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^ 1" y;?? VOL. VIII. TEE SOUTH AND THE WEST. A MOW AND STltOMi COAMTION. IMain Talk I'rmii Southern ami Wen lorn Democrats?What Soulli i'uroI ilia's Ui'|ii'i'sniluli\rs hit l)oin<> ? Tin" Now So nil t of IVoiii Mississippi. Sjocinl to the Greenville Mountaineer. Washington, March IT.?South Carolina has ovory reason to fool proud of Hon. A. .). McLaurin, tho successor of Sonator Walthal. who though ho is Mississippi's Sonator, is South Carolina's M>n. Uo is a Democrat of tho old .lelYersonian typo, and whilo ranking Hiuiiiig tho highest loyal talont of his State, is as plain and simple in tastos and manner as tho founder of his ' * party. lie is a cousin to Hon. J. L. McLuurin, and though they never know one another personally until they met in the halls of Congress, the old (laolio blood asserts itself and they arc us cordially linked together as if they had lived on adjoining farms. Our local representatives have some measures before the present ^Congress ami are watching and pushing them. llepresentativo Latimer said a day or so ago that his bill to limit the tenure and powers of receivers will be i reported favorably by tho committee, lie does not want any feature of the j bill to impair the interest of any corporation by limiting the powers unnecessarily for the receivers, but insists that there shall be no discrimination in the settlement of the utTair of an insolvent private individual?a creature of tlosh and blood, and an insolvent j corporation?an urunciai creuuiro oi the law. Representative Talbort has intro- j duood into the Ilouso a bill to reimburse the direct tax claimants who wore debarred under some provision of the general bill. It is the same bill that failed to receive a favorable report in the Senate some time ago. Representative Strait will probably .get his naval eadotship, whioh was takon from South Carolina and given I to Alabama. There is an effort being made to secure some action on the repeal of the < Id per cent, tax on State Hanks, lfj the effort is successful there seems to ' be an impression that it may meet with j favor from some of our Congressmen, who were instructed to vote against it by their constituents. Speaking of this matter the other day one of them said : " Wo want more money, and whilo 1 do not favor State banks of issue on account of the dillieulty that attends insuring an unwavering and unfailing standard of value, still if the bill guards t hese points well, 1 may be i induced to favor it and risk satisfying | my constituents when 1 go home." 1 lln nfl ^ ipmil..) iTn !\tll t?. I I 1 t.A rl.vtl l\l ! become a law, though thoro are soinu indications that it may bo restored by the 1 'resident. I believe there is an unreconeilablo dilTereneo between the Democrats of the Kast with those of tho South and West, The action of the Now York delegation on the Bland bill has intensified this feeling almost to the breaking strain, and the following very significant language of Representative Bankhoad, of Ala., is a warning or ought to be to those who refuse to al- 1 low the majority of the party to rule: j Mr. Chairman, 1 have been most pained by the action of my Democratic 1 brethren from tho North and Kast. 1 They have not only stood idly by and seen our discomfiture, but have con- ' tributed to our distress. When their j interest is best served they turn and rend us; when their interest is * threatened they appeal to us. This ' condition can not continue. If our! Eastern friends will not he just, if they will not consent that we may live on on our own elVorts and receive the wages of our labor, wo will seek now alliances. If we can not get fair play from the East, we will take Horace Greeley's advice, and go West; the ' South and West have a common in- : terest and destiny, and we will invite them in 189(3. You Democrats, so called, who have j dictated the policy of the party in the past, will bo sent to the rear, and the ' great West will bo asked to lill your j places. You gentlemen who call your- j selves Democrats and who have been consorting with the Kopuhlican ! minority on this lloor to defeat Democratic measures, will not bo trusted longer. The South and West will ! assert themselves and put into effect a truly American policy. Now listen to this, it is an extract from the speech of Hon. Geo. W. j Eithian of Illinois: Let me say to them [the Northern and Eastern Democrats) that tho scepter of Democracy from now on will go to tho united West and South. That we spurn and repudiate their peculiar kind of Democracy as spurious and too much contaminated with John Shormauism to bo followed by the Democracy of the South and the West; and Jet mo say to you now that the next national Democratic convention will name a candidate for ('resident who lives Wi t of the Allegheny Mountains on a platform favoring an income tax, recognizing silver as honest, safe, and legitimate money, and to the coinage of both gold and silver without discrimination against either metal, and that platform will condemn ithe issuance of interest-hearing gold Ibonda in times of peaco to raise revenue to pay the current expenses of the Government, and that the candidate upon that platform will sweep the country like a prairio lire. Wo invito the gentlemen from Now York to got into tin; hond wagon and go iVJoiig. You have had things your way for a long time. It is now iimo to give the people a chance. Let mo say to my Now York brethren that if it comes to tho point whoro II I I ?i??? the Democracy of the South and the NVost must make tt ehoieo between New York Democracy, between goldbury Doinoorucy between the Democracy that they preach and practice under the leadership of the gentlemen from Maine (Mr. Heed) and till' I tl'llll U'lllntl I .... . ??VJ 11 I1IV11 I V|/l V .