The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1867-12-14


three cents per pound upon every pound
of cotton produced in the country. The
cotton producer pays the tax. and sticks
il on the price Of cotton when he sells it
10 the manufacturers. Then comes I'm.
Gle Sam to the manufacturers. and says,
my dear Mr.. Shoddy, did you many a
good turn during the war; | paid you
full price for Jour shoes that didn't last
n two days march, and for pantaloons
that burst in the knee the first time the
boys kneeled iu the ranks TO fire. Now,
Mcssicurs Manufacturers, want you to
do little for me. Therefore, / have
laid tax on every yard of shirting you
manufacture Of that cotton. Well, Mr.
Manufacturer pays the tax, and claps it
on the price when he sells it to the mer-
chant. Then comes Uncle Sam again
and says, my dear Mr.. Merchant, we are
little hard up; therefore, we have laid
a tax on nll your business The mer-
chant pays the tax and adds it to the
price. So by the time you come to buy
the shirts you find all three Of these tax
es on the price. So that, after all, it Is
the man who puts the shirts on his back
that pays the whole Of these taxes.
Why, my friends, you have not thing
upon you--not a coat or a pair of boots
or shoes-you have not thing that you
arc wearing that has not paid from three
10 five taxes 10 the General Government,
and you who wear them are the men who
pay the taxes Why, when | have made
this argument before. there was one man
ignorant enough to say the poor man
the laooring man-who never sees tax.
gathcrer. never pays taxes. 1t would be
great deal nearer the truth to say that
labor pays all the taxes. That is the
truth. How il IL? just look at it. The
only way in which you can add one sin
gle cent to the wealth Of the country il
| by labor. There is no other way to add
10 the wealth. Of the country. a man
may have the finest genius IN the world
and invent the best machine ever seen ia
the world. but until labor comes in II
build the machine, nothing is gained By
the inventor.
Take the rich bond hodcr. and don
alludc 10 this class TO make an inyidioui
distinction. but merely for illustration
Take the rich capitalist, who tolls not
neither does he spin. and yet is as fine a
Solomon. IN all his glory. lie does no
add ns much 10 the wealth Of the c0untr,
in year-f he produces nothing, bnl
simply lives upon the interest OF hi,
muney-as the shoemaker's apprentice
who makes fifty cent pair of shoes for q
chill. [Applause Now il IL just pre-
clsciy because ynu can't create wealth ex
cept by labpr-caU not pay taxes without
HIaving wealth Ia pay them wiih-it is foI
that reason hat. in the end, the burden
of taxation falls upon the laborin class
and it IL ior that reason that there is NJ
el ~ ia the community 80 much interested
10 having the country but little in deb
and lightly taxed as the laboring people
/ Why, what i the effect of n great deb
aud heavy taxation! What has been il.
effect in Great Britain ? Two hundred
years ago England was nearly out of debt
Then she was, in the language Of hei
people as well as her poets, MERRY old
| England" Now she owes four thousanc
millions Of dollars, and the effec. of thi.
mighty public debt has been that one en-
tire sixteenth part of her people are de
pendent upon the poor laws Tor support
That is he effect, upun poor people. of :
great national debt ard heavy taxation.
Nnw, | say TO you, that you cannot pre-
serve your liberty nor your prosperity
with such debt as we have hanging over
us. aud with such taxation as we are com
PEELED to bear. WHAT, then, is the rem
edy? Is it reputation say no.
say that the American people are an hon
est people, and will not repudiate theii
honest obligations. The remedy is not re
pudiaton, but il is such payment o.
this debt as the people are able to make
and which shall save these vast sums Of
interest that you are paying each year
Where you promised 90 pay gold, pay gold
Where you only promised greenbacks,
pay Preenbacks. That is the FIRST thing
The next thing you must do is stop the
plundering of the Treasury. Why, my
friends, if were to stand here and re.
count to you the hundredth part of the
plundering of the Treasury that is to be
found in the official reports of the Gov.
ernment, might have to stand here nigh
week. Laughter.] | might sum up
the whole thing in one remark, aud that
is that Mr.. Dawes, of Massachusetts,, ono
of the most radical of men, was forced tc
confess, on the floor Of the House of Rep,
resentatives, that the mere stealings oil
one year under the Republican admins.
tration. were equal almost to the entire cur.
rent annual expenses of Buchanan's ad.
ministration. Let me give you an idea
of the amount, What were your expen.
ses last year ? They were $3.50, ,000, 600
That is mighty sum of money. Let
me give you an idea of what it is ip
my comparison, In the good old days
of Andrew jackson, the expenses oi
the Government never exceeded twenty.
FIVE millions year. New you expend
as much in one single year as would run
the Government for twenty-one years, al
the old rate of Democratic expenditures,
Now, is it not time to have change
Is it not time to stop the leaks in the
Treasury, aud turn out the men who tax
you in this way, aud thus squander your
money? [Applause.
Let me give you another item. A set
of fellows who wanted Government con-
tracts, got up an Indian war; and what
have been the expenses of it /? The Sec
retary Of war reported that the expenses
of that war for two years, 1865 and 1866,
were over thirty millions of dollars.
How many hostile Indians did thew kill