Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-01-13


| chaingang, salaries, expenses Of prison
ers, jurors and witnesses, county home
inquests, printing, postage and variou!
other items, amounting in the total Il
, ninety-five thousand two hundred ant
!, eighty dollars.
My recollection is that only three OF
; four counties in the state have lower
tax levy for county purposes than York
county. The affairs of the county are
well administered, and l don't believe
any county in the state has better
county officers. This is not only my
opinion, but it Is the opinion Of the
heads of the departments in Columbia.
In 1921, general law was passed
which made it unlawful for any off,
Ger, clerk or other person charged with
the disbursement of funds appropriated
by the legislature of South Carolina,
either county funds or state funds, to
exceed the amount for purposes stated
in said appropriation, or to change or
shift appropriations from one item to
another.
The object of this act was to prevent
state officers from exceeding the ap-
propriations made to any one. depart
ment, and then asking the general as
sembly the following year to make up
this deficiency. IT has been done in
some instances. There is no doubt that
the officers were honest in exceeding
their appropriations, but 1t was not
considered good business for the state.
This law now applies to York county.
| T think every institution in the county
should have the amount of expendi-
lures necessary for the year carefully
calculated, and should be held to that
Eexpenditure, and think every ins-itu-
Etion d. organization should stand on its
own bottom. Take, for instance, the
county home: In 1920, the appropria-
ton for the county home was s750000.
This was to maintain twenty or twen-
ty-two inmates. but the county had 300
acres of land in addition To the writer
this seemed excessive; but on investf-
CATION, 1t was found that Of this $500,
$2,500 went to the poor Of the county
not in the county nome, and that all of
the cotton from the farm was sold and
the funds turned over to the general
county fund. In addition, the grand
jury reported that the ehaingang OBJ
tained 1900 bushels Of oats, and 500
bushels OF corn, so that when we get
down to the last analysis, the county
home was most economically admin
istered; but, with its cotton and sur
plus corn and grain going back into the
general county fund, it made the ap-
preparation appear excessive. l agree
with the grand jury's' report that the
county home should be credited with
all crops produced thereon. and, instead
Of guessing, the public will know ex-
actly what the county home Is costing
On the other hand, there was appro-
priated In 1920, to the chaingang, the
sum Of eighteen thousand dollars, but
the clerk OF county boards books show
that it cost s24,134.o0. i am not max
ing the slightest accusation that a dol
lar was misspent, but ] am opposed to
the transfer OF unexpended balances.
The clerk of the county board tells me
that there was expended on the Cherry
road from the unexpended county
funds and in addition to the work OF
the chaingang, s27,S28,42, and there was
expended on the sIaluda road from the
county treasury, $13,63s.00. This sum
was supplemented by $S,000.00 from the
citizens of Rock Hill, and s1Sr000.OO
Federal aid. The money was all well
spent, but there should be direct ap-
preparations to show this, instead of
using unexpended balances
In conclusion, l think there can be
considerable reduction in the state levy
The public seems to, have gone wild on
the creation of commissions and boards.
In five years the state board Of health
Jumped from $40,000.09 to approx
mately $250.000.O0. The stste board or
public welfare takes S29,80000. Last
year the state board Of health was re-
duced to s1ss,255.OO. The commission
er of agricultre's office, $S2,743.Oo, and
the state highway commission, $130,5s
The list could be continued further
but these commissions start out with
small appropriation, and every year
they ask for more and more. Some of
them can be abolished without hurt to
the state, and others can be material
ly reduced, but even with all this, re-
member that South Carolina pays less
tax per capita than any state in the
Union, and less for education than the
average of the states of the Union, and
this last, Notwithstanding that our ap-
propriations for education through the
state treasurer's office, have grown In
five years from 100000 to approx
mately $1,5OO,OOO.
-IIPh Ntt- nIIhov