The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, March 20, 1953, Image 2
PAGE TWO
THE NEWBERRY SUN
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 1953
>un
1218 College Street
NEWBERRY. S. C.
PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY
O. F. Armfield, Jr., Owner
Entered as second-class matter December 6, 1937
at the Postoffice at Newberry, South Carolina, under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $2.00 per year in ad
vance; six months, $1.25.
COMMENTS ON MEN AND THINGS
By SPECTATOR
“Why do the power Companies pay so much tax?” Mr.
F. B. Smith of Gilbert, Lexington County, asks me that, in
a letter which I now quote in full:
“Dear Mr. Spectator,
I read with interest your comments. There are a few ques
tions I would like for you to answer in your Comments.
What is Tax?
Why do the power companies pay so much tax? From
whom, from where or from what source do the Power Com
panies actually get the money so that they can so joy
fully pay this huge amount of tax?”
I am glad to have this letter from a citizen of Lexington
County. Years ago Lexington had a great local County
organization of The Farmers and Taxpayers League. I
shall always remember Dr. D. M. Crosson and Mr. J. E.
B. McCartha and their untiring efforts. “Bob” (C. E.) Leap-
hart was the efficient Secretary and always had a rose
in his lapel. Grand old fighting days they were. Weren’t
you with us, Mr. Smith? We were fighting to save our
land from mortgage foreclosure and tax sales.
I note that you are friendly to the private power com
panies and that you are concerned about the heavy taxes
they have to pay. By the same reasoning I have no doubt
that you are concerned about the unfair discrimination
against the private companies, since the Government has
tried so hard to put them out of business.
You and I have a right to invest in any business wdiich is
for the good of the Nation and we cannot see why the Gov
ernment should use billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money
to compete with the taxpayers.
You are a broadminded and generous citizen so you will
agree with me that the outstanding so-called public power
enterprise in our State is Santee-Cooper. And next would be
our Electric Coops. We are not enemies of Santee-Cooper
or the Coops. The State owns the Santee-Cooper and we
who farm own the Electric Coops. So we are all friends
and fellow owners of Santee Cooper (as citizens) and we are
Coops.
The Santee-Cooper is a great enterprise. In its manage
ment I have highly valued friends. So what I say is to ex
plore the “general situation” in the spirit of your public-
spirited inquiry.
Let’s consider the questions:
A tax is an imposition on property for the purpose of
supporting some form of government, whether Town, Coun
ty, State, Federal, or School District. Taxes on income
are, of course, taxes on Property, though not real estate. A
gasoline tax, or any other tax, is a tax on use or income; it
is also a tax on your property.
The Power Companies pay so much in taxes because the
Governments impose the taxes,—Federal, State, Municipal
and County. In this connection, my friend understands
that I am discussing taxes paid by a Private Power Com
pany, such as The Carolina Power and Light Co., The
Duke Power Company and The South Carolina Electric and
Gas Co. I am not including Buzzard’s. Roost or The Santee-
Cooper or the Electric Coops. I am myself a Coop and shall
“deal gently with the young man Absalom,” as my friend
will recall from the Biblical account of David’s instruction
to his General, Joab, as told so touchingly in the 18th chap
ter of the Book of Second Samuel.
Some taxes paid by the Private power Companies are on
appraisals and assessments on property, such as land and
buildings and other equipment. This is just as you and I
are assessed on our farms, our tractors, our mules and
other property. If they don’t generate a kilowatt, such tax
es are assessed just the same and must be paid.
I am not familiar with the law governing Buzzard’s Roost,
but Santee-Cooper is assessed on the valuation of the pro
perty as it was originally, and does not pay taxes on im
provements. It makes some local and state payments when
and if able, but is not liable for .non-payment. So far,
Santee-Cooper has paid the State and counties about three
million dollars, instead of twenty five millions it would have
paid if a private company, says The News & Courier.
The South Carolina Electric & Gas (including South Caro
lina Power Co.) has paid more than forty millions in taxes
in that same time.
Where do the Companies get all the money they pay in
taxes? Theoretically they get it from their customers; it
is part of the money received from sales of power.
As I said before, there are taxes on land and buildings and
equipment quite apart from earnings or sales of power.
You and I are taxed on our farms and homes, our cars and
tractors, whether we produce ten bales of cotton, or have a
complete failure of the crop. So is a Power Company. But
Santee-Cooper and Buzzards Roost are allowed to pay ac
cording to their profits and according to their own judgment.
That is the law, not the fault of those who manage the so-
called public power plants.
Private Power Companies pay so many taxes that I had to
look up the records. For example, they paid the State last
SPRING HOUSE CLEANING
pU PttC*7-
year nearly two and a half million dollars as a “genera
tion tax.” Santee-Cooper and Buzzard’s Roost don’t pay
that, not a cent of it. And the Companies lose some power
by leakage (line losses) though the tax is paid on all power
generated.
