The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1847-11-16

! ton by Kelly's Tax Law OF The county levy for
education from limit of two mills, to two ffths
of a mill, reduction which has essened the an
nual levey for school purposes in This county
from upwards of$i 200, to about $4oo, and doubt
less elsewhere in similar proportion, has not
met throughout the State, the reprobation it mer-
it's 1t nevertheless affords curious commenta-
ry on the wing maxms o: government. The
fears of the money-lenderS of the State that Ohio
would fail to pay them their ''pound OF fesh,"
in interest of the public debt, induced Kelly &
Co. to concoc' an entirely snovel system of tax
alton, while the elaborate annual reports Of the
Whig Secretary of State. showing in all the ell
equenco Of figures, If not With the force of facts,
that Ohio, coutains a mass Of growing igno.
rance, almost terrible to contemplate, produces
only cutting off s' further and crippling Of
our present inadequate appropriations for general
education.
This same Kelley when the Ohio Life g.
Trust Co. hegnn 10 comla about their bonds,
ut zone full swoop'' sacrificed half million
Of the bonds of the State to preserve credit with
one money-endiDg machine, but he is deaf as
an adder, when complaints are made by the
great body OF the people that the greatest boon
OF life, knowledge, is Withheld from them. II is
useless to say that individual enterprise is ade-
quate to make up the deficiency. All past histo.
ry and experience centrudcts il; and when the
moral force of laws, the progress Of intelligent
and general enterprise, and the Intellectual ele-
vaion of the masses depend upon the spread of
knowledge, to leave education many degree the
accidents Of private enterprise is only SO far to de-
ny it. Men we know are born freemen, but to
qualify them TO act as freemon il is necessary
they have the means Of instruction placed within
their reach, and when the government fails to do
this, their negligence can only proceed from
gross indifference to the well being of the State.
We do not desire that Public faith should
prove Punic fash-but we believe tina, the best
security for public honesty ispvbc intelligence.
Unfortunately, however this truth is not apprsci-
ated by the class of Shaveis, brokers', and mon
opolists, for whose use the Government Of Ohio
is at the present time administered. They only
act upon their cent. per cent. maxms Of profit
and loss, referring all measures Of government to
this one mean sordid standard; and hence
we find that the fears Of q foreign bondholder or
home money-lender has more weight with those
who legisate than the Intellectual wants Of the
people, though these are universally aeknowl-
edged to be any thing but adequately supplied.
1t OF no use to refer this subject to the nu-
mercial force of our colleges. 1t is not by
these that the intellectual chara cter Of the people
can be correctly guaged. II is by the number
and usefulness of the poor mans college, the
Common School, that the real Advancement and
elevation of the people can alone be determined.
And in comparison with New York and the New
England States we fear that Ohio will be isund
far in the distance. .aa
THE LICENSE LAws.--The law throwing the res
pcn sibiity of granting or refusing licenses to
sell spirituous liquors upon the judiciary, was on
the part Of the Legislature an unmanly shrinking
from proper and due responsibility. No act
could have been better calculated TO lessen the
respect for the laws. In this section Of country,
the Judges, in the conscientious exercise OF the
discretion committed to them, have refused to
rrantlicenses, and the law makes it penal to sell
liquor without that license in small quantities. so
far as our experience has enabled us toJurse' the
only effect of this has been that one or two tav-
ern- keepers in the county have repeatedly been
indicted and fined, while groggeries and groceries
have driven an unrestricted traffic, evading and
setting the law noupht. If the sale ofliquid poi
son is found detrimental to society it should be
prohibited altogether. The present law, as il
operates, makes it perfectly innocent to sell
quart of Wbiskey but crime to sell half the
quantity, and we are not surprized that to tn,
general mind such distraction between right
and wrong ca rries no moral force. The punish.
ment of crime to be effectual should be certain
in its operation, it should reach nearly all of
fsnders, and its punishments should be equal;
and TO do this law must be SO framed as TO car
ry with il the convictions OF the community ofits
utility. In relation to the present law this is not
the case, offenders are reported with reluctance,
and every obstacle is thrown in the way ofa sue
cessful prosecution of the offencsI
we doubt the coed effected by compulsory
laws upon Iniemperance. They tend to supply
the place Of moral suasion, and slacken the ef-
forts of the Philanthropist who looks to the law
to perform what should be left to individual effort
and which laws wanting this support unable
10 perform If however, the question of the sale
were left either to the decision Of the voters of
the county, who would give effect to their OWL
action, the trufic in liquors left free to sale
other commodities, making those who deal in it
liable for abuses growing out of the trade, we
believe that more valuable results for the advence-
m ent OF Temperance would be achieved. Some
change however, is demanded the present law
is evidently failure 1t meets the evil only half