The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1919-01-31
THE TAX COMMISSION.

The Tax Commission it seems is
not in good standing in the South
Carolina House of Representatives.
A bill has just passed third reading
providing for new board of tax
assessors in the state consisting OF
one member from each judicial cir
cult, which bill, if concurred in by
the senate, will have the effect of
killing the present law providing for
the Tax Commission.
5 The Tax Commission has never
been popular with the people. The
chief objection to it, however, we
believe, is that it did mot start out
right. The law looked to a business
like assessment Of the property Of
the state, by systematic inYestiga-
ton as to the values Of property,
and by means removed entirely from
politics. Instead of getting this, we
had q number of politicians appoint
ed to the positions on this commits
sion when the positions should have
been filled by business men, who had
no interest in politics. For this Gov
ernor Manning is plainly ibiamable.
Ire result was that from the start
taxpayers, business people, and poll
ticians themselves, looked upon the
work Of the commission with dis
trust. And if the papers ARE to be
believed this is still the trouble with
the Tax Commission. The whole ef-
fort is to get rid Of A. W. Jones, we
are told. ~
But there should be some way to
get rid Of A. w. Jones, if he, is not
properly performing his duties, with
out taking q step backwards. For
year or two there was just COM
plaint that the Tax Commission,
instead Of correcting the inequalities
existing in the assessment of pro-
perty, was making matters worse,
but in the last year or two there has
been improvement IN this direction.
The farm lands have not been bear
Me their Just proportion Of the tax
burdens Of the state in years past,
but this year the Tax Commission has
undertaken to cure this complaint.
There arc thousands and thousands
of dollars worth of personal proper
9ty in the state which is bearing none
of the burdens of taxation Includ-
ed inithis personal property is every
kind Of chattels, chooses in action,
notes, mortgages and other things
which should be taxed. Manifestly
all these things cannot be taken care
pf at once, but when an effort is be-
ing made To- do so nothing should be
done to- cripple the officers of the
law IN doing the right thing; nor
should a law which affords the pro-
per remedy'be repealed without pro-
viding something equally effective.
We do not believe. that the pro-
posed law will have this effect. AL
few men in the state, who are called
together for a day or two at time,
cannot investigate these matters as
they should be investigated. In Or
der to get all the property of the
state on the tax books somebody
must be constantly interested in the
matter. That will not be done if
this proposed law is adopted.
We believe, as we have said be-
fore, that the best way to get all this
property on the tax books is to have
some commission divide the state bur
dens amongst the several counties
according to some just standard.
Every man will then be interested in
seeing, not only that he does not
pay more than his proportion Of the
taxes, but in seeing that his neigh
Dor pays his proper proportion. In
that way there will be an incentive
for every citizen of Me community
to get this property the tax books,
and to see that it is properly assess
ed. But in order 5to do this some
body must make a proper investiga-
ton every two or four years to fix
these proportions. We can better
afford to have the state pay. two or