Daily American telegraph., 1852-01-08
Communicated
The POII-Tax.

| Communicated
The POII-Tax.
| The very meagre andlaconic reports of the pro-
ceedings of our two Boards which appear in
| your paper sometimes render an explanation
necessary, in order that our constituents, who
hear and see nothing except the "report," may
fairly understand the merits of certain controver-
sizes, the only part of which known to the public
| is the recorded vote by which they are decided
This is my reason for troubling you with few
words with regard to the bill offered in the Board
of Common Council, on last Monday evening"
"praying Congress so to alter the present charter
as to obviate the polltax laid for the use of the
public schools of this city," The statement of
the grounds upon which this resolution was advo-
Gated will probably be the most fitting reply to
the charge of hostility to the interests of the pub
lie schools which has been made against those
who supported it.
The present poll tax of one dollar is q "com-
promise" made in 1848 between two parties,
one of whom wished that none but the ,freeholder
should have any share or concern in the election
of officers Of this Corporation, while the other
was DESTROYS of extending this glorious privilege
to all, without restriction. Some lucky member
OF the former party, no doubt, hit upon the happy
scheme of consecrating this odious qualification
under the ad captandum name of school tar,
and under this mask it was offered and accepted
by the two Boards, and hence its appearance in
the charter of 1848. 1t was said then that this
poll-tax of one dollar would support the public
schools. Has this prediction been verified? Let
facts and figures tell. The expenses of the pub
lie schools according to the last returns, were,
for the current year, $14 80, while the rev.
enue derived from this poll-tax amounted to only
SO, l42. This shows, moreover that out of the
6,557 persons returned on the books of our Cor
poration as liable to this tax, not one-ha of them
have paid their "dollar" into the treasury. What
then becomes of the basis upon which this COM
promise was effected2
But it is said that /" this sum of $50, 142, small
as it is, ought not to be taken away from the
support of the public schools" So say we. Let
the schooltax stand, and let every citizen be sub
ject to it; but do not make it prerequisite for
voting If the officers of our Corporation can
not collect more than one-half of it in the ordi-
nary and legitimate mode of collection, we are
much mistaken in our estimate of their efficiency.
We would be willing for one to try the expert
ment.
Again: it is known to every citizen who took
any part ut all in our last municipal election, that
this one-dollar pol-tax, while it was the main
cause of preventing more than one-half of the
legal voters of this city from exercising the
privilege Of voting, was also fruitful source of
fraud and corruption in the hands of those who
had the money to make the votes" Persons
who were careless and Indifferent about which Of
the candidates were elected, were easily induced
to vote with that party who first handed to him
receipt for his school-tax for that year; so that,
in fact, under this provision of our charter, the
fate of an election would seem mainly to depend
upon the size of the "pony purse which is
brought into the contest. Surely an extension Of
the elective franchise could not make things
much worse
Why should it not be extended? Are not the
people all throughout this country demanding
universal suffrage" as their right? Maryland,
of which we we're formerly part and parcel, has
responded to the call and Virginia, on the other
side of us, has thrown aside all her antiquated
notions about property qualification and has
given to her citizens the right Of suffrage, free
and unrestricted. Are not these examples wor-
thy Of our imitation? Can it be, that the people
of this Metropolis, the centre of this great nation,
will be satisfied to stand still, while all around
them is life, activity, and progress? Our privi-
leges here as American freemen are few enough !:
it will be our own fault, it, submitting quietly
to the obsolete notions Of the past, we suffer
those that ARE Jeff us to be curtailed and
restricted. Now that there is probability Of
obtaining from Congress the privilege of elect
ing all our officers, this question Of the ex-
tension Of the right of suffrage becomes i'm
portant to every citizen of Washington. Let no
one be deceived by the crocodile tears which will
be shed in certain quarters over the public
schools. We have already shown that the plea is
false and ungrounded. Let the question be con-
sidered on its own merits; and then we feel salts
fed that the people of this city, following the ex
ample Of their neighbors in Maryland and vir-
gnia, will claim for themselves the privilege of
voting without restriction or qualification.