The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1867-09-14
Dc you want this excess


] than France. Do you want this excess
: still greater?
) France has property, real and personal,
, az taxable basis. amounting to forty
, thousand millions Of dollars. Great Bxit-
], ian has property, real and persoRal, TO the
: jam0unt Of thirty-six thousand millions.
: The United States have property of
] the same kind amounting to sixteen thou
! sand millions France and England pay
no more local taxes, while the people Of
the United States, in addition to the sum
have stated, pay for the State and coun-.
ty and municipal taxes nearly two hun
dred and fifty millions. Will this change
j reduce our taxes?
Do you believe our fnapcial system
will be improved?
: The national debt exceeds TWENTY-FIVE
9 hundred miliions-and the annual inter.
] est is not far from one hundred and forty
millions. Each sixteen years the amount
: Of interest thus paid is almost as great as
2 the whole debt. Will this enormous debt
I, be reduced ?
The capitalists have two thousand mil
lions OF government bonds. They paid
for them at an average Of scarcely more
/, than fifty cents on the dollar. They re-
ceive interest in gold at six per cent on
their face. And yet they arc exempt
7 from taxation Minnesota taxes the land
: and houses, and horses and money, and
labor Of her people; but she dare not
Q touch With the pFofaning hand of her tax
E gatherer the fortunes Of these gentlemen.
r Will their numbers be diminished, or the
amount OF their non-taxable investments
be reduced?
: Three hundred millions and more of
r these bonds are 10 the hands of the own
G ers Of National banks. They deposit them
: at Washington and draw, semi-annualIy,
the interest in gold. They receive from
: the Treasury an almost equal amount of
5 bank notes. and these they lend out to the
] people at six, or eight, or fifteen per cent
as the necessities of commerce or the con-
Z dition Of the borrower make him fit sub
. Iject for such demands. The manifest in
e terest Of the people is, that the bonds be
] redeemed in legal tender notes. The in
: terest on these bonds would thus be saw
D ed, and the currency, If any is needed,
g would thus be furnished free of cost to
: the people Will this be effected
D Such consolidated government as
have described would furnish the hey-day
/ of the speculator, the stock jobber. of all
! those walters on fortune who live by their
6 wits on the labor Of other men. But
+ leaving these considerations, and raising
4 to higher level of argument, ask you
+ is this policy worthy of our country p
n VIII It extend the liberty aud increase
f the happiness of the human family Will
it lay deeper and broader the foundation
r of our Government?
/ The wounds of war are still agape.
r In the North they are not vet healed,
e In the South they are fresh and bleed
: ing. There the industrial system is
a destroyed, the social fabric is shatter-
$ ed, the commercial prosperity is utter
ly gone, families are broken up, neigh
/ borhoods are depopulated, agriculture
: is forsaken, fields laid waste, and fam
!. ine-actual starvation-carrying many
d to their graves. The track of the
: wheels of the chariots of war are worn
:. so deep that century will not efface
: them. The North has conquered their
: armies; shall it not also now conquer
: their hearts Loud applause. The
highest duty of patriotism, the chief
e est aim of craftsmanship, should be to
4 calm the passions and allay the exas-
; peration, and, if it were possible, to
Il efface the very memory of the war
Il This policy Reconstruction adds dis
honor to defeat, adds the sting of deg
!. radiation to the bitterness of submis-
!? sion. A Radical New England Sena-
: tor refused to permit the trophies of
o the war OF the paintings of victories
: to be put in the Smithsonian Institute,
Q lest they might keep up unhappy mem
= ories and nourish bitter resentment;
a but with refinement of cruelty he ex-
4 hibits them in the laws and perpetu-
! ates them in the institutions with
: which he would govern the people.
= They tell US we need strong govern.
ment, that we need to clothe the nation
! with power to execute Its wills. Strong
|. for what? Has not the Federal system
1 been strong enough? Has it not execu-
+ tied its civil and criminal law Has it
not waged successful war both of ofense
: and defense Has it not by force of arms
= overcome gigantic rebellion, and for
r years sustained most exhausting civil
s war Has it not had the power to pre-
i serve order at home and maintain its po-
: sition in the world? Has it not been
e strong enough to protect the rights, alas,
) strong enough to jeopardize the liberties
s of its citizens History tells US that
). confederation is liberty-that consolida-
j tion is despotism-that confederation is
i the strongest government for defense, and
n the weakest for oppression. A Govern
: ment which holds in its hand the power
to preserve order, to enforce justice, to
!. make and administer all the local law ap-
y plicable to thirty millions of people, and
i thus to enter into the details of their dali
! ly life, has that hand mailed In iron, and
4 may lay its weight upon and crush out
il their liberties.
oil A government whose power is so con-
9 centered is ruined, if it is defeated in .
a single battle; or if the various chords Of
: power are not all closely gathered in one
/, strong grasp IF power be dispersed
: among many local governments, equal
t and independent, except they are bound
I in confederation, it never passes beyond
]. the control of the people, so far as to OPP
. press them-and if disasters come, it pre-
sents many organized fronts, and rallying
& points around which armed forces can
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