Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1922-02-01
GLAD TO HBAR FIsoM SENATOR.
MIR. Cook Thinks that Several Little
Things Might be Done.
.itor Keowee Courier:

eLE'T v 80 Sou " uodT ITOln our
Senator at Columbia, though we are
sorry to node that he can't see any
thing to do. However, he strikes
the right note when he says, ,,Ve
have more. commissions and commits.
stoned salaried people than We have,
money to pay them with.n He "a
precisely right in this matter. But
what is the reason he can't#thfn,
them out? That is Just what we
elected our delegation and sent them
to, Columbia for. Perhaps we have
very nearly twice as many officers in
the county government as we need.
Something like half Of them are not
necessary, and the government is
paying them about twice as much as
their work Is worth Perhaps we are
not competent to advise our delega-
ton in this matter, but the tax-pay-
ers in our vicinity are getting dis
gusted with the unreasonably high
taxes. Since the boil weevil struck
this county the farmers can't make
cotton as usual, and there Is no
other cash crop; and az taxes are
now there Is not a man in this coun-
W who can pay the taxes on his farm
with corn, potatoes, peas, peanuts,
etc., simply because there Is no
money in this kind Of crops. >&
The time has come when there Is
Obliged to be something done The
laboring man who three years ago
could get seven to eight dollars per
day for his work is now working at
one dollar per day. Flour three
years ago would bring SIS per bar
rel; to-day 1t brings only Sc per bar
rel. A barrel Of sugar &that would
bring 500 three years ago is now
worth only six cents q pound Now,
we don't think 1t is quite fair for the
farmers and laborlng mon to stand
the like Of this and pay such taxes
as we are having to pay-A-just to
keep up absolutely unnecessary Of
ttcers at wartime salaries. II c.i,,.
Representatives will thin them our
to- g necessary stand, and cue tho
salaries In keeping with the prices
g5SS gss, pE9ase 81 bay glll
They seem toH think that the Mar Is
still going on. If our delegation will
practice economy q little while they
will save our government thousands
OF dollars annually. OF course they
Will probably get little cussing
from a few office-holders, and office
seekers, but they will get the plaud-
Its Of thousands of citizens III the
country
If our delegation cannot reduce
the taxes they probably can equallze
them to certain extent. We do
think the road tax is high enough.
or anything like high enough. A
we have little girls in the count,
teaching school and the taxpayer.
paying them 500 month when
they are only worth $25 per month,
or one dollar per day.
II we are not mistaken, the wo-
men Of this country were campais
Ing for the sovereign right to vo'
for something like forty years, and
finally they won and were given the
right to vote as men vote; and we
are obliged to admit that they hay
made good everywhere they have
0een tried. 1T seems that women are
fully competent to fill any office that
men can fill, and they are more hon
est and pure than men. Their habits
are more moral and temperate than
are those OF men, and no rotten poll
t1cian can buy woman's vote for a
drink of whiskey. But we can't see
any reason why the women should
be exempt from paying poll tax the
same as men do. The laws make us
men pay State tax, county tax, dog
tax, school tax, poll tax, auto tax,
war tax, road tax, income tax, inher-
itance tax, brass tacks and every
other kind Of tacks; and then we
have 20 show our tax receipt or they
won't let us vote. We have been told
that there are more women voters
now In this country than men voters.
and not more than one-f1fth of them
ever pays single dollar Of taxes--
only the few women who own prop-
erty who ever pay any tax at oil.
Last year on one occasion we saw
more than dozen women in one
crowd going to the polls to vate, and
not single one OF them had over
paid dollar tax in her life. We do
not think this Is reasonable, or lust
and right. Now, If we happen to
nave hen-pecked husband among
our delegation at Columbia he need
not be AFRAID to move in this matter
from the simple fact that If our wo-
men we're not patriotic enough to
pay their poll tax without grumbling
they never would have campaigned
for forty years to obtain the SOW
ereign right to vote.
So come across, boys, and let's
eqne!iZo this tax matter. Let all the
poll tax go. on the roads. The con-
tractors are building roads In this
county now out Of mud. This Is
new invention. We don't know how
1t will work. Suppose 1t will work
like mud always works.
j. "A. Cook.
Madison, s. c., Jan. 81, 1929.
.