The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1847-10-08

! There is no subject upon whichthe people
are SO sensitive as taxation. Ioh'ihee
} them that they are improperly taxed oy our
legislature or county commissioners 10 inc
amour, of but a single dollar, and they are
up in arms at once. II touches their purse
it strikes home, and they immediately so
10 work TO correct the abuse. II Is SUD
lcct upon which the people always think
right, and will act. 1t is knowledge o'
this fact that induces those who are too IN
dolent TO worl, for a living, and are yet de-
termincd that the community shall support
them. to strain their ingenuity III devils
ing plans by which a tax can be le-
We'd ON the people for their support without
their knowing it. Thus immense sums are
levied upon the people, and they never,
even suspect it. Thus the gambler lives.
the s,ockiobber, and hundreds of droncS,
who roll in wealth, without ever having
contributed cent TO the public good. But
by none are the people more gr,evousiy
burened than to support the rsmse!ler
We have probably twenty Of them in this
town, who sell at least $1,000 worth Of rum
each year. Have the people Of Ottawa
ever reflected that they actually pay t'ren-
ty thousand dollars annually FOR the support
Of the rumSelers? Our state tax, county
tax, school tax, road tax, and corporation
tax all put together do not amount TO
tenth part of this. Then, in addition, at
least half of our county tax goes directly to
the support Of these rums,lIers. Our dis
trict attorney, b. c. Cook, Esq, remarked
in n speech at the temperance meeting On
Sunday evening, that he had paid a little
attention to the matter, and found that more
than njne-tcntls of the cases that have
come before him, since he has held the Of
fee Of public prosecutor, have had their d.
rect origin in rum. ErcrysiH9ll case ulrio'.
ARRAY, and assault and battery has been
traceable 10 this source. In the course Of
year he tries probably several hundreds of
these cases. every one Of hch costs the
people from 30 to 100 dollars. These i'm
menSe sums the people lave 10 pay in hard
dollars and they are not all. The support
Of paupersm, and the oNpcnce ot keeping
mp officers to maintain the public peace, are
all charges that have their origin in rum.
Now is it not most strange, that with all
their sensitivencss on the subject oftaNation,
the people bear all these heavy burthenS
without murmur? Clearly it is because
this tax is not levied directly, and because
it requires an effort to itjHk before they can
realize that il comes out of their pockets as
really as lift were at once adigcc,taX levied
with the declared and open purpose ''to
support pauperiSm. crime. and rumselers.'
What tremendous huIbub it would raise
if our legislature should levy hall as heavy
a tax and openly and honestly declare it 30
be for such q purpose Yet cur license laws
really accomplishe the purpose and the
people submit to, and even sanction them.
Now we are for abandoning this folly.
We want the people TO think on this subject,
and to act. Let US get up petitions TO our
legislature, jft there is no other remedy, and
have a law passed, such as they have in all
the eastern states, allowing the people OF
every county TO vote directly at the polls
whether there shall be any more rum sold
in such county or not. We want to see the
rumsellers and their friends come out as
such and meet the friends OF temperance in
open conflict, We want TO know who they
are, every man Of them, and then we can
meet them.