Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1845-07-04

S feet, although in,this case there'was poor
chance of forming correet conclusion, the
, bill having been,reperted late in theteVen-
= ling of the day previous to theadjoumment
y as an amendment-tO the Senate bill, and
!, making it almost an entire new bl--mem-
; bers had therefore no time or opporpunity
ofknowmg what the bill contained, other
than by hearing it read, Under such cir
cumstances, an individual mightveryrea-
| dily commit an error unintentionally, and
could / be convinced that ! had erred
in this matter, it would give me. great
pleasure to acknowledge it. As,yet, how
ever, / have seen no cause for changingmy
= opinion; on The contrary, every moments
reheetionyConfrms me in the belief that
my first conclusion was correct.
~ Sk
"That'I voted for the bill and procured
it's passage becauseaL could do no better, |
readily admit, andI am perfectly willing to
shoulder aIFthe responsibilitywhichthe act
attaches to me--al ask is that'the people
shaIFknow the why's and where1ores Per-
NIT me then to say in thefrst place that the
State debtemounts to the'enornous sun
of twenty millions, and it is not necessary
here to enquire how and for what purpose
this debt has been eontracted--it is sufli-
cent toknoW thatFit has been contracted
| by tire agents of the State, and the State
is as much hound to payit promptly as ifI
it had been contracted under strict rales of
economy, and expended to the best adVan-
tage Of the State. In order to preserve tie
Creditref the State the interest must be !
paid on this debt Whendue--hoW shall this |
be done!--the amount ef revenue collect
ed from all sources is not sufficient to pay
it--Wouid it do to borrow monOy and thus
increase the debt to pay the interest!--cer-
tainly motif we ever expect to pay the
debt we must stop its increase, and if we
cannot pay theinteFest without increasing
the debt, we may just as well repudRte first
as last, becaUseitwi anountto a repaid
ationin the end, and i hopelthat mancaR-
not be found within .the borders of 0hie,
who will knowingly advocate repcdetion.
More re venue must be raised then by tax
alton, and this'c6utd >oniy be'done by Ell
ther increasing the ta2; on the property at
ready taxed orby taxing property hereto
fore exempt from taxation,
Now it strikes me that the farmer would
not like to have the tax increased on his
larm and his stock, when ii is already so
high as 70 amount TO ii moderate rent, andl
while large amount Of property lis eitherl
entirely exempt from taxation, or so man
wuvred as to'evade the lew. My objectj
IN voting fer this law WIS ITO prevent TN
increase of tax on the property heretofore
taxed, which would have bee n done if the
bill had not passed. ~
" y " ~ ~ W
''NoE, MessTs. Editors, ,you will under
stand my position in relation to this tax
law--you have my reasons for voting for c
the bill, as.Well as my objections to it, and I
mwhat particulars the law should be a. 4
mended in my opinion. i am not oene of (
those who will not be convireda-.L stand =
open toeeonvic hon and 1 .hope Others will
be he-sama, but without good tdnN suhi-
cient reasons can neither be coaxed ner '
driven from my present position on this
subject of taxation. Icconsider it one of
more importance than any that has beenaa-
yitated before the people of this State for
,ears. The fact is large amount Of mon
~ must be raised by taxation, and the
question narrows itself down to this--shalI q
he property of the State pay 1t, or shall la n
,or pay itl--a would like to got rid Of the 4
ak bRtall cannot, and if the farmers would
ather see theirtax increased eRtheir farms y
md stock, all that they have to do is TO U
oin'in'denouncing this law and da1Gll for its \
epe64, and d,theycan soon be agra,aied.-- T
}ut it they believe with me that each man Il
houd pay in proportion to his ability, q
hen let them act accordingly. 81
IL am well aware that in assuming my :,
PRESENT position, Ioeray the wealth and a.
ristocracyof'the State inepposition to me, =
'ut this shall not deter me from doing right
n my individual capacity. If the editor
# the Statesman,lIad given the'facts con-
lectedwith the passage Of this bill, as he ?
must haveknown'theN to exist, instead OF -
aising. the cry sot cNcifxion, he would ~
AVE dOner more for his party, as welIas sa- I
red the feelings OF his friends. 1t may be c
hat he designed to place his heel on the
leck of some who have too much indepen- 'J,
lence to bow at his bidding--if that be his
,bect, he WillfHd one at feastQpon whom
Re shall not trampe without resistence.-- sa
t is Il very easy a4atter 10 render IL faw un- p
,opuar, by raising the mad-dog cry,wlth- d
,ut giving any reason why it should be con- oI
lemned, and colonel MedaTy has been Pur- d
'uing this course long enough--it is high :,
iuie that he should pause little and give a
'one reasons, If he has any. If the law :
&x es'ony properly that Should not be'tax- y
is too highin proportionto u
other property, will he tell us how and tC
where, iandWhile he is denouncing The law, e.
will he tell us nywhat way he wishes the
deficiency int the revenue supplied. These
are plain, simple questions, and hope he
will give us satisfactory reply, | do not
wish to getinlo q controversy with cotone! .
Medary, but I-cannot silently submit TO his
policy on this subject. There is enough :
connected with the last general assembly "
10 ocomment upon 70 fill volumes, without r
tokick up humbug about r.
this bill. Havingsaid This much | will drop o
the subject ior the present, and hope / Il
shall not have occasion to refer to il again. a
JESSE MEREDITH.