The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1868-09-16
the CAMPAIGN IN NEW YORK.
GREAT SPEECH
OF
S sANF RID E. cH UR c n,
IN
SCHUYLER COUNTY.
A statesmanlike View of the Field
ICONClUDED.1

greater extent, more oppressiveIy and
unequally, than any other people on
the face OF the earth and If the peO-
fple of r.'ia country only appreciated
the extreme inequality of this taxation
they would rise up as one man and
hurl the rascals and thieves from pow
er. Loud and prolonged cheering.l
Now, again say that there is now
drawn from the people of this country
by way of taxation more than the
whole net productive industry of the
country. mean exactly what say
that there is more drawn from the
people of this country by way of tax
alton than the whole net productive
Industry of the country. What is the
net productive industry of country?
OF course, people must live. They
must eat, drink and wear they must
support their children, occupy dwell
ing houses and use a great deal of
property and money tor living and
the education of their families. Alter
you have taken all that out Though.
people, Of course, may and often do
pay more than they ought latter you
have deducted all that, the balance is
the productive industry of the coun-
try. L do not mean when man bets
800 on horse race that that amount
is any part of the productive industry
of the country, because that only
changes hands from one to another.
Where a man raises q crop of wheat by
toll, labor and skill, takes the tall oak
from the mountain top, cuts it down
and works it up into any article of
use, or descends into the bowels of the
earth and takes the minerals there
deposited, or does any act which adds
to the wealth of the country, that is
productive industry; and 1 assert
again that the net productive industry
of this country has been for years all
absorbed, and more. too, by the taxa
ton which has been imposed upon
the people. Now, the value of all the
property in the United States before
the war was 81, 900, ,OOO,O I see
some gentleman has stated it at
81 400, 900, 600, but my recollection is
that according to the census reports it
amounted to$1 500, 100000. Property
in the Northern States has increased
in value; in the Southern States 1t
has diminished but we will take this
valuation for the purpose of determih-
ing the productive industry of the
country. There are various ways of
asce-taining that amount. 1t is usu-
ally estimated that % per cent. upon
the whole value Of all the property is
the amount of the productive indus
try. That is the usual method of esti-
mating by those who have studied
and written upon political economy.
That would make S4OO, ,OOO, 900 a year
as the productive industry of the
country, calculating the property at
81 GOO, 200. 400. Now, what amount of
taxes has been drawn from the peo-
pie? And here I shall divide this
amount into parts. First, I shall In
quire what amount has been drawn
from the people which reached the
public treasury, as to which we have
official returns and there can bo no
doubt about it. In 1866 it was $685.
600, 600; in 1867 it was $3.50, ZOO, 900 /;
and Mr.. Wells, the special Revenue
Commissioner, has made a statement
in which he says that for the past
year, 1868, ending on the 1st July,
there were $+6O, ,OOO,O 900 of money
drawn from the people by way of tax
alton which actually went into the
Treasury. We have already an
amount larger than thewhole produc-
tive industry of the country. But
there is another point to consider,
namely, how much has been drawn
from the people which has never
reached the public treasury at all.
Let us inquire into that.
HOW THE PEOPLE ARE ROBBED.
Upon this subject am obliged to
quote from Radical authority, be-
cause. if relied upon my own person
al statement, some of our amiable
Radical friends might say it was a
Copperhead lie, I will cite Mr.. Wells,
who is the Radical special Revenue
Commissioner. You may recollect
last fall, just on the eve of an election,
| Mr.. Wells came out with a statement
in answer to a report which I pre-
sented to the Constitutional conven-
tion upon the subject of finances, the
amount of taxation, &c. He has,
also, come out with a subsequent
statement, for the purpose of helping
our Radical friends out of their diff
cmties. According to every legal rule
the admission of Mr.. Wells must be
taken strictly against his client. Note
what he says:
"The Commissioner, in both his
previous reports, has given it as his
of it, that not over fifty per cent. of
the amount of the assessed internal
revenue taxes has been received into
the National Treasury"
OF course, according to that state
ment, there must lIave been from
$3.50, 900, 900 to $3.50, ,O0O. 900 that were
assessed upon the people that never
were received into the National Treas
ury. Now, what has become of it Z?
In regard to that in n minute. InOw
quote from the authority OF Mr.. Free
man Clarke, a prominent leader OF the
Radicals, residing in the city of Roch-
ester. He has been Comptroller of
Currency, member of the Constilu-
tlonal convention and Congress and
has given to this subject great atten-
tion. He wrotea letter upon the sub
ject of finance and published it in the
Rochester Democrat six months ago,
where he says:
at can be clearly demonstrated
that frauds and evaslons are practiced
to such an extent that not much more