-IV, I 1 L> >'11 this lloor, (ho Democratic masses of tho South and West will not bo slow iu muUinyr tlieir ohoioo between tlio two. l'robably tho ablest arguoment over inudo on tho income tax was thospeech made by lion. \V. I). Hall, of Missouri. 1 wish every citizen of tho United States could road that speech. It s bowed authorities for tho justice of tho measure beginning with Moses and Aaron to John Shcrmun. The introduction and argument on this measure surely makes a now era in tho theory and practice of taxation, so far as tho United States is concerned. It. proceeds upon tho theory that taxes are to bo in proportion to protection of property as of whom much is given much will bo required. I.isten at this : 1 tell you when you oppose a measure of this kind, when you come to tho great masses of tho people and say that tho wealthy of this Government shall bear none of its burdens, then you make a foundation for tho argument of anarchy, socialism, and demagoguory, that eventually will sweep hack and curse this country, as it did in Franco in tho days of the French revolution. * * * * * * I hoped, sir, that tho wealth of this country would have hud tlio wisdom, would have opened its eyes wide enough, would have exhibited a sufficient degree of that Intelligence with which it is generally credited to have, to have come forward and said that it was willing to bear its just proportion of the taxes necessary for the support of our Government, thus relieving to some extent the great mass of the people from tax burdens. ?>ut 1 am sorry to see, with but few exceptions, the^ have allowed the veil of greed to bo drawn down over the eyes (if intelligence llhd shut from view tho tenets of justice, the principles of right, the sound doctrines of economic legislation, and the cries, petitions, and prayers of millions of our laboring classes. # * * * * * Now, Mr. Chairman, we have all boon before our people more or less. We have all talked with them about what we were going to do for them. We have declared ourselves time and time again that we were going to enact just laws, that should lay the burden of the Government justly and equitably upon all. There is not a Republican orator in the sound by my voice that has not made that {dodge. There is not a Democrat or 1 'opulist speaker or member in this House that has not roiterat oil that statement time and again. 1 know that wealth is lighting this bill now. I know that wealth has and ever will oppose any tax, however just, that lays one little bit of burden upon ueeumuhitecl wealth. Hut. sir, now is the time to redeem the pledges made to our people. Now is the day, and now is thi! hour. I say that never since I8(>0 has there been a time when the Congressmen were called upon to stand by the interests of their people more than now, even to the spirit and the letter of the pledges made by those before mo upon this question. Go forward ! The following will bo truly appreciated by those of our section of the country. Again, there is no system of espionage greater than that carried on now throughout tho United States by the deputy marshals all over the hroath of this country, who, every time that a poor fellow sells a twist of tobacco to liis neighbor or a detective, haul him up and bring him into a United States court, to respond to a charge of violating the internal-revenue law. But now, when we ask that tho wealth of this country, that those who have incomes above $1,000 per year shall be required to make an exhibit of those incomes, to the end that some small portion of the burdens of Government shall bo placed upon thorn, in consonance with all the principles of Christianity, of morality, and of political economy wo hear this cry raised that the tax is an inquisitorial tax. For shame ! Senator Sherman, in a speech made in the United States Senate on March 15, 181)2, uses the following language: The public mind is not yet prepared to apply the key of a genuine revenue reform. A few years of further experience will convince the whole body of our peoplo that a system of national taxes which rests the whole burden of taxation on consumption and not 0110 cent on property and income is intrinsically unjust. While the expenses of the National Government uro largely caused by the protection of property, it is but right to call property to contribute to its j payment. It will not do to say that | each norson consumes in proportion to his means. That is not true. Kveryone must seo that the consumption of | the rich does not bear the same rola: tion to the consumption of the poor, as I the income of the rich does to the wages of the poor. As wealth accum| ulates this injustice in the fundamoni tal basis of our system will bo felt and 1 forcod upon the attention of Congress. Mr. S. W. Williams, who will bo pleasantly remembered as a former citizen of Groonvillo, holds a place in the war