The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1870-10-06
4 HIGH-HANDED SCHEME OF
TAXATION AND ROBBERY.
An GncOnsIitutiOnaI Special Tax
of s5O0,OOO.

The Republican usurpers in the Legis
lature were not content with piling VI
the agony of the UBIQUITOUS tax-law, whicl
viii largely augment the burthens of th'
people of the State, as they will bitterl,
experience when the tax-gather makes
his demands. They passed in addition, {
most iniquitous measure, entitled Al
Act to provide for the issuance o.
Certificates of Indebtedness by the State
and for other purposes"
The law is scheme of robbery devised
by the spoilsmen who are enriching them.
salves at the public expense, and is not
only unjustifed by the condition of the
State finances, but is in palpable viola
ton of the Constitution of the United
States.
The act requires that the Auditor of
Public Accounts, shall issue Certificates
of Indebtedness, amounting in all to
fire hundred thousand dollars, in denom-
nations not larger than five dollars nor
less than one dollar, which shall be signed
by the Auditor and countersigned by the
Governor. The said certificates are to be
paid into the Treasury upon the Warrant
of the Auditor, as in the case of payment
into the Treasury. They are to be re-
ceived by Tax Collectors and other off
GERS, in payment of any taxes or other
dues to the State, and in payment of any
thing sold by the State. And the faith
of the State. is pledged for the re-
"demption of all such Certificates of In
debtedness."
The snug sum of fire thousand dollars
is appropriated to defray the expenses of
carrying the act into execution. 1t is
rule of the spoilsmen to execute their
schemes upon the most prodigal plan, re-
gardless of cost.
To retire the Certificates of Indebted
ness thus authorized to be issued, the act
requires the State Treasurer to prepare
bonds in the name and on behalf of the
State, to the amount of five hundred
Thousand dollars, for which the above
mentioned certificates of Indebtedness
:" shall be exchangeable at their par
81 value"
The said bonds are to be issued in five
series of one hundred thousand dollars
each, and shall be redeemed in five con-
secutive years, beginning en- the 1st of
January; 1872. They are to bear inter-
est at the rate of eight per cent. per an
mum, and shall have interest coupons at
tached thereto, payable semi-annually in
current money of the United States, ON
the LIST of January and the 1st of July, of
each year. The bonds shall be coun-
:" tersigned by the Governor and shall be
/" deemed pledge of the faith and credit
g of the State of Mississippi, for the pay
"ment thereof"
To pay the interest and principal of
these bonds at maturity, the law confers
upon the Auditor of Public Accounts the
extraordinary power oflayinga SPECIAL
'TAx achich shall be aper ceratage oftte or
"di,,Gry State tar, and shall6e collected and
''paid into the State Treasuryin United States
currency. 1t further declares that the
first levy of said special tax shall be made
Ia 1871, and each succeeding gear until the
principal and interest of the debt are paid.
The scheme contemplates a tax of S1OO-
600 yearly with the interest that may ac-
cue thereon at eight per cent, in add
ton to the regular tax which the people
are required to pay. The act is a fraud
upon them, and is invalid because in di-
rect violation of the supreme law-the
the Constitution of the United States,
which forbids a State ''to emit bills of
credit" CART. l Sec. 10). The ques-
ton has received judicial interpre-
tation by the Supreme Court of the
United States in case embracing pre-
cisely the same points. The Court
(Chief Justice Marshall delivering the
opinion) decided that certificates issued
''by the State of Missouri in sums not ex-
"ceeding SO and less than so cents,
received in payment for all State, coun-
''ty or town dues etc., the faith and
''funds of the State being pledged for
''their redemption were bills of credit,
''the emission of which was prohibited by
''the Constitution of the United States.
The decision rested upon the
facts and argument sent forth in the
following extracts to which the attention
of the reader is directed. The decision
will be found in vol. 8, page III, Curtis
reports:
Is the act of the Legislature of Missouri
repugnant to the Constitution of the United
States?
The counsel for the plaintiffs in error
maintain that it Ia repugnant to the Consti-
of credit, contrary to the express prohibition
contained in the tenth section of the first
article.
The act under the authority of which the
certificates loaned to the plaintiffs in error
were issued. was passed on the 26th June,
1921, and is entitled IAN act for the estab-
lishmeLt of loan-off1ces." The provisions
that are material TO the present inquiry, are
comprehended in the third, thirteenth, ffs
teenth, sixteenth, twenty-third and twenty
fourth sections of the act, which are in these
words:
Section the third enacts, shat the Auditor
of Public Accounts and the Treasurer, I'M
der the direction ofthe Governor, shall, and
they are hereby required 70 issue certificates,
signed by the Auditor and Treasurer, to the
amount of 100000. of denominations not
exceeding ten dollars, nor less than fifty
cents, Ito bear such devices as they may
deem the most safe,) in the following form,
to-wit: This certificate shall be receiva-
BILE at the Treasury, or any of the loan-offi-
ces of the State of Missouri, in the dis
nharna nf taxes dehfs due the State