The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1869-07-02

,, The question OF suffrage is ol
which is likely to agitate the publ
so long as a portion of the either
If the nation are excluded from /
u privileges in any State 1t seems
me very desirable that this questio
!" should be settled now, and l ente
|. tain the hope and express the desil
= that it may be by the ratification {
y the Fifteenth Amendment to til
: Constitution = q 3D.
During the canvass which resulte
N in the election OF the late DemOcra
= ic Legislature, the Republicans wer
charged with having used $500, ,00(
raised for the relief of soldiers
. families, to pay the State debt, an
: this charge was insisted upon, not
y withstanding majority of the Demo
cratic members had sLpporte,
r. the measure. The idea was every
, where held out that If the Democrat
D party were successful, the none,
would he restored TO the relief funt
! and expended for the benefit of th,
4 soldiers. The failure To redeem thi.
pledge is aggravated by the fact tha
/. Tie Legislature, by strictly party
, vote in the Senate, refused to pro
vide for the support of soldiers DIES
lilute orphans ut homes to he estab
. llshed, without expense TO the State
by the voluntary contributions Of
patriotic and charitable people.
But OF all the pledges upon which
the Democratic party obtained power
in the last Legislature, the most i'm.
portant, aud those in regard te
which the just expectations OF the
people haye been most signally. dis
appointed, are their pledges in re-
lation to financial aiiairs-tO expen-
diiure, TO debt and To taxation. Up
on this subject the people are com
pelied TO ieel very deep interest.
! The flush times of war have been
followed by financial reaction,
aud for the last three or four years
the country has been on the verge of
financial crisis. The burdens OF
taxation bear heavily upon labor,
not upon capital The Democratic
party, proiuse alike of accusations
against their adversaries and OF pro
misses of retrenchmenL and reform,
were clothed with po~er TO deal with
the heaviest part OF these burdens,
viz with the expenditures, debts,
assessments and taxes which are su
thorized by State legislation. The
result of their two years OF power
are now before the people. They
are contained in the Goth aud Goth
volumes of the Laws al Ohio. Let
any Republican diligently study
these volumes, and he will fully CON-
prehend the meaning OF Job when
lie SAID, ''Oh, that mine adversary
had wrlilen book" No intelligent
man can Carefully read these volumes
and Lot note the number and cbarac
ter of the laws increasing the expen
d,tures and liabilities of the Stste and
authorizing additional debts and adj
ditional taxation for city and village,
for county and township purposes,
without having the conviction forced
upon him that the gentlemen whe
enacted these laws hold to the opin-
ion that the way to increase wealth is
to increase taxation, and that public
debts are public blessings .sit Il
When the late Democratic Legis-
lature assembled they found the
revenue raised yearly in Ohio by
taxation TO pay the interest on the
State and LOCAL debts, and for State
and local expenditures, was S2O, ,2o3,
6l5 81. This is at the rate of al
most $40 for every vote cast in the
Sta.e ut the last election, and exceeds
seven dollars for each inhabitint OF
the State. or this large sum collect
ed annually by direct taxation, less
than one fifth, or $3,9S1,099 10 was
for State purposes, and more than
four fifths, or SIG, ,2T2, ,5l5 81 was for
local purposes. The increase OF
taxation for State purposes during
the last few years has been small
but lnany items of taxation for local
purposes are increasing rapidly. The
taxation, for example, in the thirty
three cities OF the State has increas-
cal until, sccording to the report OF
the Auditor OF State, Sin several the
rates of levy exceed three per cent,
and the average rate inail 1T hut lit
tie short of three per cent" In this |
of the financial affairs oil
the State, aud in the embarrassed
and depressed condition OF the bust
ness of the country, the duty OF the
Legislature was plain. They were to
see that no unnecessary additional
burdens were imposed upon the peo-
ple; that all wholesome restraints
aud limitations upon the power OF
local authorities To incur debts and
levy taxes should he preserved and
enforced, and especially that no in
ere ase of liabilities should he author
led except in cases depressing neces-
sity.
Now consider the facts. These
gentlemen professed to he scru-
pulously strict in their observance
of the requirements of the Constitn-
ton. Yet, under provisions which
contemplate one Legislative session
In two years, they held three sessions
in their term of two years. They were
in session two hundred and sixty
days-longer than was ever before
known in Ohio, and at an expense
of sI5O,624 10-more than donble
that Of their Republican predecessors.
They created between thirty and
forty new offices, at a cost to the
Deople for salaries, fees and ex-
penses of at least s75 600 per annum.
They aided to the State liabilities
for various purposes about ,5OO,
600. In order to avoid an increase
of taxes levied for State purposes,
they diminished the sum levied to
nav the State debt, and increased
the levy tor other State purposes al
most 5000, 900.
The acts OF the last Legislature in
relation TO local debts and local taxes
are of the most extraordinary charac
ter. These acts relate to raising
money Ior county purposes, for
township purposes, for city and vii
| jlage purposes, and tor special pur-
poses. These taxes or debts are
levied or incurred under the direc
ton of County Commissioners,
Township Trustees, or OF city OF
village Councils, derive their au
thnrity exclusively from State legis-