department. Since coming to ! Washington he has era flu uteri in law I at the Columbia law school. Ho secured his place under civil service. I Another South Carolinian who camo ! here ten years ago and accepted a place under civil service is Mr. A. F.. j Miller, of Due West. He is a grnduato ! of medicine, but waetices very little, lie. holds an important position in the bureau of education, but is a shrewd trader in real estate. lie realizes inoro from that source than from his salary and regards himself ono of the fixtures of Wushjngton, at least so long as he can please his superiors, Very prob CONWAY, S. C, T] ' ably his success is largely duo to the fuel that lie is married, and has a charming wife and two babies, liesides owning his own home, ho has other property in various parti of the City. His prosperity has not chilled his genial sympathy, but on the oontl'JI I'V )..? n..I-.... ' ' - - j .. w ? x i iuiio iw rainm tt uui|)' iiiti" hand to his old friends from tlie 1 'ulmctto Stato. The impression mado by a former communication from here on the question of patronage seems to be that a government place is not hard to get. It was nevor meant to convey such an idea, and in this connection Capt. Shell has asked me to say that as an evidence of this fact, three other gentlemen went a short time ago to intercede for a constituent, but all their petitions were in vain, and the punty who came hero expecting a place had to return home without it. A VICTORY FOR THE STATE. TAX CASUS !>!<:?'! l>l<:i> AOA1NST Til K IIAI liltOAIIS. Judge Simoiiloii Molds (lial (lie AnsesHinciilw Made by tlic Itailroad llourd of l-.<|iiali/.u( ion are Not excessive?The Itoud Ordered to Pay U|? the Unpaid- Balance of their Taxes. Judge Simonton last week tiled a decision in the much-litigateu railroad tax cases. The title of the case was I). H. Chamberlain, receiver of the South Carolina Hallway Company, vs Geo. 11. Walter, Hugh Ferguson ot al. The issues involved are clearly explained in the decision, of which the following is the text: TIIK DKCHKK. This bill is brought by the receiver of the South Carolina Railway Company against certain county treasurers and sheriffs of the State of South Carolina, seeking instructions respecting the assessment and levy of a tax upon the railway property in his hands. This proceeding is ancillary to the case of F. W. Hound vs South Carolina Railway Company in which the complainant herein wrr, appointed receiver. (Davis vs. Gray, Id Wallace, 211), After setting out the sections of the General Statutes of South Carolina prescribing the mode of making returns of railroad property for taxation and then averring that he had made his return for the tax of 181)1, fully conforming in all respects with the requirements of the law, the bill goes on to say that all real property in South Carolina assessed for taxation has boon heretofore and is now openly and notoriously assessed for taxation at a uniform rate of n() or GO por cent of its actual face value, and that personal property is assessed at the same rate or less. That ho made the return of the property under his charge at the accustomed valuation theretofore placed upon it at from GO to 05 por cent of the same, which was fully equal to and in reality higher than the relative value of other property in the State. That this return having been Hied with the Comptroller General, and having been submitt.ixl hv t.hfit. < i IVmor t,i ?ix. SO.it,. board of equalization for railroads, that board considered the same and raised the assessment from $13,000 per mile, as made by complainant, to $10,000 per milo, and in the case of the Carolina, Cumberland Gap and Chicago Knihvay property, leased by and so returned bv complainant, raised it from $5,000 to $10,000 per mile. At tho same time the same board raised the assessment of all the other railroad property in this Statu greatly above tho returns made by them respectively. The bill then charges that this board of equalization for railroads made this increase in the assessment of railroad property, well knowing that the valuation tixed in their returns was fully equal to and the same as the average and uniform valuation of the similar roal and personal pioocrty in this State by other boards. l'hat in making their valuation county auditors and county boards of assessment throughout the State had concurred in establishing a rate of valuation about 50 or 00 per cent of the actual value, and that this board of equalization for railroads assessed the property at a value, with tho intent thereby tj cast a groat proportion of the burden of taxation on the railroads and to shield and protect from their just share of taxation other classos of property-holders. That the Constitution of South Corolina provides that all property subject to taxation shall be taxed in proportion to its value, and directs tho General Assembly to provide by law for a uniform and eiyial rate of assessment and taxation, and to proscribe such regulations as shall secure a just valuation mm Lit a u i* it hi ui iiii |Mi)jjMruy, run i, personal and possessory. The bill charges that this board of equalization for railroads has violated this part of tho Constitution; that by its action tho property of all railrouds in the State has been denied by the State the equal protection of its laws ; and that this railroad