The Private Companies pay the following taxes: Actual
1952 State:
Income $ 269,154.04
License 205,750.98
Electric Generation 837,979.94
Documentary Stamps 50.04
Coach & Auto License 17,423.16
Unemployment Compensation 34,606.20
Property 288.96
Other 52,529.51
$1,417,682.83
Local:
License $ 124,964.25
County and City Property 1,007,454.95
Other 830.00
Total $2,550,932.03
State $1,417,682.83
Local 1,133,249.20
Total $2,550,932.03
I have only the payments made by The South Carolina
Electric and Gas Co., as given me by The South Carolina
Public Service Commission.
I thought that was enough, but I wondered about Federal
taxes. Well, well, here is the Federal income tax: $2,-
342,000. The total taxes paid by that Company for 1952 ap
pears to be $4,999,060, four million, nine hundred ninety
nine thousand and sixty dollars.
■ There seems to be a difference of a few dollars which
I can’t reconcile, as the bookkeepers say. But I can’t recon
cile any of this with my idea of the “equal protection of the
law,” which our Constitution guarantees.
Santee-Cooper and Buzzard’s Roost pay no Federal taxes,
no generation taxes, no income taxes; and very little to the
Counties. In ten years S. C. Electric & Gas has paid more
than 20 million in Federal taxes.
As you live on the lines of The South Carolina Electric and
Gas Company, you are interested in their tax payments.
As I suggested, the Power Companies pay taxes not only
out of their earnings, but some taxes not directly based on
earnings, just as we pay on our farm land. There is the
usual method of calculating expense, such as the method
used by a merchant. Let’s see: A merchant adds all his ex
pense—all taxes, lights, heat, power, rent, clerks, interest
paid and losses, and finds that his overall expense, is 25 per
cent of the total amount of his sales. So he adds 25 % to the
invoice price. But still he has nothing for himself; so he
adds ten or fifteen per cent, and that is his profit, his net
profit.
But when the Power Company does that—adds all the
costs of every kind, it cannot fix the price; it must ask the
Public Service Commission to allow it to charge a rate. The
Public Service Commission has experts who study all the
facts. They hold down the earnings of private power com
panies to approximately six per cent. They do not guaran
tee six per cent; they won’t allow a Company to earn more
than about six per cent. Above that the Commission calls
for reduction in rates. That does not apply to Santee-Coop
er or Buzzard’s Roost; they are not under any Commis
sion ; and they fix their own rates and earn what they can.
Recently the Public Service Commission granted per
mission to The South Carolina Electric and Gas Co. to sell
some more stock. This is all a private investment, you
know: the people who buy, are buying with their own
money; it is their own affair, just like buying a car. Yet
permission from the State must be had. The purpose of
that is to protect the public. However, Santee-Cooper bor
rowed fifteen millions of dollars in Wall Street and did not
have to consult anybody. And we Coops borrowed about
thirteen millions, and we didn’t consult anybody. The Co
lumbia Company offered to buy the Charleston Company,
when the New York crowd wanted to sell. Although the
President of the Columbia Company is a native son of our
State, a son of Fairfield County, and a Clemson man, he
had to petition and argue and prove lots of reasons before
his Company was allowed to buy the Charleston Company,
which also was a private company. But we Coops have a
contract by which our thirteen million dollar investment
will become the property of Santee-Cooper. It doesn’t
seem as though we treat everybody alike, does it?
CROSS
From The Herington AdVertiser-
Times, Herington, Kansas: A man
serving overseas in the war area
of Korea was asked what could be
done for the fighting men in the
way of gifts. He replied in no un
certain terms that “the finest thing
to be done is the maintenance of a
politically and economically sound
home front.” He said further that,
“With a reasonable deg.ee of in
tegrity on the part of most people
that will be brought about.”
To do the things necessary to
assure men on the war fronts that
there will be such an America to
return to is not too much demand
of every American on the home
front.
* • *
From the CatskiU Mountain Star,
Saugerties, New York: The weekly
newspaper is more important than
ever. Because the world is moving
so swiftly there is need of the in
timate, grass-roots touch which the
weekly can and must give. Since
there are so many demands on
everyone’s time, readers demand
the happenings of the week wrapped
up in a neat condensed and newsy
package.
• * *
From the Ocean Grove Times,
Ocean Grove, New Jersey: A sure
sign that inflation is over will be
when auto makers start mentioning
the price of their cars in their ad
vertising. Benjamin J. Fairless,
president of the United States Steel
Corporation, has even a better
idea He would not only reveal the
price of the car; he would reveal
all the hidden taxes buried in that
price. The tax on a $2,000 auto
mobile, for instance, is $625, but
the buyer does not know this.
