The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1857-02-18
For the Gate City.

For the Cato City.
Ceanfy susscripsisns - nainresAs.
To HIS Erc<liency James ~. Grimes, Coo
ernor Of the State Of Iowa,
(Concludsd.)
You say, cir, that you will sAot stop TO
enquire into the authority under which the
"loans CD have been heretofore voted."--
cannot bring myself to believe that you in
tended thus, by inuendo, to assail the credi,
OF a considerable number Of the weal,hies,
counties of the state whose bonds, issued
not merely under the authority of law, but
with the full and almost unanimous sanction
Of their people, have been negotiated, or
possibly may now be offered in market
You will not, in terms, deny the legal au-
thority which has been exercised, and it would
be insulting to imagine that you would, in .
public paper like that, hint doubt which
you dared not express in plain terms.
The people of these counties to whom
such questions have been submitted, did not
ask your opinion a. to whether the invest
ment "would result proftably to the stock
holder" or not. They think themselves quite
as competent judges as you. Had their pri-
mary aim been to realize profit to their conn
ty upon its stock, they did not ask Executive
instruction. And in deciding for what pur-
poses they are willing to subject themselves
to contingent or actual taxation, while the
vc;a. ~ aarb - hn.~d ord tha ;,,st x;.,hts nf
each respected, they still claim the preroga-
tive Of judging for themselves.
i have said that your policy, carried into
effect, was equivalent to u VETO upon most Of
the works projected or in progress, except
those which had the aid Of the General Gov
eminent. These railroads which are necesss-
~ TO the people who are OF from those ia
vored lines, CANNOT BIZ BrILr without the aid
of corporate subscriptions.
The state is new, and there is, ~ in all
new states, deficiency of money capital
Capitalists abroad know little Of the pros
pective value Of our roads. But the securi-
ties we can offer them will command what we
stand our own affairs, and who can estimate
the business and beneficial operation Of
the work We need, are willing to pledge our
taxable estates and our fsith,-becsuse We
know that, il dividends ever fail, We are
still gamers by the construction Of works
which will have, not merely benefited our
own property, but multiplied production and
wealth around US, Why should We be prohib
tied from doing SOP
You reply as before, with this addition
that il is ''unjust to allow the property OF
zone man to be heavily burdened by taxation
supposed by the vote Of another man who
sis without property, without . household,
Sand who sustains none of the burdens Of
government
choose to treat the objection with candor,
remarkable as it is, coming from the Govern
or of Iowa in the year 1856.
Those who sustain none of the burdens of
are really q very small class.--
There are, according to your message, more
than two-thirds as many landholders as
voters in the state. But it is to be borne in
mind that the burdens of government, are
got sustained BY landholiers alone, nor by
those whose names appear on the tar duph- !
cate. Even the pecuniary burdens Of the
government are diiused among much larger |
number. The name on the tax roll is not |
The test of tax payer or not. The tenant
who hires house or land pays, in his rent, the |
lax upon his tenement. The laborer In his |
wages, the consumer in the price of what he |
Eats or wears, contributes to the taxes paid /
BY the farmer or the merchant, and thus
bears portion of the burthens a. really as |
he owner of lands or money. You may re-
ply that this is small true, but it is proper
iored to the means, rs exactly as the tax !
charged against men Of property and house
,olders charged in the duplicate. And ut
shat amosnt OF taxes would you Ok the lin
I OF sufrageS Your argument followed
'ut proves too much. Why, in your view,
'hould the petty owner Of ten acres neutral
lie BY his vote that Of the man who owns Q |
thousand, and therefore pays hundred times
Is much taxi
Let us suppose case; or, what 10 better,
ct US take an actual one,--YouR own. Upon |
Tour large property in Burlington you are
'harged with very considerable tax. Did |
& never occur to your acute mind, Governor /
crimes, that although you hold the tax re-
'eipt,--on that $50, 900 block, for instance,
he taxes which 90 through your hands are
really paid by your tenants2 And THERE
again by their customers? II is, l think,
100 clear for argument. That magnificent
block will not produce dime, even towards
axes and repairs, without other industry
han your own. In the last analysis it il the
'aborer, whether possessing land and hoass-
hold or possessing none, who pays the tars,
of the state, yours among tho rest.
But the men without property and with
put household" are really very few in Iowa,
As compared with the whole number Of elect
ors. There is no such sntag onism among |
The people Of the state as that which you |
suggest, there is no reason for such antag-
onism, even upon the narrow view which |
you entertain as TO sustaining 'ths burdens |
OF Government -