Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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: - - ^iv^rr; s '< \ - fcjT THB< FK1CIAI NBUfSPAPER OF BAUN«vKLL <^»UNTT “<%* ,s Consolidated June 1. 1925. “Juftt Like a Member of the Famllv" VOLUME LIV. BARNWELL. SOUTH CAROLINA. THURSDAY. TSNUARY 2p, 1931. TAX CHAIRMAN Local People Unhurt SUBMITS REPORT \VOULD INCREASE TAXES ON YE- ' ■* * ■* . HICLES USING ROADS. Chairman of State Tax Commission » Urges That They Share the Bur den With Railroads. » When Car Turns Over Mr. a nd Mrs. J. Ruff, Miss E. H. Ruff and Miss Bingham Have Narrow Escape.. W. G. Query, chairman of the State tax commission, in his annual report to ihe general assembly rec ommends A many reforms in South Carolina’s government and tells why ! Lee s and turned While returning from r Charleston Thursday morning of last week, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Ruff, the former’s sis ter, Miss E. H. Ruff, all of Barnwell, and Mrs. Ruff’s aunt, Miss Bingham, of Charleston, had a narrow escape from serious injury when their car struck a soft place in the highway near over into a ditch. last 1 taxes fell short of expectations year. Among the tax commission’s recom mendations: Imposition of sufficient taxes on passenger and freight vehicles using ( dama >* <i v «! r bad1 !'- bri !>K driven on the highways of South Carolina to; to Barnwell under its own power af- (.•over the cost of repairing and replac- Fortunately, Mr. Ruff, who was at the wheel, wa s driving at a moderate rate of speed and the occupants of the au y x - tomobile escaped unhurt except for a few minor bruises, nor wa s the car ing the roads when destroyed. Removal of the collection of taxes imposed upon genera] property from political influences. Designation of some State official to be charged with the duty of requir ing ample security bond from every public official in the State handling public funds. ‘Both passenger and freight trucks ter it was gotten back on the road. Mr. Ruff says that when the car finally came to^ stop, it was lying on it s side. He opened one of the doors and crawled out, but . in so doing the door fell on his haed and gave him a painful blow. With the aid of a high way employe, who was dragging the road -a short distance away, he ex tricated the other occupants of the machine and succeeded in pulling the are using the highways of the State ' car out of the ditch - He drov e fW ttrcpurpose of- carrying on a pro- j on to Barnwell without furibei^mis fltable business and in our opinion the, hap - JL __ _ _i: Mr. Ruff la "loeiri -marreg-er fby T thr STRESS FARM PROGRAM FOR BARNWELL Smith Resolution Reported. Special to The People-SentinelC Washington, D. C., Jan. 20.— Senate Agriculture Committee has today unanimously reported my resolution favorably provid ing that seed loan funds col- lecteji past season in South Carolina, North Carolina, Geor gia and Florida be relo_aned for 1931 crop in these States. I ( hope to secure passage of reso lution in Senate within next- few days. ' 1; j Senator E. D. Smith. MEETING HELD IN COURT HOUSE HERE SATURDAY, 'r * Claims Unlucky *T3” Cause of Depression Farmers Must Live at Home and Pro- " * * v rvt f t * • ' • • . / * duce Food and Feed for Family and Livestock. “The Pathfinder” Points Out That Hard Times Occurred in 1903, 1912, 1921 and 1930. It was literally speaking a “round table discussion,” severs] local citi zens being seated around one of the tables in a local drug store. Inevitably, the present depression, better known “Hoover prosperity” “ ~ “ " CAROLINIAN SUGGESTS METHOD OF REDUCING ACREAGE. Would l^ave Farm Board Money to Buy Staple Instead orProdueing It. t Court Rules Radio ' Set Tax Is Invalid Federal Judges Say That State Levy ^ ^ a ^ , r r . Applied Last Year Is Null and . Vcid. taxes now paid by .such carriers 6re not comifiensurate with the benefit re ceived, nor the damage done to the rads,” the report asserts. ^ - - Would Equalize Tax. “Motor vehicle transportation is in direct competition with railroad trans- Of interest to radio set owners in Barnwell and elsewhere in South Carolina is the ruling by a three- judge federal court in Charleston Sat- this State, levied under an act of the 1930 genera] assembly, is “unconstitu- Soufh Carolina Powqr Company and tiona]) null and voi £» Endorsing a live-at-homs tarn, pro- aa ., Hw)ver proaperity .. to differenti- gran, and stressing the important lea- ^ jt ^ the ..Cleveland panic” el turea thereol were the high light, ol th( . ninetiea ca(M up {or diacuaaion a meeting held ,n the Court House G . M . Gree ne, Eaq . Maatertn Equity, here Saturday afternoon for the pur- remarked that , wriu , r in ..