From the Mount Airy Community
Reporter, Mount Airy, Maryland:
Here in the United States . . . our
bullets are ballots and the only
heads that roll are those which
figuratively topple as the people
demand a change peacefully—and
get it. It’s a good system. Here’s
hoping we can continue to keep it.
Revolutions like these are good
ones. They keep a country strong,
healthy and sound.
• • *
From the Free Press, South
Charleston, West Virginia: The
commentators and columnists have
been speculating on what Mr. Eis
enhower’s government fiscal policy
will be. The consensus, based on
his statements and those of his
close advisors, run about as fol
lows:
Spending will be cut in every
possible direction. Waste and non-
essentials will be curbed. Every ef
fort will be made to balance the
budget immediately. Once that is
done, taxes will be reduced both
for businesses and individuals.
There is a possibility that the so-
called excess-profits tax will be
abandoned entirely when the cur
rent law expires next June. This
tax, most economists agree, is an
unfair and dangerous burden on
business—and most especially on
the smaller business, which is de
prived of funds needed for growth
purposes.
That, so far as one can see now,
will be the Eisenhower program.
It is the only kind of program that
can be trusted to save this country
from bankruptcy. No nation—and
no system of government can for
ever survive official corruption and
deficits in the national treasury.
DaleCarmegie
^ AUTHOR Of “HOW TO STOP WORRYING AND STARniViNG" ^
T7' E1TH WALKER, Route 4, St. Joseph, Missouri, says he has a pair of
^ shoes that might easily fit the average family man. After finishing
dinner one evening he settled down in an easy chair with the newspaper.
He was tired and this was going to be one evening that he was just
going to relax. He had hardly settled in the chair, when his three-year-old
daughter came to him with a book and asked him to read her a story.
Almost at the very same time his sixteen months old
son tugged at his arm, wanting his daddy to play
with him.
Without thinking, he said, “You children go away
and play with your toys; I’m tired and this is the first
chance I have had this week to sit down and read my
paper.” About this time his wife called from the kitch
en, “Don’t bother Daddy; get away and let him read
his paper.”
Suddenly he caught the disappointment in the ex
pression of his little gtl. And he as suddenly realized
that in a few short years these children would neither
need nor want him to share their pleasures. He folded up the paper,
took the book his little girl was holding and sat down on the floor with
the children to read them the story. He did not stop at one story, but
read to two very pleased children four or five stories. About this time
his wife finished her kitchen chores and came into the living room, sur
veyed the situation and stretched out on the divan. After the children
grew tired of reading we spent the next half hour wrestling In the way
only a father and his children can enjoy.
When bedtime came he helped put two tired and happy little young
sters to bed. That evening turned out to be a very happy one. but it
would not have been had he let the children worry him into being cross
and disagreeable. Needless to say, he felt much better after considering
the feeling of the children, for they were just as hungry for the com
panionship of their father as he was tired from the extra work. In
addition, his wife had a chance for some early evening relaxation that
to mothers is a real luxury.
CARNEGIE
Clemson, Carolina, Winthrop and The Citadel each has
a Board of Directors or trustees, who are elected by the
Legislature and are State officials as fully as are the Di
rectors of Santee-Cooper. The Highway Department is con
trolled by a Board of Directors known as The State High
way Commission. The Public Service Commission has Di
rectors in charge of the various departments, but under a
Board called The Public Service Commission. . The State
Tax Commission likewise. The Governor’s office, under the
Governor, who is referred to in the Constitution as “The
Supreme Executive Authority of the State” has to submit
to the Budget Commission; and even the august General As
sembly of the State and the Supreme Court of the State—all
submit to the Budget Commission—but not Santee-Cooper.
I repeat: The Santee-Cooper acts within the law. I am not
making any point against the management of Santee-Coop
er; the law was made by the State; the State swallowed at
one gulp the drafted bill sent down from the power-crazy
Federal bureaucracy. Now that we have a valuable property
of the State we should amend the law and put the operations
on a sound basis, both as to regulation and control.
Santee-Cooper is under competent management and should
throw away crutches; it is able to walk without crutches.
Since the private power companies are heavy taxpayers to
the State, the State should not use its own power plant to
parallel taxpaying plants; Santee-Cooper should pay taxes
to the Counties and the State exactly as do the private
companies. It can afford to do so, as its own financial state
ment indicates.
The Power Companies are in the same boat as our farm
ers ; the farmer makes a crop at heavy expense, and, regard
less of what the operation costs him, he takes what the
market allows him. And he has to sink or swim as best
he can. Sometimes he makes a little money; sometimes he
breaks even; and sometimes he just breaks; the Private
Power Companies, also have to sell at rates fixed by some-!
one else; and submit to vigilant supervision, and regulation
by the State. Clemson and other State Colleges want to
sell bonds to improve their plants; the Legislature is con
sidering it. But Santee-Cooper? NO!
