New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1852-09-28

me- Mr. President, how this man can deduct So
| or $40 from bis hard earnings, without starving
his family for five days or twenty days previously
or folowing' confess that have not been able
| to discover it, and do not wonder when read
| in history of the dreadful convulsious and
bloody rebellions of the unfortunate bondsmen,
bpeasants and conmoners who rose against the
I odious tyranny Of the Kings and Lords who
could, Mt pleasure, crush them under exofbitant
| taxation; and my mind does not rest until l
reach shat glorious period Of the last century
where the attempt to collect from the North
American colonies palbry tax in the shape Of
stamp paper, breaks out in to the declaration
of our national independence. and our forming
into the grandest and freest of all the empires
| Of the world.
| But to resume my comparison, ] will place in
jux opposition with the man whom have de-
scribed another man. possessed of 100000
worth Of property. This man is certainly sur
rounded with all the luxnries Of life, and even
dreams of new {and let it be said to the shame
of human nature,} and perhaps Illicit ples surc3
and enjoyinents. The s tax gatherer" appears
| to this man a1so, and claims $1,000 in the name
Of the sovereign power. What will this sum
deduct from the necessary comforts OF this rich
man, Nothing. 1t may curtail some of his
pleasures. 1t may keep him from applying that
sum to wiping out the expenses of froiic, or
other transient folly; but neither will he nor
| his family suffer the pangs of hunger or thirst
on that account,
| Now, in the former OF these two cases, it is
the 's necessaries' - of the owner which have
| been taxed In the second case, the tax affect
only the &c ssuperfuities' Of the man. ask
now-Is there any equitable proportion be-
tween the two? Yet, in the words of the art :
Gle which propose to amend, "Taxation % has
been. equal and uniform
| | have nothing further to say on this subject
Which, / confess has been paramount in my
mind and, although sure of the present resulG
! / sit down convinced that in country which
like ours. has been open to every theory havin9
for its ultimate object the moral and physical
improvement of mankind, there is not one g
Of noble thought that will not, in course oi
time, break forth into wide spread tree in the
Garden of Liberty f
Mr.. AVERY moved to lay Mr.. st. Pauls sub.
| stitute on the table.
The motion prcvailed-tlle substitute was
| laid on the table.
| Mr.. CoTToy moved to strike out the words
occupation, trade orr, from article 127.
| Mn CoTToN-I desire to bring to the special
notice CT this Convention the injurious effect
| which the present system of taxing trades has
upon the poorer classes in the State. By this
| system a poor man, pursuing his trade for a
bare living-we shall say a.carpenter, brick
layer, or the like, in NewOrleans or Lafayette
has to pay to the State an annual tax of 81 for
| the privilege Of carrying on his occupation.
| This tax is levied equally upon the man who
may make $s25 600 or $4,000 year by his
extensive business, and upon him who, in the
same trade, with all his energies and industry
can do no more than work out a living for his
family. This is in direct conflict with the frs,
| clause Of article 127, which says, ssTaxation
| shall % nd IL,
State"
1t IS fundamental principle Of good govern
ment to so adapt our system of taxation that
| II will operate with u judicious equality OF
weight on the rich and the poor The moment
you begin to tax the trades and similar oecu-
pations of the country, that moment you violate
that fundamental principle and introduce un-
equal taxation The inequality Of the present
| system is unj just and obnoxious IN every depart
ment of business on which the poor man nav
enter. Let us take the case of man carrying
| on a mercantile business. He is forced to pay
| the same sum annually to the State, whether Ii,
has a small store. which a scanty capital hal
but meagerly supplied, and where his busines
must necessarily be limited and his profits in
significant, or whether he has an immens
stock and plenty Of customers, with business
yielding him not less than one hundred thou
sand dollars year Where is the equality
| where is the Justice in this'
| So again in professions. You force the young
man who has just completed laborlous and
| expensive education for his profession, with
some difficulty perhaps, and who has commenced
practice as lawyer or the practice Of the med
zeal protession-you force this young man to
| pay TO the State the same amount of license as
Il fortunate senior in his profession, who is en-
joying practice worth SS25 600 or $50 600 a
year. Where is the equality or equity in such
| taxation, which sets out in article 127 with
| protesting to be equal and uniform
| In NewOrleans there are not less than from
800 to 400 lawyers, most of whom have lust
started, or little more than started, in the pro-
tessional race 1t is impossible for them tc
| struggle, with even a modicum of success
against the Older practitioners. Yet, there
they are, embarked in their profession, and
struggle they must as honorably and best they
may; but one thing is certain-whatever may
be their success, be it none or little as soon as
| they commence you demand of them 81 each for
declaring their intention to pursue their pro-
tesslon. While this sum, SNAIL as tits, oppresses
the beginner, there are some, and, | believe
members of this Convention, who. realize from
300O to gu, 200 a year by their profession
and DO not feel it, Now, here we see an in
equality which evidently has tile tendency to
restrain and embarrass talent and energy. In
the same way it affects mechanics and men Of
all occupations, not able to do more than a
small business, who must pursue their trade or
occupation to support their families, and yet
| have their industry oppressed and their ener-
| gies cramped by being compelled to pay the
| same tax to the State as the man who is amass-
! ng wealth by the immensity of his trade.
l say to this Convention at once, without
fear of contradiction, if you impose such tax
as this on the hard listed yeomanry of the coun-
try 1t will induce those men to say, g although
you have done well thus far you have placed
this weight on our heads and we will accept Of
no such Constitution at your hands, They
will be justified in saying this. | ask if it is
right to fasten upon the young men of the coun-
try tax OF this nature' 1t is distinct tax on
men pursuing u trade, profession or occupation
anu whenever you make q distinction in taxa
| tion you attack mems liberties and sap the
| foundation Of free institutions. By imposing
| this tax, this Convention will be taking away q
| right guaranteed to every citizen by the Con
| stitution of the United States. The Convention
| can place taxation more properly and more
| justly elsewhere. Instead Of taxing the poor
man because he is working to support a family
| it can tax real estate and other property to 9
sufficient extent to meet the exigencies of the
times. Ii can impose q tax on capital
am sorry that the last Legislature abrogated
the tax on capital. There are men in NewOr,
| leans coming money from the wants of the
people every minute by means of their capital
MIR. James Robb, for instance, who boasts O
| having at his hands five millions of dollars o
capital. Yet the Legislature exempts sucl
men in their trade of shaving the people, where
as it tells the poor, honest, industrious mai
that he must pay tax Of ~ to the State befor,
he can begin to earn bread for his family