^ p, th . pose ot trying Jo find a solut.on ol ^ timep to the unlucky , _ - the problems that- conlront agricul- number .,j 3 „ and , or proof thereof ture in this section. The meeting was claime d th at period, ol depression oc‘-1 ' IT.™'"*" called to order by H. G. Boylston, curred jn 1903 j 912i i 92 i a „d 1930, county agent, who stated the object ol , he jp each of , hoae yearj t0 . the gathering, lollow.ng which the ul|ne , 3 . Mr Grecnc {urtller quoUd outlook lor cash, crops was presented , he writer as „ ayin( , that auch a com . bination will not occur for 99 years. And if there be anything to that superstition or coincidence or what have you, the 21st century will be just one depression after another— no less tfrim eight at by Perry A. Price, manager of the local branch Cf the Bank of Western Carolina, and printed information from State and federal sources was given. *A fui] discussion was had, several representative farmers being callelK upon for an expresssion cf their views. Orangeburg.—A plan to lend money to the farmer 8 with which to purchase cotton rather than for the purchase of seed and fertilizer with which to grow more cotton, is outlined in's letter just forwarded to Alexander Legge, of the national farm board, from fanner and cotton planter, of this county. Through this plan a considerable quantity of the cotton now on hand would be taken off the market and warehoused atono risk to the govern ment, and guarantees from farmers participating in the plan not to plant any cotton during the present year, would, in the opinion of Mr. Bowman, restore the price of cotton to the point , . I where it could be grown with profit. >ear s each. For instance, add 99 to I 1930 and we imve 2029, the sum of I The pUn been favor » bl y <*>»- A live-at-home program was en- w hich is 13, or the first scheduled de- mented u P° n b y farmers in this sec- dorsed, with suggested acreages of the pression y«ar of th'e next century. tk>n ; Mr has ^knowledged different crop s on a per plow basis. Then with clock-like regularity at rece ' pt °* ^ et ^ er announcing that The important features of this pro- nine-year intervals other periods of J ^ has been referred to C* 1 ! Williama, gram*ure~mrfotfbws: hard ttmeTi will t>cnar, VM -follows-j 0011011 raember » for *tudy. - live ot home,-ppodueing., ^>38,- g04T-, 20o6;«e06F>;- The. letter.-from..Mr. Hownum- he and his wife have many friends here who will be delighted to know that the accident was not a very ser ious one. ,. . ,. , , . B. Calhoun, of Allendale, was a portation and the burden of taxation . . .. , * . , ij k 1 busi ness visitor here Monday. X' on motor bu s transportation »should be equalized with the burden imposed upon railroad transportation, bearing money borrowed in anticipation .of in mind that the railroad companies 1 tax collections, while 10 per cent, pen- have constructed and mamtalhed thelrr^ added January 1 will be suffi- own road beds and tracks, on which cietnI y heav y to induc e every taxpayer they are paying substantial taxes,^ 0 8e ™»-e the money, if possible, with while their competitors, the motor ve hicle operators, are using the high* way s constructed and maintained by _ . the taxpayers of the State. | have been lost Ifor the reason that “The loss of business on the part of surety bonds were not required in the railroads has decreased the gross amounts equal to funds collected an- receipt s and net income taxes paid by nually by certain officials, who .have them to the State and, will lessen the b^en found short in their accounts,” value of their property because of the commission points out. small earning power, which will af- “Some State officials should be defi- fect every tax unit in which railroad nitely charged with the duty of requir- The court granted an interlocutory injunction restraining and enjoi/iing the State tax commission fiom at tempting to collect the tax. The decision was made in United States court of the Eastern district of . < *' South Carolina by Circuit Judges Jno. J. Parker-, District Judge E. FxCoch ran and District Judge J. Lyles Glenn. It said the tax “lays a direct burden on interstate commerce and is uncon stitutional, null and void.” Radio station WBT, Charlotte, N. C., was the petitioner for whom the in junction was granted. There were two which to pay the taxes.” Big Amount Lost. “Enormous amounts of public funds 'other' petitioners for' injunctions^ th?