, 1870-03-04

leather" and high duties on pig ironr
RAILROAD AID pRBrg.
The State Convention, by a vote Of 46 to
l6, hAsvotedinto the constitution an Implied
authority to counties, cities, and towna to
take stock in, and donate money and other
prop41ty in aid Of, railroad compsnias, and
other corporations, with tbs consent of two
thirds Of the voters Of the county, town, or
municipality to be affected. This seems to
be an af1izmanoe Of the right Of tho nnajori-
y, provided it be twothirds, to hand over
the property Of the minority without their
consent to private corporations, The COZ
porotion may be railroad, or cotton fac
tory, or bank, or an insurance company,
or an association for supplying the Hotten-
tots with Observation-Disclosures. It appears
to have been adopted by the votes Of those
members who have opposed the "railroad
aid debts, so-called. We judge that they
yoted for this clause Us tho best
thing attainsble, and not because they
believe that any u,jority, however lArge.
can lawfully con6scatc private property.
Nevertheless, If the clause, as adopted, car
ries With it the Implication tAAt two-thirds
majority can ta1 the whole people for the
benefit OF Il prirato corporation, it goes
farther than tho present constitution goes.
The t;.4e is not far distant when the high
est tribunals in the land will repudinte and
utterly expunge the delusion thai private
property can be taxed for any other than a
public and corporate purpose, unless the
Constitution Of the State expressly sano-
tions and authorizes such taxation. Hence,
it may well be doubted whether il is wise to
engraf: this principle upon the constitu-
tion, even in the modified form in which it
Is now presented.
The Quincy Wing endsavors to defend
the law Of 1869 and the principle upon
which it is founded in this wise:
"l1stfad Of being, Al is asserted, declaration
that a. D, and sho3ld have the power 10
ts1 the property of and F for the hen-
postas : a. coud Be- adTsneedj, II = q deeiarae I1
u that u coz n1o'sy has ID, or viii a.
or r. qx2 s1d ss CON
Cured, I1hfiittes rhosc tn1oences spTead abroad
ond ttr.d se1fA tAe 9ene7ul current or public i'd
enterprise IL an andtlon to its sRgregnte prpl-
peHty, VII. exseId 70 such comu1 III TINT nc
potrons.es s "a which se1erl equity would .ppeas
The act Of 1860 assumes that 1t is law
ful for minority OF the voters of town,
county, or city to create debt, snd mort
gage the property Of the whole community,
not for any public purpose, but to aid
private corporation to build raiIzoad, to
be used for the private gain and prof. Of
the shareholders in such railway company.
The act, therefore, rests upon tho assertion
of the right Of A, B, c, and D to mortgage
the property Of E and F for the benefit Of
G; and that proposition, We repeat, is a
hsgEant violation Of law and Justice, But
the legislation Of 1869 goes much further.
II 1t merely authorized counties to create
debts for which the property of its osn peo-
pie were TO be taxed, however wrong the
principle might ht, the matter wonld be
simply question between that county aud
its creditors. The act permits the voters
OF Adams County to create debt, md yir-
tually pledges the revenues to be collected
By taxation upon ths whole property OF the
State to pay it Where does tho Leeisla-
tu1e get the power TO authcrize the roters
Of one county to tar the people of another
county? Yet that is the practical working
OF The law It directs that, when couutv
creates railroad debt, the property Of that
county shall thereafter be exempt from
State taxation beyond specified sum. All
revenue upon an assessment exceeding that
Of 1sGs, instead Of going to the Treasury,
has to be applied to thee railroad debts.
and the deficiency has to be supplied by an
incresse Of the tar upon the property of
other counties owing 10 such railroad
debts.
The Quincy Wig argues TINT railroad
in Adams County is not only benefit to
that county, but to the whols State. So Is
Hour mill, OF saw mill, or woo1len fac-
tory, or an iron foundry, or a dry goods
store, or blacksmith shop but does it
follow that the privata property Of the peo-
pie Of that county and Of the whole State
can be taxed to establish or maintain either
OF those private enterprises? Even SUP
posing TINT majority of the vote,s Of q To-
callty can mortgage the minority, can they
vote taxes upon the property Of persons
residing beyond their own corporate and
territorial limits The CHIN is made that
the State should give proportiorate aid i"
to each county. To do this with auy ;us-
tics there should be divided amonr the
several counties IN amount OF State revenue
proportioued to the respective tax lists; or
the assessment Of 1868 should be made the
standard Of taxation for all counties alike.
and the tn1es upon all increase Of value
over 1868 should be RENTED. This would
be the "proportionata mid " idea equitably
carried out !; but how would that benefit
Quincy? "Propordonate aid" is not
what is sought the end which Is sought is
to steal the money Of the State and apply it
to endow what Colonel Dement, styles
"poeket corporations," which, without
either money or credit Of their own, prom
ise to build railroads all over the State.
The end Of this scheme is no longer dis
guised. It is publicly avoved that the rail-
road subscriptions shall increafe and multi
ply until tha nAnnle Of the indebted counties
hhau be numerous enough 10 demhnu 1uz1
the State shall assume the whole debt.
u1innis rrill shar fall hart i-t- A. -,--+
Of 1888. Capital will fee away from the
excessive taxation whirh VII ensue, and
noo,,,a xI1, ae4Ate to.other communities.
49, .aey will not be mere tenants Of non.
resident bondholders. 4-.