property bus been assessed and taxed unequally and unjustly in violation of the loth amendmcnt to the Constitution of the United States. The bill also charges that whilst under the Constitution of this State lands and the improvements thereon are assessed for taxes every fifth year, the property of railroad companies, consisting largely of land and improvements thereon, is assessed for taxation annually, in this respect being treated as personal property. But that for the purposes of Hen and collection of taxes tho Acts of Assembly deal with it as real estate. That this action on tho part of this lniard is unconstitutional, null and void, depriving railroad companies of thoir property without duo process of law ami denying to them equal protection of the laws. Tho bill also charges that tho act of the board in raising tho assessment is in itself null and void and the assessment is illegal, because this is not within tho powers of the board. It is averred that tho complainant has paid the amount of tax lawfully and justly duo on a proper assessment. Tho answer denies that tho return J mado by complainant is true and corroot In valuation of tho property IIURSDAY, INI ARC 11 ^ thereon. It demo* thut the sum paid is tiio amount of tuxes really and justly due. It avers that complainant has a plain, adequate and complete remedy arlaw. It is well at tlio threshold to define the limit of the power of this Court over the subject matter of this suit. It cannot review the assessment made by the State otllcials simply upon the ground that it is excessive. (Starling vs. the Supervisors, 121 U. S., 1Mb.) Nor can it make a now assessment or direct another to be made. (State | luuiroiul Tax Casos, 02 U. S., 015.) j | Nor can it interfere upon the ground that^tho tax is illegal. (Williams vs. Albany Co., 122 U. S., 154 ; Logon vs Alley. KM) U. S., 177.) Nor can it interfere because the Court would prufer and would have adopted a ditTerent ! system. (W. U. Tel Co vs Massachusetts, 125 U. S., 553; Davenport National Blank vs Supervisors. 123 1'. S., S3.) "So long as a Statu, bv its laws prescribing the mode and subject of taxation, does not intrench upon the legitimate authority of the Union or violate any right recognized or secured by the Constitution of the i United States the Federal Courts, as between the State and the citizen, can i ' alTord the latter no relief against i I State taxation however unjust, op- i pressive or onerous li may be. (Kirt- ' land vs. Ilotcbkiss, 100 u. S., 401 ; i Memphis Gas Light Cos., vs Shelby i Co., 100 U. S., 308.) All these are questions for the State alone and are < within its police power. But when I the overvaluation of property assessed i for taxation has arisen from the adop- t tion of a rule of appraisement which t conflicts with a constitutional or i | statutory direction, and operates on- j equally, not merely on a single in- ( I dividual, but on a large class of in- ' dividuals or corporations, the Courts < can give redress to the party aggrieved i thereby. (Stanley vs Supervisors, 121 i U. S., 551.) It is put clearly and ? tersely in Cummings vs National ? Bank, 101 U. S., 187 ; "When a rule or I system of valuation is adopted by 1 those whose duty it is to make the t ussesssaoni, wuicn is designed In > operate unequally and to violate a i fnndaniontal principle of the Con- i stitution, and wlion this rule is applied ? not solely to one individual, hut to a < largo class of individuals or corpora- 1 tions." i We sec that there is an essential ? ingredient. Those whose duty it is to * make the assessment must adopt a 1 rule or system of valuation with the ' design that it shall operate unequally ( and violate some fundamental prinei- * pie of the Constitution. ? What is the rule or system of taxa- ' lion adopted by the board of cquali/.u- I tion for railroadf? The Ceneral I Assembly of South Carolina are instructed by the Constition to prescribe such regulations as will secure a just valuation for taxation of all property under a .uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation. (Article P, Section 1.) The Act passed pursuant thereto provides that "All property shall be valued for taxation at its true value in money, which in all cases not otherwise specially provided for by law shall be as follows, to wit: For personal property the usual selling price on the usual terms of similar property at administrator's or executor's sales at the place where the return is made, and for real property the usual selling price on the usual terms of similar property at sales for partition under the order of Court ut the place where the return is made. If there be no selling price then what is honestly believed could bo obtained for the same at a fair sale under the conditions before mentioned?'' Ceneral Statutes of So Cu. Sec 219. Apart from the consideration that nunn if iiujofinnN/.tii u i.-- 41-! v< vii ?i viiu (voouooiiju 111; II AUll liy LII IN ' board on tbo proporty of complainant t is excessive tiiis Court cannot inter- s fere. (Stanley vs the Supervisors, i supra.) There is no reason to think i that the board do not, in the language t of the Act. " honestly believe that the I value lixed by them on this property * is its stilling price at a fair sale." < Indeed this last conclusion is not do- i niod. The complainant avers that t the property was returned by him at I ><) to <>."