^e farm thp necessary food and feed for the 2092. j Mr. Legge is as follows: family, labor and livestock, paying Looking still further in the future, “Mr. Alexander Legge:— particular attention to the summer there should be ten periods of depres-1 Dear Sir:— and winter garden, with cows, hogs s j on j n the 22nd century, provided, of “Will you be kind enough to listen an-poultry on every farm. course, there ig anything to this 13 to a suggestion which, to my mind. Growing some of the various cash hoodoo, according to which they are seems about the only way to have truck crops'adapted to this section, in scheduled to appear again at nine- the cotton acreage reduced.. That Is, addition to a small acreage of cotton year intervals—2119, 2128,2137, 2146, for the federal farm board to lend on. the most productive land. 2156, 2164, 2156, 2164, 2173, 2182 and I the farmers enough money to buy M A definite soil-building program 2 191. - many bales a B they produced in 1980, through the use of legumes and rota-, jhe writer hasn’t studied the cycle j and require these farmers to sign tion of crops, thereby increasing pro- ttn y further as he doesn’t expect to be j a definite agreement not to raise any duction and reducing the cost of com- living at that late date. Anyway it J cotton in 1931, or permit ally of it mesial fertilizers. j i s comforting to know that no more to be raised on lands owned or con- To grow high quality products with ha rd times will occur in the 20th I trolled by them, large per acre yields as the surest century—provided, always, that you “The cotton so bought could ba way of. increasing the income from believe in the baneful influence of {stored in warehouses and insured, “13.” Louis D. Rubin Electrical company, of Charlestoh, and 117"A. Ray, owner of a set, of Charleston. T'he court ruled it -had no jurisdiction in these two cases since the amount invojved was less than $3,000. The injunction i s effective pending property ig located.” •—fing surety bonds, ample in amount a final hearing. J-. Fraser Lyon, gen- Advocating discounts for advance from every public official irt the payment of taxes in October and^ State handling public funds. If this November and a substantia] change in step had been token years ago the the present laws governing the collec- taxpayers in some of the counties tion of taxes, the commission seeks to would not have had imposed upon remedy the evil which leaves a laige them additional taxes because of the , amount of bach'ta'jeeg'WT" tin 1 Uwfea'wfr-Twtt OflftjbTO T H»Mr whIctrcouM hyon S8iit tbat tiu ‘ ^mmtaaioa^rn,, the counties each year. —— ^should have been safeguarded.” h 38 *l read y collected about $23,000 on “Thousands ’of property taxpayers All public accounts, the commission eral counsel of the tax commission, said in Columbia that the injunction would “hold matters as they now stand unti] the final order in the case.” An appeal a s the next step was re garded here a s likely. -in the State have not been able to pay contends, and not merely some of the taxes promptly fbr the past few counties’ moneys and State funds, years,” the report says, “but an in- should be safeguarded when deposited vestigation of the tax rolls of the 1n banks, by the posting of collateral counties will disclose the fact that sufficient to protect the State, thousand^ of taxpayers able to pay , Insufficient time is given the boards have not been required to pay the of assessors to the task of assesing taxes charged because the. officials property, the commissions declare, chargetl with the duty of collecting “We repeat recommendations which* such taxes have not enforced the col- have been" madeTieretofore that suf- lections. Lax Payment Cited. ficient time and ample pay be given to assess all property after a complete “Recently our attention was called listing ha g been secured.” ^ to the fact that a taxpayer owning | Thi s complete listing of all prop- large properties had not paid his erty in the State is Considered one of property taies "for a period of eight the most.important items in the cor- years, yet during the eight-year pe-! rective measures of the State’s tax riod “ had been doing a business on system by the commissioners, which an income tax wa s paid. The, “Even if sufficient machinery is at failure to pay property taxes impos- J hand for an orderly assessment and ed in a great many cases is not due to equalization of property, without in inability to secure funds with which telligent and complete information, it to pay taxes but is chargeable direct- is impossible for any board of asses- ly to