Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-05
srAmPs.

1t is singular how quietly the people OF
what is supposed to be a free country,
governed by a Constitution that power
annot violate, can submit to the grossest
usurpations and the most L%nconstitu-
tional legislation, 1t does not admit of
a doubt that Congress possesses no Con-
stitutienal power to resort to the inge-
nious device of taxing particular articles
Of merchandise by requiring the vendors
to afix to them stamps furnished by the
Government.
For fine who sells a boxof matches can
be compelled to buy a one or two cent
stamp. and stick it on the box if every
can Of oysters and Holsters sold must
have its adhesive stamp put upon it,
everything else, manufactured and for
sale, may be subjected to the same neces-
sity. Every ham, every 1osf Of bread,
every pane of glass, every turnip, every
individual potato and apple may be re-
ouired to be stamped. Indeed, we do
not see why children may not be re-
auired to be stamped, or forbidden to
enter any school. Why the wedding
cake and the sacramental bread, D the
infants first dress, and the shroud and
| coffin Of the dead, may not also need the
magic adhesive stamp to entitle the
child to be clothed when it enters the
world, and the dead to be buried. Nay,
/ the corpse itself might be required to be
stamped and the soul be fortunate in
not being required by claw" to have
the Governments passport to enable 1t
to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.
Moreover there is no limit to the
amount Of the stamp to be required for
n article, except the discretion Of Con-
gress. If it can compel a vender to put
a two-cent stamp on a can of fruit, it can
/ require him to use oneOf the value Of ten
dollars. There need be no further dis
cussion as to the meaning Of the terms
simposts,' Z excuses, > and direct tax
The Congress needs no other power, to
| enable it to raise any amountof revenue,
than that to require stamps to be placed
on manufactured and imported articles.
The Constitutional provision that repre-
sentatiOn and direct taxes shall cores
poud. and every equitable consideration
as well asthe constitutional rule in regard
to uniformity and equality Of taxation,
may be dispensed with. There is no ne
| cessffv to levy a tar on cotton bales.
Require a stamp to be placed on each.
If one Of three dollars ean be required,
so NAV one of fifty and an additional
advantage will be an immense increase
in the number Of articles subject to tax
alton. If the Congress can require g re-
ceipt to an Express Company for a pack
age, to be stamped, so it may compel the
stamping Of every letter, of every news
paper, of every written sheet intended
for publication, of every p%roofsheet, Of
every invitation to a wedding or a
funeral, and every ticket to a concert or
a theatre, of the song Of the singer and
the sermon of the divine.
But it is in the aspect Of its unjust dis
elimination that the stamp-act, like the
~cotton-tax is infamous. The two are ike
the Siamese twins. Why are not the
hams and shoulders and sides Of Porko-
polls taxed, and the sacks of wheat of
Illinois and Minnesota, and the potatoes
Of the Northwest, as well as the cotton
Of the South ? Why are not the mack
erel taken by the Yankee fishermen, and
the yards Of cloth made by the Massa-
chusetts mill-owners, and the shoes and
boots and brogans of Lynn, and Connec.
iicut churns and buckets and clocks, re-
quired to be stamped, as well as cans Of
oysters put up in Baltimore ?
For ourselves, We do not believe that
Congress has the least color Of Consti-
tutional power to require the use of a
stamp in my case. No such power could
have been claimed for it until all the cid
ideas as to the nature Of the General
Government as one Of limited and de-
fined powers, had died out. The stamp
act, like military commissions and test
oaths, and lettrcs dc cachet by telegraph,
was but one symptom of an incurable
disease. The Republic has become an
Empire that only waits for the Emperor
to ascend the throne.