Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-04-23
FINANCE AND TRADE.
OFFICE or THE DAILY APPEAL,
MEMPHIS. April p, 1870. }
FINANCE.

Gold declined to U122l in New York to-
day, but closed ct ll3K. Our dealers
bought at Il2K andsold generally at 1lSA.
County Scrip was strong, dealers charg-
ing soc for small amounts to taxpayers.
In a large way it can be had at 7Se.
City Scrip was without change, and
rather inactive, though some inquiry was
experienced.
Bank of Tennessee money was steady al
74a75c in the hands of dealers, and met
with a fair demand.
While the United States Government
holds and seeks to accumulate large bal
ances in the Treasury, and would thus
maintain public credit by intolerable tax
alton, Great Britain reduces taxation to
the lowest possible rate consistent with
the possibility Of payment OF all haolLl-
ties. When the British Minister OF
Finance nnds asmall surplus in the Treas
urv of seventeen millions Of dollars mot
rounds he recommends a pro rata re-
duetlon of taxation. Boutwell,, on the
contrary, would still have an excess Of
gold. or give it to the bondholders. He
persistently opposes any diminution OF
popular burdens. Each successive re-
duction of taxation increases production
and the ability Of the people to pay. If
the reign of Radicalism had been pro-
tracted in Tennessee, BoutwelIs policy
would have been applied in the admins
tration OF state finances and local bur
dens, superadded to those imposed by the
Federal Government, would have reduced
Tennesseeans to hopeless beggary. The
removal Of the pressure of public obhga-
tions gives fresh impetus to every branch
OF public industry, and it follows that the
greater wealth Of the country, in each
successive year a greater income to
the state. though individual burdens
are steadily lessened. The wisdom OF
tbis vaoeut legislation in Tennessee Is ap-
proved by the conduct of English states
men and fuanciers. England grows in
commercial and agricultural wealth,
steadily and rapidly, even as the pros
peritv Of the United States would be pro
NOTED if burdens of government were re-
duced TO that minimum defined by the
necessity for sufficient sums to meet the
absolute wants of government aud pay
meut Of accruing interest on the PuDlle
debt. Boutwell, measures the country ;
credit and wealth by the vastness OF the
sums of gold which he clutches in Treas
urv vaults, and thus withdraws from act
i've production. He has spasms of rage
whenever the ~sbrOgstiOn of the odIous
income tax is mentioned. 1t follows that
industry is everywhere depressed, and
property values are everywhere lessened.
In Cincinnati the value of real estate Is
reduced p per cent, and in New YORK the
same results Of the same fatal financial
policy are recognized. Here, we are not
only afflicted with Boutwell,. but the
greater curse of political ambition that
rouses Drake and Stokes and BrOwnlow
and Revels and Morton, depresses enter
prise and parslyzss industry. IN lnhe-
rent vlgOr and measureless resources OF
the South are recognized in the steady
progress of the country, in the prosperity
Of Memphis, in the industry Of agricul-
tural classes-an developed in spite Of
untoward political facts, in spite of
Morton and OF his smaller iniitatOrs in
mallgnitv, aud in defiance of BoutWells
y ant of financial wisdom. However, it
is now true that the central Government
has all rights and the people none save
that to pay without a grimaee Uhen ruth
lessly and needlessly plundered.
PEDDLERs.
Only n class of tradespeople escape
the clutches of Federal taX-gatherers.
Delano bad a fit Of generosity, not very
long ago, znd decided that a "seedy'
c~ountryman selling potatoes, carrots,
beefsteaks and the like from his W
wagon, without a regular business stand,
Is not liable to pay tax SIS a produce deal
er. Green grocers should put their shops
on wheels.
annals.
The press everywhere in the Valley OF
the Mississippi is filled with intermina-
BILE disuuisitions on the value Of railway
lines. The value of canals, not only as q
means of draining the richest lands in the
world. but as means of transportation,
seems utterly forgotten. In 1865, during
months of navigation, when there
we're no freezes, the Erie Canal trans
ported 200, GOO more ton Of freight than
the Erie and New York Central roads
both combined, with all their capital, ad-
vertising and reduced rates. The time
come when the scheme Of connecting
branches Of the Mississippi with one an
other by canals, and thus regulating