the failure of the proper offi- sors to reach fair conclusions as to cialg to enforce the payment thereof, property values,” the report eon- “The accumulation or pyramiding tinues. ' of unpaid property taxes ‘ in a few vears will amount t6 as much as the Reviews Litigation. The report tells of the litigation value of the property and thus, in a carried on the first nine months of great many cases,, the State and each 1930 by J. Fraser Lyon, genera] coun subdivision of the State government sel, and representatives of the attor- imposing taxes loses by such proce- ney general’s Office, dure. We recommend that the laws It review s the decline in revenue governing the collection and of pay- for the past year, attributing the drop ment of property taxes be changed by for the 1929 figures- to the business providing the month of October at a depression that started in the autumn discount of, 2 per cent; during the of 1929 and gained more force in the month of November at Jl discount of spring and summer of 1930. - 1 per cent; during the month of De- “We did not feel that decreased tax cember at par, with an extension of collections have been* due to lack of time to pay any delinquent taxes dur- proper administration of the several ing the month of January with a fiat laws on the part of this department,” penalty of ' 10 per cent” added and the report oontinues, “as we find upon Suggested acreage per plow: 5 acres of fall grain, followed by BEAUFORT COUNTY legume hay. 10 acre s of corn, with soy beans, velvet beans or cow peas. 3 acres of sweet potatoes, sugar, cane and home garden. „ J> acres of truck crops, (asparagus, cucumbers, cantaloupes and water melons). 5 are s of cotton planted on productive acres. 5 acres extra< where available, to ,, A . , , . . • .. bog production in this county in one be planted in the spring with velvet * 1 . .... beans for soil building. thus protecting the government for its loan and being withdrawn from the present market, would have a benefl- TURNS TO LIVESTOCK | c * a ^ effec * «P<>n the price. Then the guarantee of a smaller production in "Beapfoii Jan. 19-.—Beaufort Coun-1 1931 ' which lt would give would also ty, ^hich for so long has held high tend to ra * 8 ® lb® price now, as writ place a s a trucking center, rapidly Is ••^eep it up for a year or so. switching over to livestock in an ef-J ^ arm board could determine fort to defeat that visitor who has ^ or *^* e ^ ia ^ a * r P 1 *!®* for cotton, just . - long since ■\yorn out hi 8 welcome, “Old | a8 ** baa done for wheat, and only TTiOSL , > Hard Timfes. .There has been a great increase in year. In 1930 ten carloads of hogs the tax, with available collections es timated at aproximatey $45,000. A graduated tax was placed ©n in- 'dividual radio owners under the 1930 act. A set value at between $50 and $200 wa s taxed $1.' Proceeds of the tax were directed to the State tuber culosis sanitarium. A bill has been introduced in the present general assembly providing repeal of the act. BEAD LODGES IN LUNG OF WILLISTON GIRL While playing several days ago, Edna Maude, the littfe daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Hair, of Williston, put a bead in her mouth, which slip ped down her throat. The little girl thought she had swallowed it, but a little later, when she complained of a pain in her chest, it wa 8 found that the bead had lodged in her lung. She was carried to ah Augusta hospital where,|^s E^Arstood the bead was rem HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT participate in furnishing funds for the withdrawal of sufficient cotton to make the market price reach this point. This is a better proportion than ”^BBajgaM8igHMeg ' —* * iena tne rsrfncTg ZOT nuUGe as the seed and feed loan did, for km fort farmer s during the entire year. I Already, there are ten carloads of GETS RIGHT-OF-WAY demonstration fed hog 8 ready for the c *b "bw buy it for much less than E * * - v : j. : spring market. This lot comprises j ta ^ e ® to This is a safer pElk. A representative of the State from 800 to 1,000 hogs. Shipments * ^ *be farm board felt it did nefr highway department has been busy will begin about the” 16th of next b*ye enough money now to carry.ou$ recently securing the necessary month and wil] continue until April ^bis suggestion to let the fanners rights-of-way preparatory to paving 15ttu {borrow to buy cotton, they could lot the road from the Barnwell County | Since April 1, 1930, approximately bim have the. cotton they have ou line to Montmorenci, which, it is un- $10,000 worth of hogs have been sold