The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1836-09-28

ny thing be more undemOcpatic Con any
hing show greater disiuisI of popular IN
diligence and integrity Can any th,ns at
brd more tempting facilities for the lavish
expenditure of money, for the creation OF
Unnecessary offices, for The practice of cor
upton, and the strengthening, IN 'arlons
gays, the powers OF The govergnant at the
xpense of the peoples rights
The only democratic system OF taxation
that which draws, lay some just rule, the
,sources necessary for the support of gov
rnment directly from the people. This is
emocratic, because, IN the first place, such
system may easily be devised III perfect
ccordance with the principle of equal rights
;bereas indirect taxation Is always, of ne
essity, unequal; and because, secondly,
" enabling every man tO know the exact
um required by the government, it excites
hat degree of vigilance which is necessary
O the preservation of liberty, and places
IN etfectual check on the lavish expenditure
)f money, the great Instrument by which
governments have always effected the over
hrow of freedom. Such system, we are
warranted in believing, by the progress,
which democratic opinions are every where
making, will yet, and perhaps at no distant
lay, take ithe place of the unjust and OPP
lressive one under which we now live-a
system borrowed from those king governed
countries where the rulers use all means,
direct and indirect, to extort money from
the ruled, and unworthy, both by its pattern
-ity and its intrinsic character, of being
adopted ny free America.
ID. hot tbo chap
of indirect taxation will one day be explo-
ded, there are particular features of that
scheme more odious than the rest, and de-
serving of earlier abrogation. Among these
there is one tax which weighs with peculiar
oppression on the inhabitants of seaboard
cities, and heaviest on those who are least
able to endure the burden. 1t is n tax on
one of the absolute necessaries of life
tax which has no just reason to recommend
it and one so grievous that it often occa-
sions very extensive suffering. We allude
to the exorbitant duty which is imposed on
fuel. This is an article as indispensable
to the poor man as TO the rich The same
degree of heat is required to warm the
limbs of the INDECENT laborer, as is necessary
to temper the inclement atmosphere TO the
most wealth curled darling of the nation"
Indeed, the cost of fuel to the poor is often
greater than to the utiuent; because the
latter are enabled to avail themselves of
those means by which the expenditure of
heat is economised, whereas the laboring
poor, who live, but from day to day, can
seldom employ any such intermediary con-
trivance. Yet the government, ds if actua-
~ h,, & IL
ing tire rich at the expense of the poor, I'M
poses burden which falls with such une-
qdal weight on the different classes of soci
ETY.. But the inequality of the tax is not
seen alone in its different relative operation
on The riclT amd the poor: it is yet more
conspicuously shown in the fact that it rests
with exclusive weight on particular sections
Of the country, while all the rest are Who'll
ly exempt from the imposition. The sea-
board cities, where foreign coal is consum-
ed, are alone directly oppressed by the un
equal law. The inhabitants of the country
procure their wood from the forests, unbur-
dened by any tax, and unresirained by any
arbitrary system of inspection: while those
who dwell in towns are obliged to pay a
heavy duy to the government for every
bushel of coal they consume. The same
principle which thus draws a revenue from
the fire at which the poor man warns his
limbs, would lay a tax on the vital air he
breathes, were there any method of comput-
ing its consumtion.
But though the consumers of imported
coal are alone directly taxed by the duty
we have spoken of its oppressive influence
spreads, indirectly, to much greater ex-
tent The dealers in domestic coal are re-
lieved in a good measure, by this unjust
law, from competition that wcHd keep
their demands within the bounds of reason,
and are thus, by combination, enabled to
exact the most extortlonate prices. But,
rs if the community were not yet sufficient
ly oppressed, the monicipal governments
lend their aid to increase the imposition,
and by the enactment of arbitrary inspoc-
ton laws, lay another heavy tax on one of
the prime necessaries of life. We must
have public weighers and measurers of coal
and inspectors of wood, to whom every
poor laborer must pay fee, before he can
be allowed to purchase the fuel necessary
to cook his scanty meal. Not a stick of
wood is burned in this city, not pound of
coal, which is not burdened with an enor-
nous tax for the support of an idle set of
fellows, who, leech-like, falten on the life
blood of the community.
The day we trust is not remote when
these various impositions will no longer
disgrace our statute books. The subject
of the duty on foreign coal has been before
Congress for two or three sessions past.
Let those who have interested themselves
in the good work persevere. The nation