> per cent of its real value in I his cstimute. And we can presume t that when/it was raised by the board t they acted under the statute. The I ground of complaint is that by uni- \ form and notorious practice other i r< al and personal proporty is assessed i for taxation at about 50 to 00 per cent i of its value notwithstanding the Act of t Assembly, and that this action of the ?. board of equalization for railroads, t departing from this practice in the | case of railroad property, was with i the design, intent and purpose of i putting the burden of tax alone on 1 railroudsand not in order to carry out i the provision of the Act of Assembly. 1 Kvidoneo of this design is deduced ( from the course pursued with regard toother proporty in the State, and the t practice prevailing of assessing such i property below its real value in money, I a practice well known to this board < and departed from by them in assessing i i the property of railroads. i In South Carolina the general mode I of assessing properly for taxation is as < follows : Kach county in the State is I divided into tax districts, small terri- < torial subdivisions, for the sake of con- | venionco. Tho county auditor appoints 1 for each tax district three freeholders 5 resident, therein us a board of assessors. < They meet, organize, elect a chairman ' and proceed to assess for taxation all i the real and personal property in their i tax district. This assessment is sent < to the county auditor, by whom it is i submitted to the county board of equal- i ization, which consists of all the chairmen of the tax district boards. This i county board meets at the otllce of tho auditor and examines the returns of all tho tax district boards. If any pro- , porty, real or personal, has been re- i Suirncu oeiow lis true valuo they raise tho assessment. If abovo such valuo they docroase it. They cannot reduce the aggregate below tho aggregate of all tho returns of tho tax district boards. Tho cbairmon of tho county boards constitute tho State board of equalization. It in turn reviews the action of all the county boards. It has tho same powers as to increasing or diminishing values that the county boards have. Tho auditors of tho . counties act as dorks of the county boards, and tho Comptroller General attends upon tho State board, i With regard to railroad property an entirely dilTorent method prevails. r I Tho president and secretary of each i, 1894. company it. required annually to make returns to the Comptroller (ieueral ol the railroad property and its value. Those returns are submitted by the Comptroller Conceal for consideration and action to a hoard eoiyhst.intf of State o 111 curs, the Attorney Conceal, the t 'omptroller Ceneral, the Secretary of State and the State Treasurer. Their duties are to 44 equalize the value of the property of railroad companies by increasing the value of the roads and property of such company as shall in their iudmnent. Imvn ' at too low a valuation and diminishing the value of such as may have boon retui'iuid at too hitfh a valuation." (Jenem! Statutes, Section ISd. The term here used is "equalize." ltut as there is no aj,r}4rebate to be maintained as in the ease of county taxes, this word must be used with reference to the lan^ua^e of the Constitution and must be construed to mean to secure equality. This board is entirely distinct in personnel and otherwise from the other boards above referred to. A mass of testimony has been taken lind has been tiled with the record with respect to the mode and practice of assessment by the tax district and rounty boards, it would consume too much time to ifo into this in detail. The result shows that for a lone period f time, up to recent date and perhaps up to this time, the provisions of the Act of Assembly have not been re^ard d and real and personal property have boon assessed for taxation below the real value in money. Hut nowhere Iocs it appear in the testimony that lids is the result of preconcert, conui.'unco or conspiracy between and t mo nit the boards, such as appears in huninin?ts vs National Hank, supra. There is evidence of coincidence in ipiuion and action of concurrence in uethods and in jtencral result, but lone whatever, that is of direct 'videneo, of preconcert in action. Such oncert of action may possibly be inferred from similaritv in tho result. Mil the evidence bIiowk that although lie hoards all assessed real and personal property below its real value in money the course of the several boards aiis capricious, without lixed method >r percentage. Although the average if valuation was below the value in money in all the counties concerning A'liieh testimony was olTered, in some if the counties parcels of land were issessed some above and some below lihcir true value in money, notably in Itichlund County. Ihit is this coincilcnco of action and result on the part if tax district and county boards conjlusive evidence of design to put the burden of taxation on railroad companies? Is it susceptible of other explanation? It would seem that it is Llio result of a viee in the system of issessment. The tax district boards nuke the first assessment. By law Lhey must be freeholders resident in Llio tax district. They have a direct personal interest in a low assessment, md their environment induces