Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1870-12-03
Letter from Governor Haight.

Ing btltT from boNctnor uai.h', of 7 ait
iurnia, t. Governor Grover. Of Oregon.
comrl;mcnting the latter upon his veto Of
the Portland subsidy ill., The vetoed bin
provided for loanins the municipal crcdi,
Of the City Of Portland to the Willamette
Valley Railroad Company to the amour, Of
three hundred thousand dollars. Just be.
fore this the Governor had approved bill
leaning a like amount to private corpora
ton. for construction of locks at the falls
Of the Willamette River. Now while we
fully endorse the doctrine of Gov. Haight's
Liter, We fail to see where the distinction
between the two cases lies in principle
The emission Of the Democratic party
fails whenever its acts are inconsistent with
its professions its principles ought to be
applied independently Of personal or party
favori'ism. or they cease to carry with them
any moral force or public assurance. The
letter Of Gov. Haight is as follows:
STATE OF CALIFORNIA. J
ErecntiUc Office, 7
Sacramento, Nov. IA, 1870. }
HIS EXCELLENCY. ..-. ., -t
Gov. J.. +. GROVER: t.'.
DEAR SIR-Yours of the 3lst ult. came
to hand a few days since, with the printed
slip containing your veto message, for whiAh
please accept my thanks. I was much
gratificd to see your vindication of Consti-
tutional limitation, and of sound principles
Of government.
In accordance with your request en-.
close herewith a message Of my own. and
also two letters on the same subject. They
Indicate briefly the views which seem to
me correct, as to the scope and nature Of
the taxing power, and as to the validity Of
such measures as the one from which you
withhold your assent.
The provision in the Oregon Constitu.
ton, prohibiting in terms loans Of credit
and donations of bonds by counties or cities
to corporations does not exist in the Con-
stitution of this State. The objection here.
as you will notice, rests upon the broad
ground that money can only be raised by
taxation for public purposes, and that do.
nations to private railway corporations are
not such purpose.
The great struggle, at present, seems to
be, to determine whether our general and
State governments shall be administered
in the interest and for the benefit of the
privileged few, or whether they shall be
administered, as they were designed to be,
for the benefit of the whole people.
1t is strange that any one, and still
stranger that any Democrat, should advo-
cate systems which, like protective tariffs
and railway subsidies, interfere with ma.
tional liberty, deny to citizens the unre.
stricted right to dispose of the fruits of
their own industry, and levy contributions
upon the tax-paying and laboring commu-
nifty for the aggrandizement of incorporat.
ed capital. The mission Of the Democrat.
ic party certainly is to rebuke and defeat
this policy, and 1t seems to me our success
has been much retarded by the tergiversa.
ton of those in our ranks. who are recreaut
to the doctrines and traditions of the party,
and fail to comprehend its spirit.
I sincerely trust that 10 our National
and State platforms this issue may be pre-
seuted in its simplest and most Ineligible
form, stripped Of side issues and dead is
sues.
The right of the individual citizen to
dispose of the proceeds of his labor with
the least possible Interference by govern.
ment, subject only to taxation for legiti-
mate public expenditures to buy wherev-
er he can buy most favorably, and to regu.
late his subscriptions and donations to cor
poratious according to his own judgment
Of what his interests require, is Of the es-
sence Of our political creed. No compro-
mise in reference to it is possible.
This assertion of individual liberty, BY a
natural and logical sequence, involves the
advocacy Of local selfgovernment, and
opposition to centralized irresponsible
power. =" O.
Your stand against this species Of legal
lied extortion will encourage the friends of
political reform in other States, and entities
you to their thanks.
Very respectfully and truly, yours,
.. II. H. HAIGHT.