Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1869-09-16

state! 6uu tnAb y0e osotAk10A
the State b tax the patsonaA secuEties
was incompstibas with ths nssooa sx-
| istercef
aid they not know aswer, as it had
been >nIefnnly decided by Chief Justite
I Marshall. foremost of oil the Judges of
! America, that State taxation ef national
/ SECURITIES were forbidden by the Consti-
tuition? Do not all thoughtful men know
4 that the exercise of such power III the
several States might work national dis
solution and death? js not national sui
eide as criminal as personal suicide! are
the people of Ohio ready by their ballots
( to endorse the proposition that not only
/ s,,grrests but necessarily results in the
Iovefthrow of American institutions, the
iismemberment of the Republic and the
blotting out OF America from the map OF
nations? BY the memory OF your unnuh-
! bered dead, who, amidst the tlres of bat
tie. sacrificed themselves for the Repub-
! lie and thesupremacy ofits Constitution
and laws, adjure you, my countrymen. !.
| TO bury forever, beneath an aValahche OF
uublic condemnation, party that thus
dare to trifie with the dearest rights of
I A Auerican eitizens-the right to gov
! eminent and country, the right to their
own American liberty, defined, sane
toned aDd sheltered by American law.
n this so-caIled Democratic party
really means what it says by resolution,
| that the national bonds and national Sc
! cnrities shall be taxed, having majority
| in the iast LEGISLATURE of Ohio, why did
| il moi, out its high sounding manifesto
| into operation, by taxing the bonds and
other securities of the United States?
Ifthe party means what il says ia It's
ulatforn, why did not its sixty members
| in the House of Representatives or the
United States, during the session JUST
| closed, insist upon the immediate enact
menG of law for the taxation OF the ma
! tionaI bonds and national securities.
The party knows that the American
people are not yet ready for such legisia-
! ton. Ii knows that the millions VINO
people this land of ours-who constitute
| the body polite of the great Republic
and maintain the local organization of
| thirty-eeven States-who are one people,
with one Consti ution and one country,
cling TO the idea that their common ma
! tionaiity can only be maintained by
keeping inviolate the nations faith.
What this party wants is the power 70
do what is forshadowed in its resolution.
Shall the Democratic power have that
power? That is the question TO be deci-
ded in the coming election. 1t is not
whether you prefer one man TO another
4 for your Governor, but it is whether you
prefer national honor TO national dis
, honor; whether you peter national life
| to national death. ,-.-.
Some may say that press this propo-
sitiou of the Demncfatic party too far.
Let us see, and letE noe re.state the iact
and the law as to tiie taxation OF pubic
bonds and. securities. IL is as weil set
tied in America as any otoer question OF
law, that the power of the several states
tn tax. is a power unlimited AS TO the
amount of taxation upon property or
securities of any kind, which are the
subjects of state taxation. II. therefore.
each Stats may, at its pleasure, anc
without Limitation, tax the bonds aud
other securities of the United States,
does IL sot necessarily result that the
States nay tax the national bonds and
national securities out Of existence, and
thereby deprive the Government of the
means of selfdefense? Notwithstanding
the general proposition of the Demo-
cratic party and its logical sequence, it
msy be said that the party does mot
mean State taxation. If the party does
no. mean why does 1t not say SO, anc
thereby and the controversy.
There is a great deal OF pratfng about
States sovereignty, one of the essential
powers of which is the power of taxa
tion. Waving the question whether
this party means what it says, a.id that
it is intended that the bonds and other
public securities of the United States
shall be taxed only by the Government
of the United States, let US inquire what
is to be the subject, and what the rate OF
taxation. The language of the Demo
cratic platform is 'the bonds aud securi-
tiesr shall be made subject to taxation.
A II men understand what is meant by
the bonds of the United States-the five
twenties, the ten-forties, &c. What are
the ''securities" of the United States re-
ferred to? Are they not the legal-tender
notes issued by the Government of the
United States, in the nature Of forced
loan, on the face of which the Govern
ment is pledged to pay the holder the
amount thereof in dollars?
This promise to pay in dollars, under
the law, and by the contract of the Uni
ted States Government, is the same as
to the United States bonds and the legal
tender notes. If the Government in
tended to limit its liability on the bonds
and notes by proviso to tax them, it
was the duty of the government--ad duty
IS sacred and obligatory as ever desolv-
ed upon men and natiOns-so TO have
declared in the statutes which author
ineI the issue of the bonds and notes. 1t
should have been nominated in the
bond. There is no such word i'll the
several statutes under which these notes
and bouds were issued. This being so,
a lust man would say that the Govern
ment, although it may have the power.
should not pay its debts by taxing them
out of existence. ] have already said,
upon the subject of State taxation. that
the power is uuiimited as to all property
which is the subject of State taxation.
| now assert that the same is true OF the
power of national taxation. .a.-...
If, therefore, the Government OF the
United States can subject its bonds and
legal tender notes to specific tax, 1t re-
suits that the tax may be ten, twenty or
fifty per cent. Would not that be new
way of paying old debts, fer the Govern
ment to issue twenty-five hnndred mil
lion of bonds and legal tender notes, aud
tax the several holders thereof fifty per
cent ON the whole amount, ats6 there
bv extinyuish the VIII. lie liability ia two
years? Am met by the statement that
the requirement of the Csnstitutas.R is
that ali taxes shall be uninfOrm? 1T is
settled by precedent and practice, and Ii
no longer and open question, that this
requirement of the Constitution IL fully
complied with by alike rate of assess
ment upon like valuation Of the same
species of property.
have said enough to show that the
Democratic proposition to tax the bonds
and securities of the United States is but
reputation, and another mode of work
ing out secession and disunion. IL is no
answer to what have said to talk Of q
"bonded aristocracy," when all inteili-
gent men know that the revenues OF the
United States are paid by the rich al
,rost exclusively. That the workers and
the builders pay nothing OF it. That a
single citizen, by reason U his accu-
mulated wealth, pays by way of income
tav fourfold more than all the Mople of