band. You see, the object is to keep detotcod, have been readily given, co-operatively by truck and carload The road will be paved from Montmo- for the small fanners of this county, | a kasRo him from planting crop in 1931. “I have talked this matter over with a number of prominent farmers hers, they think thi s is s splendid plan and renci to a point a short distance easf according to the farm agent, T. H. of Windsor, where it will cross the Seabrook. One man, E. B. Mitchell, Southern Railroad tracks by means ef Lobeco, sold enough hogs in one of an overhead bridge, and follow for shipment to finance a large farm for | a sked me to taka it up with you. So the most part the present highway to several, jnonthg and has a car and a{ pi®**® £i v ® this your careful thought, the Barnwell line, except that some half of hogs on feed now, which will I arid we convinced this is s- soltf- curves will be llimjnated. It is be ready for market in a few weeks. l l * on *b® problem. thought that the contract will be let at an early date, and actual work start ed in the summer. To Got Back Pay. n Grubbg Dte 8 in N. C. execution returnable within- 90 days, by the United States government, as By this method some incemive will be well as every State from which we offered for the early payment of taxes, > have secured information, were less thus iclieving interest payments oh thww-fon 1929.” John Grubbs, a native of Barnwell County, but for many years a resi dent of Laurinburg, N. C., died sud denly January 1st at his home in the Old North State, following a -heart attack. He was a son of Thoma 8 B. and Laura Hale Grubbs, of this coun ty, and was born March 3rd, 1874. On January 6th, 1893, he married Miss Bessie Hair, and in December, 1911, the couple moved to Scotland County, N. C., wheto he engaged in faruiing. Besides his wife Mr. Grubbs i 8 sur vived by seven children, one grand- among the latter being T. J. Grubbs and^Irp. J.-B. Kitchings, of Williston. j Advertise icj The Feople-SentineL i . 1 - ' ' Congressman H. P. Fulmer states tbat all men who served in the Twen- ty-siyth to Forty-ninth United States Volunteer infantry and the Eleventh cavalry are -entitled to one month’s extra’pay, and if they saw service in the Philippine Islands they are enti , There are four large herds of beef J cattle in the county. One fanner, J.l O. H. Witsell, of Chisolm Island, has discontinued all truck and ig giving his entire attention to cattle and hogs. I W .A. Campbell has approximately (Signed) # Very truly yours, “GEORGE R. BOWMAN.* Arrest Man and Woman. E. V.' Thomason and Mias Fa—^ 150 acres in permanent pasture forl'Royls, who give Richmond, Vsl, at cattle at Sheldon. their home address, were arrested Mr. Witsell has 200 red Herefords, here Saturday by Sheriff B. H. Dychos C. M. McTeer ha 8 a herd of 200 and lodged in the Barnwell County grade Angus cattle and three black jail in connection with the alleged Angus bulls. theft of an automobile in Hopewell, G. W. Yarn, of Bluffton has 1,000 Va. Sheriff Dyches toys that T1m tied to two month’s extra pay. If had of Ayrshire blood in pasture. 8 on admits his guilt ai^d declares those who are interested' in this mat- Harry S. Cram, of near Bluffton, has the woman is innocent of the alleged ter will communicate with him at begun a herd, headed by a purebred crime. The latter also protest, |jir| Washington, D: C., he wil] be glad to Shorthorn. innocepce, according to the mail them banks and necessary infer- In aditio n to this, there are two Officer* are expected here this mation for making aVplication for this large dairymen in the county, H. I. to take the couple, back to Virginia Smith, of Bluffton, and J. R. Bellamy, for trial, of BeauforL. There are also three or fo&r small dairy herds. T.S.M. j Sound Equipment Arrives. extra pay. Smith Introduces Bills. Lewis Visits Schools. j H. Clay Creech, of thi, city, D. L. Lewis, State Supervisor of "ill opOTat « pictoxtt at the - Represeritativ|e.s^ Winchester C. Smith, Jr., of Williston, | troduced a bill in the House of Rep- 1 Rural Schools, is visiting* the schools 1 Vam P Theatre in Barnwell, said Men* 'fe>&th«Tr-«nd. one ^wtor, the amendment^ Barnwell County thi 8 weekT^fn ^J p th!rm'Sbu- L -» to the Constitution providing for biennial sessions of the legislature and also one to provide for the levy ing of a biennial tax. company with Horace J. Crouch, received and will be installed as so County Superintendent of Education. a s a factory representative aryfvi He hopes to have the ADVERTISE in The People-Sentinel, j tion by February 1st