is try
ing to pay for a small farm. This
young man has five or six neighbors
drawing salaries of from $500 to
$4,000 per year. His income on this
little farm is never much above ST.
900. He pays $65 in taxes per year.
His high salaried neighbors living in
more comfort and style and sending
anywhere from one to four children
to the public school, paying any
where from 81 to 81 tax. His income
is less than any of them and yet he
pays Is times as much tax as any
Of them. Is that just?
My idea is that we will never have
much better tax system under the
present constitution, which is largely
a duplication of the constitution of
'6S. At that time all property was
largely lands and hence all taxes
were levied on visible property. Since
then conditions have changed and
there Is as much invisible property
as visible. Half Of the property Of the
States is escaping taxation and. that
half is clamoring for higher taxes so
as to have better schools, better
roads, better medical protection and
other benefits that belong to a pro-
gressive state, and all of which they
expect to reap full benefit from and
do not expect to contribute a pen
ny.
read pamphlet the other day
issued by the Council of Defense,
written by Prof. Reed Smith of the
University OF South Carolina. One
chapter was headed '"ho Some
Wcll," meaning tk8t TIE curse OF iow
taxes was tho Cno,5tu:lbling block in
the way of South Ccroli-&'5 upward
march. He showed that VIC paid tho
least per capita tax OF any State i
the Union except one, North Caro-
lima. He divided the population of the
State by the tax we pay and by this
simple, plausible means showed that
we paid next to nothing in taxes. He
forgot to take into his calculations
that we have 10000 or 10000 ne
gro majority, large per cent, of
whom drift from one place to an
other so rapidly as to escape taxation
altogether. He forgot further to take
into his calculation that men like
himself drawing salaries anywhere
from 81 900 to $4,000 are wholly es-
Gaping taxation, so that one third of
the people are really paying taxes
while all are reaping the benefits.
am in favor Of new constitution.
I would abolish the three mill school
tax and declare all wages property
and tax every single individual ac-
cording to his earnings whether his
earnings were from his hands, his
farm. his law practice. dentistry med