Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-09-22

might operate s very uneQual ulstilou-
ton Of benefits, for many reasons b a
NAV be easily found on reflection ana
among them for this-thst money eX-
pepded in n State may really and ulti-
mateIy benefit the people Of that State
no more. and even less, than the people
OF an adjoining or even remote one. 1t
would take q good many commissions to
determine who were benefited, and in
what proportions, by the Improvement
of A hsrbor, the erection Of a light-house,
the building Of a custom-hOuse, or the
clearing out Of a river. That would be
ga difficult as to ascertain the parties
benefited by the rain that falls on the
AIlephanies. A great deal Of money is
both annuslly and occasionally paid the
Indians on the frontier Of Arkansas, bat
the people Of that State have found that
much of the benefit Of itresults to them,
and those benefits flow of with the
money in different channels to persons
10 New Orleans, Philadelphia, New
York, and elsewhere.
II the rule Of equality were, that each
Of the two great sections ought TO have
expended within its borders an amount
proportioned to the amount collected
there, New York, by the same rule,
would claim the lions share, and
each State, county, city, town and
individual could prefer the same
claim. If an individual were tc
erect g marble palace, at a cost o.
millions, on some remote prairie IL
Texas, and, under a system Of direct
taxation. pay into the Federal treasury 8
sum equal to that paid by half the othel
citizens Of the State; or if he were.
| under the present system, to vie viii
LUCULLUs in the consumption Of duty
paving luxuries, we do not see how.
there being 10 necessity for govern.
mental expenditure in his neighborhOod
he could, under either system, get bach
his fair share in the shape Of benefits.
Il seems to Us that the only practically
lust rule as to the disbursement Of the
revenues is this that they should only
be expended Ter the general benefit Of the
nation, Of the country at large, in pre-.
pairing it 10 maintain its honor at every
point, and protect It's citizens everywhere
in peace or war; in opening the grest
highways Of national commerce, and il
carrying u the other great objects fol
which the Union was formed and in
doing this, Of course, the welfare, safety.
and interest Of each State and section.
considered as parts Of the whole, should
be provided for and protected. This by
no means requires equal Disbursements
in each State or section, but rather for.
bids it. On the contrary, the cardinal
rule by which to determine the rank o.
each claim for appropriation must need:
be its national importance-its impor'
lance and value to the nation at large
the consequence that may result &c. the
nation at large from neglect Of it. A
great work of defence at New York,
enabling US to repel the first attack Of
an enemy and shatter his forces, might
be as important to any other State as to
the Empire State; an Improvement at
The mouth Of the Mississippi, by deepen
ing its channel, as important to Missouri,
Iowa, or Wisconsin, as to Louisiana.
We do not say that this rule has been
steadily keptin view. On the contrary,
We Imagine the true rule has rather been
thought TO be, for each State to get, if il
could, e proportisnalshare Of the money.
We are only thinking Of the erroneous
way in which the subject has beenlooked
at. Those who have dealt with this topic
have, perhaps, come to correct conclu-
sions. We only say, that il they have,
it was accidental. Certainly their system
was not correct. When We are told
what sums Of moneys were received in q
particular year at the several ports OF
entry, we are in no manner informed
whence and from whom those sums
came; and when long rows OF figures
have informed Us at what points the
different items Of expeditUre were paid
out, we as little know who reaped even
the immediate benefits Of those disburse-
ments. When a dark cloud settles on a
peak OF the Allegheny or the Cordile-
ras, prepared to pour down its torrents
there, do We know from what remote
and various seas, marshes, plains, prai-
Ties, and rivers, its particles arose by
evaporation i? And when its rains, gath
cred from the broad surfaces Of a whole
continent and two oceans, fall on the
aged shoulders Of the mountains, what
human wit can tell us what men and
what lands, in what proportions, shall
share the benefits Of those rains?
As impossible is II TO tell who reap.
aud in what proportions, the benefits of
the moneys expended in erecting the
cu~stom-house at New Orleans and the
f~ortihcations at Newport. Part OF the
former goes to Massachusetts for granite.
to Maine for lumber, to PennsvlysDla
for iron part to Ireland, remittances bv
the emigrant TO the glad relatives nj
nome; part to Ohio and Kentucky for
bacon. Here, there, everywhere II
/ flows. 80 Of the moneys expended IN
the North. Part pays for the breadstpHs
and meat Of the Northwest; part goes 70
She planter OF the South for his cof,o,
I The horse-drover from Missouri and tbo
stock farmer Of Texas each claims bis
share Of those disbursed in South Caro-.
lima and Louisiana. 1t is not where the
money is paid, nor always 10 whom, thai
determines who share the benefit Of the
disbursement. Not the mountains on
whose rough sides and rocky shoulders
the great rains fall, but the plains far
below, the States along whose smiling
borders the great rain .swelled rivers ron-
the broad Alluvisns close TO the remote
ocean, q whole zones distance from the
mountains, receive and reap the benefit
OF the rains. And even the countries in
which Providence has placed the most
precious Of metals, where it is dug IN
and washed out, are often, If not gener-
ally, the least benefited by it.
It is q favorite argument with the nd
vscates Of direct taxation, that by their
system a wealthy capitalist, AsroR, for
example, would be made to pay IN pro-
PARTON TO his wealth, while In the wav
OF duties he pays no more than a South.
ern planter ofmOderate estate. But that
Is a mistake, because the great mass Of
Northern wealth is invested in visible
property, as lands, houses, and ships
and so every capitalist employs many
laborers and mechanics, and pays in the
way Of increase in wages his share Of 20