them ,o make it. When men deal with the nterost of the Covornment and of the iti/.en nil doubts are solved in favor of die citizen. This must be said, however. in explanation and perhaps in justification of the action of these tourds. In an agricultural community, md in one dependent upon the well icing of the agriculturists, it is impostible to lix the value of lands. A succession of bad crops will make land nnlalablo. One good crop will create a lomand and a selling price. So what and may bring if sold depends not on ts intrinsic value so much as on the droumstanees under which it is sold. Paxes must be paid without regard to masons or crops. Hence the average ,'aluation designated to cover a period if five years. If thcro be no proponlorance of evidence showing design on lie part of the tax district and county isscssors to throw t.lio .... ?t... ----- . v.. XV i/lll MV/II W|1 HIT ailroads, is there any ovidonce from vliich such design can bo inferred on -ho part of this board of equali/.ution or railroads? Tho Comptrollor Gonsral, one of this board and from his )tlicial duties and oxperieneo tho lendne member of tho board, probably leductin^ and controlling its action in lis otllcial report to tho Legislature in 1891, calls tho attention of that body to ho low rate of assessment of much of -lie property in the State and urtfes ogihlation to correct the evil. And vhon wo consider tho independent tction of this board under a statute mperativoly requiring them in mak11 tf assessment to take as a standard lie true value of the property in mon>y, and also eonsidei tho admission of -ho bill, that the return was about bf> icr cent of the real value, $13,000 per nile, and that the increase to $10,000, unking it about HO per cent, we cannot iold that this increase in assessment s so excessive and unjust as ncccssariy to indicate the design and motive sharped. Another objection to tho action of -he board of equalization for railroads s that notwithstanding the fact that a argo nart of the property of railroad lompanies is laud, they are assessed mnually. The State Constitution directs that lands shall be assessed every ivo years, and this practice i?> obsorv?d with respect to all lands except diose of railroad companies. This inlicat.es design to oppress railroad coinnanies, and at all events violates the I Ith aim ndment. The Constitution of South Carolina (Article 9. Section I.) liroots the General Assembly to "provide by law for a uniform and equal rato of assessment and taxation." It Lfives the General y^ssembly full dis::retion "to prescribe such regulations iis shall secure a just valuation for taxation of all property." Tho General Assembly obeyed the direction by requiring all property to be assessed at its true value in money. Kxcrcising its discretion it prescribed a set of regulations, which, in its judgment, secured a just valuation of railroad property for taxation. A railroad is a unit, every part contributing to its purposes us u wholo. If it bo a corporation its corporate purpose is the maintaining a railroad and all and every part of this property must contribute to this purpose. Its right of eminent domain is limited to this purpose. This unit is made up of lands, personal property, chosos in action, easements, all dependent upon and inseparable from each other, deriving their value from this inseparability, from the fact that they contribute to this unit. Thoy differ from every other species of property, and the discrimination made as ixjtween them and other corporations and individuals iu the methods and i instrumentality by which the value of their property is ascertained is not invalid, Kentucky It. K Tax (.'uses, 115 I'. S., ,'{.'17 ; State It. It. Tax Cases, 1)2 U. S., till. The mode prescribed by | tlio Legislature of this State is to yet at the value of the plant, that is of all these elements yoiny to make up the j I railroad, audio ascertain what their combined contributions makiny up this 1 unit are worth. If they separated the I component parts and attempted to lix I i separate values upon them they would j enter into an impossible task. The ' value of Km lands of a railroad depend < i mueh on the character and condition i and completeness of its rolling stock. ' The utility and consequent value of i i the rolling stock depend largely upon |i the facilities at stations and at termini, t the amount, location and character ?>f j j the land used therefor. i i After careful consideration there ap- j pears no evidence of such a design as | will alone give this Court jurisdiction, j i Let an order be taken authorizing 1 and instructing the receiver of the I South Carolina Kuilway (Company to t pay from the funds in his hands as such t ; receiver the remainder of the tax an- 1 paid and the costs of these proceed- s ' ings. ClIAHLKS 11. SlMONTON, I Circuit Judge. March lllth, 18511. < The attorneys in these cases were : I For the railroad, Messrs. Brawley a < Barnwell and Mitchell A Smith. For the State, the Attorney (loneral, ? Messrs. Samuel Lord and Ira B. Jones. < BLANI) WINS THE VICTORY. I s TUB KMX ATI*! INAHSBS TUB llll.L. v Seoalor Teller Makes a Serious u < liurge Against .lolui Sherman?1The H Demoerais are Nearly Solid Ihe f Measure Now (iloes lo I he President. v Washington. March 11. ? After the s routine morning business the Senate, n at 