Year: 1874

Laws of South Carolina


PASSED AT THE SESSION OF TIL


GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 1873, 1874.
CONTINUED.


An Act to reduce all acts and parts o


acts providing for the assessment


and taxation Of property into on


act, and to amend the same.


Section "a. If any express or tole


graphic company shall foil to MAKE


and deliver to the Comptroller.gener


al the statement required by this act
on or before the twentieth day o


August, annually, such company shall


forfeit and pay to the State of South
Carolina five hundred dollars, as


penalty, and the Comptroller-genera
shall certify the fact Of such failure tt


the auditor of the county in this State
in which said company may have al
office or an agent, and said auditor
shall place the same on the duplicate
of said county; and if any express OF
telegraph company shall fail to make
TO the auditor of any county in thil
State, the statement required by this
act, on or before the goth day Of Au
gust of any year, such county auditor
shall notify the Comptroller-genera
thereof, and if the Comptroller-gener'
al shall have received from said com
pany the statement required by this
act to be made to him by said com
pany, he shall certify the amount
returned as in said county to such
county auditor, and add thereto, as
penalty, the sum of ten dollars, which
Shall be charged to said company on
the duplicate of said county, collected
and paid over to the State treasurer
in the same manner herein provided
as to the penalty for not making the
return to the Comptroller-general
Provided, That if any express or tele.
graph company shall fail to return
tho statement required by this act to
the Comptroller-general, and the
Comptroller-geueral shall certify such
failure to any county auditor, such
county auditor shall proceed to ascer-
tain the gross receipts of each agert
of said company in his county, for the
year ending the first day of July of
that year, together with the value of
all other property of the company in
his county, add fifty per cent. thereto
as penalty, and charge the company
with taxes thereon, at the several To-
calities required by this act, without
any deduction for expenses paid out
by the company. And if any such
company shall have no principal office
or agency in this State to which the
other agents in the State are required
TO make return, each agent thereof
in any county shall make return in
the month Of July, or before the goth,
of August annually, of the gross re-
ceipts of his agency, for The year
ending tho first day Of that month,
with the value Of all other property
of the company in the city, village or
town in which his agency is situate,
and the county auditor shall charge
the company with taxes thereon, at
the same rate as other property in
the same localities; and if such agent
or agents refuse or neglect to make
such return, the county auditor shal!
ascertain the amount Of such gross
receipts and value Of property, add
fifty per cent. thereto as penalty, and
charge such company with taxes
thereon, nt the same rates charged
other property at the several locali-
tics where such property may be situ-
ate and such agencies located.


Sec. rs. All returns required by
this act to be made by express and
telegraph companies, having their
principal Offices out of the State, shall
be made in such form as the Comp
troller.general is authorized to reor.I.r
answers under oath, to auv questions
he may put to the principal, or any
otaer agent OF ssuy of said companies
ln TINS stare, and to examine any Of
suce agents, under oath, relative to
the property and affairs of such COM
panics, and the management thereof,
which oath he may administer; and
if any such agents shall refuse to sub
NIT to such examination, or refuse or
neglect to answer any such questions,
he shall be deemed guilty of contempt
of the Comptroller-gcneral, and the
Comptroller-g general may certify the
fact to the court Of general sessions
of any county Of this State, which
shall issue warrant for the arrest Of
such agent, in the name of the State
of South Carolina, directed to the
sheriff of such county, who shall ar
rest such agent anywhere in this
State, and take him before said court
of general sessions. and, upon hear
ing and conviction, such agent shall
be fined by said court in any sum not
exceeding five hundred dollars and
costs, and be confined in the Jail of
the county where tried until such fine
shall be paid, and answers be given to
all such questions as the Comptroller
general may PROFOUND to him.


Sec. 26. Each agent in this State of
any insurance company organized
under the laws of any other State or
country, and doing business in this
State, shall, annually, in the month Of
July, or before the goth Of August,
return to the auditor Of the county in
which such agency is located, asworn
statement Of the gross receipts of
such agency for the year ending on
Al,