The Massachusetts spy. [volume] (Boston [Mass.]) 1770-1772, 1771-07-11

while the etiluent not on inc lpth. SNhSH
ore pat IS eeitd Of taxes, and another hos
them laid On them, wele the fun aggregate
icGcugd, i,mtthne might be fad, but th'
fun remains equal, ard the fate IS boanc
ior be uhoe If it, " here ,heIetcle tbs
poor man paid 3D. in the Pourd, he NUT
now pay I'D or zod. which perhaps mole
IN his income, and coniequently he IS
made dsipefa,e. Hence Mon'e'quieu tells
rs, " When a fate in oder to e@ie
village that pays badly, loads another
th2t pays better, the coniequence IS, the
former is not relieved but the latter IS
ruined; the people grow defFerats between
the necciiiy of paying for fear OF
Sxacfiors, and the danger e paying Tor fear
OF new charges" Vol. p. 3I2.
This rcaioning is juf, aud unhappy tor
this people applicable to them. / MS ne"
meaiuie brings US into that very ftuauon we
aft defcribed, the mott mlleIablc we can
imagine We have long been hairaiied and
oppreGed BY large body Of men, armed
with power, that have been formidable
againf the fubeGt, and power which lie
citizen has long felt. ] he merchant ct dd'
linguiihed reputation, fortune and cha'acter'
mas been obliged to bow to iome iubalteTn
harpy, whom he would fcorn to rank SCiib
the days gfbJ fock. With their prelent new
lncreafe of power, the means OF corruption
and venaity ncreafe, and the miicry OF the
people doubles. The total fun 0 taxation
is not leiIened, but the whole OF what Iheie
gentry formerly paid, and which was large
is flung on the poor indufrious citizen, who
is now lcarce able to pay his proper taxes.
We have long looked on this my ttery OF M
putty, and the conleqUences which Telnlt
therefrom, 70 fatal to our privileges, with grIei
and indignation. Lock now forward, VI
happy people, not barely with grief and IN
diguation, bur with horror AID deipalr.
/ his nfitu,ion, like Pandora's boz, is peg
nant with ten thoufsnd mifChleis. Number
lefs evils have already appeared, and to this
will now be added a fure means Of corup
ton which NUT be fa'sI. When IN The di-
reefion of theie Offices there is man, who
is KILLED in all the ways and arts Of ihar-
per, who hath long been fkllled TO aegravate
the misfcrtunes Of his fellow. men, and Whole
confidence is 70 feared as 10 enable him TO
laugh at the miieries of families, and the
cries Ct wretchedmis, this man has now an
opportunity of diiPlaying his abilities with
iuccels, and in two ways particularly. He
may be able by numberlefs articles, and ten
thouland low ways of profltu.ion to find cp-
portunities of exerting his power In
harrafing the people; in the fecond
place with what he then gets, and afiifted
at the fame time with this new acCehion
! of wealth, which would have otherwile
gone out in taxes, he can bible theie to
be bis afifants, whom perhaps he himlelf
has reduced to penury end lsen 10 create
through extreme necefity out Of the ruins Of
the honelf citizen, The delpicable tool. Hence
have arofe that band of lazy idle wretohes,
who lounge about the hreets of the metropolis,
bIemilhes to fociety, and who are diain-
guihed perhaps with yellow button in their
hats, or fOme bauble equally empty, while
the tat;ersd garments below are exPreaive of
wretchednefs and mifery.
1t is certain truth the power of money is
real power, in Mort, what have fomewhere
read, ] find Certainly true, &" that power
without money is imaginary ;--that the
prince who gets 'prerogative alone gets
phantom; but thar he who gets money even
without PrerogaiiVs, gets Iomething real,