12:110, resumed consideration of the Bland seigniorage bill. Mr. Dolph o I (Kep.) of Oregon, stated that as obieo- v i tion had been withdrawn to the print- li ing of the extracts whicli he had re- ii I ferred to in his speech yesterday, he n would consider that speech as ended, t j Then Mr. Teller (Ken.) of Coloradoad- t dressed the Senate in support of the fi hill, lie denied the assumption of Mr. it Sherman and of other Senators who w ' had argued against the hill that the act of 1S5H) left the coinage of silver to b I Mm discretion of tho Secretary of the t i Treasury, and lie declared that tho act w ! was mandatory and that under it the w Secretary should edin as many silvor o I dollars as ho had issued Treasury I i notes. If *1;V>,000,000 of Treasury \\ notes had heen issued they $ I 000,000 a of silver dollars should he coined for 1 the redemption of the Treasury notes. I 1 le claimed that thediiTerenee between t i the purchase price of tho silver bullion c ! and its mint value should he put into u j money uml used for currant expenses c ?because the net declared that the seigniorage should he turned into the h Treasury and he also argued that the o j proper execution of tho law required li that there should ho for every dollar of 1 ! Treasury notes, a silver dollar lying in t ! the Treasury, ready to be paid out to t | the man who demanded it in exchange t for Treasury notes. a There were one or two other points o in Sherman's speech which he desired t to contradict. One of them was the statement that there was a hoard of tl Ml.000.000 of silver dollars lying idle li in tho Treasury. ''Therein no hoard of that kind in the Treasury," Toller t< asserted with emphasis. "'I'lio state- I mont is an untruth. Mr. Sherman S spoke of it as an idle hoard. There is t< I no idle money in tho Treasury of the United States. There has been no idle tl silvor money in the Treasury except h j that which lies behind the Treasury e< 1 notes, to the extent of 000.000. Tho statement mudo horo by a member of ? tho committee on finunce (Mr. Shor- b man) and sent broadcast to tho world t; that wo have a hoard of $!M,(M)(),i>00 of n ido silver money in tho Treasury is unworthy a place in this Senate. It is absolutely untrue, and is known to bo |, untrue by every mombor of this body. ? And yot that is tho kind of food that a is fed to tho people by those who put 0 this country on the gold standard ; and ]j who are not satisfied with having do- a stroyed tho industries of tho country, S( but are now attempting to disgrace us | as Senators, by showing that wo arc e supporting a bill infamous in its char- p actor, and by misrepresenting the facts ^ to the people of tho world. This do- H bate has been most unfair, as debate p has always boon on the part of tho men ,j who advocate tho gold standard. It has been unfair in many respects. It t is unfair, or else it lacks in intelligence; |( and frequently it is unfair and lacks in |< intelligence also. Kvery dollar of sil- v vor money that has been coined is ^ doing money duty, and is doing it with p infinitely moro potency and power than anv gold money that is in circulation j in the United States. A more unfair v and untruthful statement could not a have been made." Mr. Goorgo (l)oin.) of Mississippi ar- ,, guod in support of tho bill, although ho admitted that it was 14 artificially ^ drawn, inapt in expression and with ? some ambiguity in it." c It was not, he said, a freo coinage t measure, lio wished that it wore if p there was any chance of its becoming law. The bill proposed only to require ?< in specie terms the coinage of silver a already purchased, already owned by _ the government and already required by law to he coined. While Mr. George was still speaking, tho hour of 2 o'clock arrived, and then 1 Mr. Harris (I)ein.) of Tennessee rose ,..wl /l....... i - Vl ...... hum. 111 uriitirunuuu Willi id" terms of unanimouH consent to voto to ^ bo tukon on Mr. Allison's motion, to reconsider the. voto ordering the bill to ^ a third reading. The vote was taken W and tlie motion was disagreed to?yeas, 0 28; nays. !."?, as f allows Yeas?Al- ' drich, Allison. Urico, CatTery, Caroy, * Chandler, Cullom. Davis, Dolph, Fryo, a Oallinger, Hale, Ilawley, 1 fear, Lodge. J McMillan, MePherson. Manderson, Mitchell, (Wis.) Morrill, Palmer, I*roc- | tor, Quay, Smith, Stockbridgo, Vilas, ' Washburn, Wilson.?28. Nays - Allen, Berry, Blackburn, Blanchard, Butler. Call, Caindon. Cock* > roll, Coke, Colquitt, Daniel Dubois, ( Faulkner. Gibson Gordon Hanshrough, i Harris, Hill, Irby, .lones, (Arkansas), i Kyle, Lindsay, Martin. Mills, Mitchell, 1 Oregon), Morgan, Murphy, Pasco, 1 Potter, Perkins, Pettigrow, Power, ? i Pugh, Hansom, Iloach, Shoup, Squire, < i Stewart, Teller, TurpiOj Vest, Voor* i i I hoes, Whito, Woleott 4"). i A. -jj ?I , NO 3(5. Tho Democratic Senators who voted in the nlllrmutlvo wore : lJrioe, Caffery , Md'horson, i'ulmer, Smith und Vitus. The llepuhlicuns who voted in tho nefrutivo worn: Dubois. Uunsbrou^h, M itchcll, of Oregon : Pottigrew, Power, Stump, Squire, Stowurt, Toller, una Wolcott. Tho tnroo Populist Senators, Allfll. Kvleuild Poller mi Manderson (Hep.) of Nebraska then moved to refer too hill to the committee on tlnunce with instructions to Amend it ho as to provide that the silver certificates shall bo increased onlj in anticipation