Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-07-13
LFrom the New York Hera d.
Congress LeglsIn1ing Aguimsa the
j. People

OOmBrenD Ae8Lesohn0 Ao
-, People
Like great field of ice at the approach Of
spring, the once powerful Republican party
Il now splitting and dividing In every di-
rection. The present corrupt and dlsunion
Congress has demoralized and destroyed
the party. The conservative members have
Abandoned il. Wendell Phillips has led
away his small but noisy faction of fanatics.
The War Democrats have long since with
drawn. The Unionists from the border
States have left Il In righteous disgust. All
honest men disapprove of its corruptions.
Its scheme to exclude the Southern States
from the next Presidential election is eve
rywhere Indignantly denounced. The ef-
fort to pass protective or prohibitory tar
iff has been the signal for another break
and bolt. The Radical organs OF the West
violently abuse those of this city, and re-
ceiye such adjectives as attle.pated" aud
"disgraceful" In return. One Of our even
ing contemporaries, pi0ns and poetical
Radical, generally moderate In its tone and
mathematically accurate In its epithets,
stigmatizes Mr.. Horace Greeley as 1.-THE
swindler's organ" and "the smuggler's
friend,r and talks OF "knavery," ''purchas-
ed journalists" aud ''paltry pettltoRgers" In
the same connection. To this Mr.. Greeley
retorts by terming our pious and poetical
cOtemporary "thrice-proven false proph-
et,p accusing it of ''indecent blackguard-
ism, ''false charges" and Hscurrillty.n This
Is all on account of the new tariff bill, and
announces another destructive division in
the Republican ranks. .l4... ...
There can be no doubt that the new tariff
Is brought forward in the interest of swim
ding Spectators that 1t will give decided
encouragement to smuggling, and that it Is
designed to rob the Western farmers In or
der to enrich the Eastern manufacturers (;
but there are other facts in regard to 1t
quite as damaging as these. 1t must be re-
membered that the revenue OF the Govern
Inent last year was six hundred and twenty
millions of dollars In currency, and that
this revenue was largely In excess of the
official estimates of the actual requirements
of the country. Two hundred and fifty
millions of this money was wasted in ex-
travagant Jobs by the Radicals in Congress,
and it is fair to presume that when they
now endeavor to still further increase the
public revenue at the expense of the tax
ridden people 1t Is because they desire to
have more funds from which to steal. The
new tariff Is unnecessary. The customs
and the internal revenue tax ought to be
reduced, instead of being increased. But
as the Radicals shamelessly acknowledge,
part OF the money which Is expected from
the new tariff isto be devoted 70 purchasing
votes in Pennsylvania; and, as Is equally
apparent many provisions are put into
the Tariff bill in order to increase the value
of the goods which certain spectators now
have on hand. Thus Congress legislates
against the people and in favor of swim
dIers, smugglers, spectators, robbers, job
bers, politicians and dishonest officials. 1t
does this without any excuse, aud In the
face of the fact that the Government rev.
enue is now larger than the Secretary of
the Treasury expected. History may be
searched in vain for precedent for such
enormous criminality. r -.
The duties imposed by the new tariff, al
though collected at the Custom Houses
from our merchants, are not borne by Tor
eigners or by importers, but come from the
pockets of the working people. A high
tariff makes high prices. The merchant
adds his taxes to the prices of the goods he
sells, and those who purchase really pay
the tariff duties. The masses Of this coun-
try are now more burdened with taxation
than the masses of Europe, although the
revenue of the Government is greater than
is needed. Sidney Smiths descriptions Of
the extortions practiced upon the English
is more than exceeded by the state OF az
fairs here. We are taxed in every possible
way and upon every possible pretense.-.
Many of us pay taxes for the privilege OF
pursuing our business, and are again taxed
upon the incomes we earn. We pay exor-
bitant rents because our landlords are tax
ed so heavily for their houses and lands
We pay the taxes of the gas companies
which supply us with light, and of the rail-
road, ferry and stage companies In whose
lconveyances we ride. We read newspa-
per that is taxed for its advertisements, its
paper, its ink and its income. If we are
i'll, there is a stamp upon, every
bottle Of medicine We use. The
lover presents his betrothed with a
photograph which Is stamped upon the
back the wedding ceremony becomes ex-
cessiVely costly through the multiplicity of
taxes; the happy father furnishes his child
with TOYS which have paid an increased
duty. At home we peruse books that are
taxed, or play q social game with, taxed
cards, or listen to the music of piano that
is taxed every year. If we 90 to place of
amusement we find the prices nearly doub-
led on account of taxation. We wear
boots or shoes that have paid five per cent.
tax, and clothing that has paid five per
cent. We drink beer that is taxed a dollar
a barrel, or coffee that has paid ten per cent
sweetened with sugar that has paid three
per cent, or we indulge in wines that are
taxed sixty cents gallon. Our servants
use brooms taxed at three per cent. We
pay three per cent. tax on our pins and
nails. The physician who attends us is
taxed ten dollars a year, and the watch
with which he times our pulse is taxed two
dollars. Our furniture pays six per cent.
tax, and so does the fence in front of our
house or the railing upon the stoop. The
very strings in our shoes are taxed two per
cent, and the soap with which we cleanse
our hands pays three per cent. Thus in
every detail Of life the extravaganza and
corruption of Congress are brought home
to us and our purses, and the people are
compelled to suffer so that radical politi-
clans NAV be enriched N' .''