THE PRIZE BOOB
By Ona F. Lathrop
Bill Bayliss was the prize boob
of all the neighbors in “The Court.”
If anybody as much as started a
paint job on one of the little white
houses that dotted the street like
a string of china beads. Bill would
come sauntering across, paint
brush in hand, with that look in
his eye.
“Hi there, fella. See you got your
self a nice piece of work cut out.
Want a little help?” And he’d set
to and paint as long as the job held
out.
If there was a lawn to grade or
a fence to build. Bill would turn up
with the proper tods, grinning in
his good-natured way, and help un
til the job was done.
When Janet West wanted to en
tertain her bridge club in her new
ly pine-panelled living-room last
spring before their sidewalks were
in and their front yard a mudhole,
here came Bill trundling a wheel
barrow of his own stepping stones
that he’d takep up . and brought
over for Janet’s 'girls’ to walk in
on. You couldn’t hate a guy like
that, and yet he made the rest of
us feel like pikers!
Polly, his wife, complained a
little. They had built their own
house, moving in before the parti
tions were in to save rent and
they were still ‘finishing’—only
there didn’t seem to be any hurry
about it—for Bill.
“if only Bill took as much In
terest in our own place as he does
in the rest of yours,” Polly would
wail. “I’ve been trying to get him
to put up shelves for my canned
fruit for two years, and the chil
dren’s ihom still isn’t painted but
he says that makes it nice—they
dan mark on the walls all they
want to and then we’ll do it over
when they know better!”
The other wives sympathized
with Polly, but they all welcomed
his help and plied him with coffee
and cokes, and you always heard
them bragging what a wonderful
fellow Bill was, and how possessive
Polly was.
But when calamity struck, we
opened our eyes. Polly and the
children had been gone weeks
caring for her sick mother when
Bill went home dog-tired from help
ing Jim Curtis with his porch, and
fell asleep with a cigarette in his
hand. The next thing The Court
knew, the fife department was
tearing down the street trying to
save the little white house that
wasn’t finished yet.
Bill didn’t even let Polly know,
and the next day he started all
over again. But this time he wasn’t
alone. Every one of us had a debt
to pay Bill Bayliss in one way or
another and we were there too.
That house gpt repaired in nothing
flat, and we all turned in and paint
ed it inside and out. The girls
washed up the curtains and fixed
the inside. We put up the shelves
for the canned fruit and painted the
kids’ room in circus colors. We
graded up the lawn that Bill had
never got around to doing, and each
of us contributed some planting or
perennials where the firemen had
trampled theirs out. Bob West even
took up the stepping stones and
came trundling them back to set
in place the night before Polly
came home.
When Polly walked in and saw
things shining and heard what had
happened, she broke down and
wept on Bill’s shoulder. We all
stood around grinning proudly as
if we’d originated the *help one an
other’ theory, until Polly said, "I
know I don’t rate all this, but I
realize you did it for Bill, and he
certainly deserves it. If ever a
man was a big-hearted boob, it’s
Bill, and I’ll never complain again
when he goes off to help the rest of
you.”
We murmured silly things sheep
ishly about neighbors always stand
ing ready to help, and that’s what
friends were for. But the look on
Bill’s face was enough to repay us
a hundred times over for the little
we had done. Now there’s a guy
that The Court is proud to have
living in it, even if he is one prize
boob!
| WEEKLY CROSSWORD PUZZLE j
A i
Here’s the Answer
HORIZONTAL
1,6 Pictured
bandleader
12 Dresser
13 Chemical 'salts
15 Gay song
16 Subside
18 Upper throat
19 Diminutive
suffix
20 Of a clan
22 Sick
23Morindin dye
24 Pages (ab.)
25 Each (ab.)
27 Whirlwind
28 Earth (Latin)
30 Slackens
32 Eternity
33 Sorry
34 He is
called the
“Sentimental
Gentleman '
of ”
36 New Zealand
province
39 Parent
40 Glucinum
(symbol)
41 Compass point
42 Area measure
43 Also
45 Natural fats
50 Secreted
51 Brain passage
53 Tissue
54 Solitary
55 Retribution
57 Laborer
59 Banish
60 Finished
VERTICAL
1 Thigh armor
2 Shield bearing
3 Encountered
4 Mother
5 Christmas
6 Blockhead
7 Spanish jar
8 Anent
9 Droop
10 Toiletry case
11 Color
12 Inflate
14 Auctions
17 Higher
20 Ornament
21 Instructions
24 Tine
26 Wing-shaped
29 Portuguese
coin
31 Harem room
34 European
country
35 Lacked
37 Advanced
38 Command
44 Greek
corn mime
46 Agitate
47 Try
48 Hebrew deity
49 Grade
50 Cavity^
52 Corded fabric ’
54 Cover
56 Thus
58 Preposition