The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1921-06-02
DILLON COUNTY WEALTH AND
TAXATION.

owe are very much indebted to Ed
gar Thompson, son of Mr.. and Mrs.
J. S. Thompson, for the following ex-
tracts from the Economic and Social
Survey" Of Dillon county now being
prepared by Mr.. Thompson and Dew
ey Stephens, both of whom are Dill
lon county students at the Univer-
sity of South Carolina.)
1. Wealth Statistics.
The total wealth of Dillon county
in 1920 was $14,178,126 using the
State Tax Commission figures as AZ
per cent of the total value making
us rank 9th among the counties of
the state. In 1910. the county ranked
18th among the counties in the value
OF all farm property with total of
$1O,333,050. This represented an in
crease of 54 per cent over 1900 dur
ing which time we were still a part
of Marion county. Our increase in
total taxable property from 1910 to
1920 was 70 per cent. Seven coun-
ties outranked us in the increase.
But the total wealth of county
has relatively little to do with the
prosperity of the people as whole.
This Is better shown by giving the
wealth owned by the average lndivi-
dual in the county. In 1920 Dillon
county had a per capita wealth OF
$3.50 making us rank 26th among
the counties of the state. While we
outrank twenty counties in the mat
ter OF per capita wealth, we should
not be satisfied with our standing.
With our rich soils especially adapt
ed to the cultivation of wide varle-
ty of crops we should rank among
the first 1t is interesting to note that
our neighboring county of Marlboro
ranks 10th with a per capita wealth
of$72S. 1t should be borne in mind
that the wealth retaining capacities
of people count far more than the
wealth getting capacities.
y Farm Mortgages
The total number of farms IN Dill
Ion county in 1910 was 1859. OF
these 100 or four per cent were mort
gagged. Four counties, Beaufort, Bark
ley, Marlboro and Charleston, out
ranked us in having smaller per
centage of mortgaged farms.
The white farmers OF the county
owned 2,543 of the farms. There
were 90 or 3.5 per cent of these
white farms under mortgage. The
counties of Beaufort, Charleston and
Marlboro were the only counties hav-
ing fewer white farm mortgage than
Dillon county.
Negro farmers owned 116 farms
and 19 or 16.4 per cent were mort
gagged. Twelve counties outranked us
in this particrf.r.
The total value of all land and
buildings on these farms was
$461,655. The total amount of our
mortgage debt was $93,455 or 20 per
cent of the total value of the farms.
A mortgage is not necessarily a
bad thing. When used for making i'm
provements a mortgage may be made
with profit. But if one is given for
the purpose of buying luxuries such
as automobiles there is nothing gain
ed in making one. They arc merely
a means to an end and the end should
justify the mea is.
3. Banks and Banking Resources
In 1920 Dillon county had one Ma
tional apd six State banks, or one
bank for every 3,135 people, In this
respect we rank 18th among the
counties of the state. In 1919 our
total banks resources was $3,0SS,-
T93.47 which was an increase of ST.
>9A2. 2.775.04 or 169 per cent over
1914. The average increase for the
state as whole during the same pc
riod was lao per cent. Comparing
loans and discounts during the same
five year period we have an increase
of $722, 2,5S7.79 over 1914 bringing
the total to $1,656, 6,412,67 for 1919
which represents an increase of II
per cent. The average increase for
the state during the same period was
100 per cent. The increase IN capital
stock was not so marked. There was
an increase of only $4,000 over
1914 bringing the total to $27O,7OO
or an increase of % per cent. This
means that an increase of 1862 per
cent in resources was effected on an
increase of only % per cent in capi-
tai stock.
These increases are not entirely
the result of an increasing popula-
tion for the population increased only
11.S per cent from 1910 to 1920. 1t
is largely the result of increased
thrift on the part of the people and
was accomplished during an abnor-
NAL business period.
Our per capita banks resources in
1914 was s55 which was increased to
1922 in 1919. In per capita loans
the increase was very much less,
from SAL in 1914 to $65 in 1919. Our
per capita capital stock in 1919 was
only 5000 which was an increase of
just one dollar over 1914.
4. Automobiles.
Altho Dillon county ranks 37th in
; size among the counties OF the state
L.. of