or in lieu of the so ifflioruge. lie said that tlio bill hud >een characterized even by its friends is crude, rough and ungrumniaticul, md tiiat the de)>ate liad shown that hose who understood the English language wore at sea as to what the bill (leant. Mandorson's motion was faceted?yeas, 27 ; nays l-i. Then it was proposed by Harris to ihrogute the ugreeineht tiiat tlio remiindor of the discussion be under the ive minute rule. He proposed tiiat he debate be general, a vote to bo aken at 2 o'clock to-morrow on the mssage of the hill. Unanimous conent was given and George resumed lis urirument in support of the bill. George was followed by Carey (lieu.j >f Wyoming, who argued against tig ill, and then at 5.25, after a short eiicutivo session, the Senate adjourned. Washington, March 15.? In tlio innate to-day at 2:30, the Bland seigniirage bill was taken up and Carey (Hep ) f Wyoming continued his spoeh begun esterday against it. Ho cnaracterizid tlio bill as the worst blow aimed at ilver since the demonitization of siler in 1875. The next speech on tlio subject was nude by Dubois (Hep.) of Idaho. Ho aid that he took no comfort in voting or tiie bill. It was not the kind of silor legislation that suited him. He hould like to vote for a free coinage ncasure. The next speaker was Mitchell \ Rep.) f Oregon. He said that lie should ote for the bill, not because lie bolovod it went so fur as it ought to go, ii the interest of silver as a money lOtJLl. llllt. hnHIIIIUil ft ?? lie legislative checker board in the ho right direction. Like tiio Senator roni Idaho, ho would much prefer that t was a free coinage bill ; and then ho on Id vote for it witii great pleasure. I 'aimer ( Doni.) of i II ion is opposed tho ill, and quoted Howitt's statement hat if proposed to coin a vacuum. It 'as, indeed, lie said, a vacuum, for it 'as admitted that if tho whole mass f silver purchased under tho act of 85)0, wore put on tho market today it rould bring millions less than tho mount necessary to discharge tho Yousury notes issued for its purchase, le believed the bill to be so defective hat tho silver which it required to be oincd would remain inert in the Treasry, and that not a single silver dollar mild bo put into circulation under it. I'ettigrow (Rep.) of South Dakota, ad just began an argument in favor f tho bill, when Harris rose, and in lis most impressive tones said : " Mr. 'resident, the hour of 2 is recorded by hat clock (pointing to the clock over ho main doorway) and at that hour ho unanimous agreement of the Sento is that the final vote sliull be taken n tiio passage of this bill. 1 ask for hat vote." Davis (Rep.) of Minnesota asked hat 1 'etth'i'ew utwmld i??? ??1 nished his speech, Harris: I object. If I wore to yield > the Senator from South Dakota, would feel bound to yield to other onators. I yield to nobody. (Laugh3I\) Kyle (Dep.) of South Dakota asked bat Pottigrow might be allowed to avo all his speech printed in the reord. The presiding officer, Vilas, (Dom.) f Wisconsin, declared the question to o. shall the bill pass? The vote was iken and the bill was passed?yeas 44, ays .41. a Mild Ukuuke.?In a small New '.ngland village there lives a man ained Jenkins Sanderson, whoso enorious, ungainly figure and forbiding xpression of countenance seem to boo his real gentleness and good nature nd make him an object of distrust and ometimes oven of horror to strangers, lis wife is a thin, prim old lady, the mbodimont of neatness, and exeoedngly quiet in her manners. She was aking tea one summer afternoon with neighbor who had anew "summer murder," a lady of hysterical tononoies. As the guests wore seated round the able, the summer boarder chanced to t>ok out of the window and saw Jen:ins Sanderson approaching the house nth a mcsssage for his wife. It was ho summer l>oardor's first sight of iim. "Oh, mercy on us !" she exclaimed n shril dismay, dropping her teacup /ith a clatter : " just see ! Who's that ,wful looking man coming up the ?ath ? lie has frightened mo utmost lit of my wits !" The embarrassment of the other nests was painful for a moment, but o longer. Mrs. Sanderson gazed almly out of the window and then urned her mild glance upon the hysorical boarder. " Why, ma'am," she said, tranauilr. 11 wit is my good husband. Hois an wful looking man, but God made him 1" - Youch's Companion. ?^ ~ ? Tho United States Department of Igricultural is about to issue a farmer's lulletin on fertilizers for cotton. This iiilletin has been prei?ared by Dr. J. >1. McHryde, ('resident of the Virginia Agricultural (Allege and director of Virginia Kxporlmental Station, and fives a concise account of tho numerous xpcrimonts with fertilizers in cotton nado under his supervision in South Carolina. It also contains directions is tho selection, compounding and ap>lication of fertilizers for this crop. I'll? bulletin will be sent on application o tho Sccrotary of Agriculture, \Valdington, D. C. ?The Bank of Chester assigned last veok to John J. Hemphill and J. I.ylos lloon, for the protection of creditors it large. President ,1. J. MeClure had just returned from New York, whore :io wont to get funds to carry tho bank [.brought the summer. After a full consideration of tho situation the lireetors decided to close tho bank. The iepoeitors will bo nald off in full and the stockholders will not rfuffer.