The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1868-09-16

them and believe in them. They
| think their system of taxation right
and proper.
WHAT THE DEMOCRATS BELIEVE IN.
Now, we Democrats do not believe
in their system OF taxation. We know
they are robbing the masses for the
benefit of the few. We want men
who will apply the pruning knife to
all these corrupt excrescences which
exist from the head to the tail OF Off
cial action throughout the govern
ment. Besides all these I can give
you another consideration it is i'm
possible, if change be effected, to
make matters worse. You have eve
rything to gain and nothing to lose by
change, and, therefore, I think we
have some reason to hope that by a
change of administration we might
get rid ofssome OF these abuses.
THE TAxRs UNEQUAL AND OPPRESSIVE.
Let us inquire step further in ref
erence to this taxation. Not only do
they raise double the amount that
ever gets into the public treasHry-not
only do they receive into the public
treasury a much larger amount than
is needed for the expenses of the gov
ernment, but they lay these taxes
most unequally and oppressively.
Let us take this tariff tax, where they
raise $240.OOO,OOO in currency; who
pays it? 1t operates upon the poor
man. The poor man, with a family
of six or eight, pays more to the gov
ernment under the tariff tax than the
richest nan in the community. Eve
rything you eat, every necessary of
life, every pound of tea you buy costs
you six shillings, that is, the six shil-
lings which goes to the government.
Upon every pound of tea and coffee,
upon every necessary of life, from fifty
to one hundred per cent. goes to the
government. The EUe1ling Journal
says poor men never see the tax-gath-
erer. No, they DO not see him. but
| oh ! how they feel him They feel
him when they sit around their
hearthstone to take their homely
meal. Every cup oftea or coffee, eve
ry pound of sugar, every yard of cot
ton cloth, every pin, every needle, ev-
cry match, everything they use, eat,
or wear, they pay government an ex-
/ travagant tax upon. This tariff tax,
which has been rolled up tor the ben
eft of the New England manufactu-
rers until it reaches the enormous sum
of $240, 100000 year, is paid by the
masses, the poor and the middle class
es of people throughout the country.
The internal revenue tax operates In
the same way. 1t is tax upon what
we use, buy and wear. These taxes
are put on sometimes two, three and
four times to one article, and upon the
top OF that is the profit of every person
through whose hands the property
has passed. What do you suppose are
the profits paid to persons through
whom the property passes that is paid
by way of tariff? What is the profit
you pay upon the tax? 1t is $25, ,OOO,-
600 a year, and the profit you pay
upon the internal revenue tax is
81, 100000 a year. say everything
you eat, drink and wear Is taxed.
The child, from the time it IS born, is
taxed upon the clothing that is put on
its back, its playthings, its bauble, Its
education, its school books, its busi-
ness, trade, or occupation through
life, and the very coffin which takes
II into the ground is taxed over and
over again, and the first thing its rep
resentatives do when they call upon
the Surrogate to administer on its as
sets is to pay government tax. These
are indirect taxes; but how is it when
you come to direct taxation ? Who
| pays those taxes? The rich man /?
No, fellow citizens. tell you that
the direct taxation in this country is
the most unequal and oppressive of
any ever invented in any land in the
world. 1t falls upon the poorer class.
They pay all direct taxes of any con-
sequence.
TAXING UNITED STATES BONDS FAVORED.
Here are s., SOC, 100000 of these
United States bonds that are exempt
from taxation. What did our friends
say at Chicago? Are they in favor of
taxing them? They say not word
upon the subject; on the contrary,
they assert it is repudiatiol. What
does the democratic platform tell you?
1t says, in plain, unequivocal- Ian
guage, 's.We are in favor Of taxing
United States bonds equally with all
other property" But they say 1t is
reputation It's an outrage on the
bondholders. Is it? Let us see.-
| Congress has passed law, it is true,
exempting these bonds from taxation
by State or municipal authority, but
there is no prohibition on the general
government itself to tax them. The
United States can tax them ter, ,tWen-
ty or thirty per cent. They can tax
them enough to make them equal to
all other property and relieve the
people who do not own bonds from
the oppressive burden of taxation.
| NO RRPUDIArIoN
say government can do that, and
confessedly there is no reputation in
it. They admit it. Why does not
the government do that? They have
had absolute power not only to pass
laws, but to do so over the veto of the
President; and why DO they not re-
lieve the people in this respect ? Why
because this radical party, which
started out with the inscription upon
IFS banner, "Free soil, free men and
free speech, "have become 30 degraded
as to be now the mere bottle-holders
of the bondhelders. That IS the rea-
son they have not Gone IT. This gov
ernment has been ruled by the bond
holders ever since the radicals have
had power. (CrIes of ''That's so, that's
| so. Ol EvprU financial 1naaSura hoo