The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1871-07-04

lCppiS W ehto COuully y Io IulS ui.l WOui
do.
l was one of the committee of con
ference and on the floor | gave thcs
reasons for not signing the report:
Mr.. MoRaAN-I desire to state to th
House Some of the reasons which gov
ernel me in declining 10 sign this con
ference report This is an act maxim.
appropriations for the legislative, execu
tive, and Judicial expenses of the Gov
ernment for the year ending June 30
1872. The Senate attached to this bill
certain amendments which are not ger
name to it; a system of legislation mos
vicious aqd, DANGEROUS. This is my frs
reason. / further declined 10 sign thi
report because it proposes among othe
things to build new State Department
a new War Department, and new Nav,
Department, all to be embraced in ON
enormous building ;and an appropriation
of s500,00O is proposed to inaugurat
this scheme.
Of one thing arh t certain, and thai il
at a time like this, when the country il
weighed down by mountain of debt o
more than two thousand million dol
lars, when the people are lahoring unde
load of taxes almost too great to b.
borne, this is no time to commence bull
ding princely palace in the city o
Washington which must ultimately cos
at least S10,O00,000 Hence dissentet
from my colleagues on the conferenc,
committee. This scheme could no
stand on its own legs, and has been at
itached to an important appropriation bill
in order to carry it through
My friend from California Mr.. Sar
gent urges the House to agree to thi
report lest the bill may fail. For my
part, rather than have this wrong done
l prefer that this bill be laid upon th,
table. 1t is great wrong, and I appea
to the REPRESENTATIVES of the people, o
the tax payers of the country, not to al
low themselves to be drawn into the com
mission of this wrong, from the simple
fact that this appropriation bill may b'
defeated at this session. Let the bill
fail. The new Congress comes in to
morrow, when time can be taken to ex
anime this subject with care and act upor
it with deliberation.
HOW SUCH THINGS ARE DONE.
forgot to tell you that section wa.
slipped into the army appropriation bill
the effect of which is to make the people
pay the interest as they will have to pay
the principal of the Pacific Railroad
bonds l say that section was slipped
into bill to which it in no way Eelchg
ed And in the salre MANNER it was in
tended to slip through without debate
the appropriation to build the new pal
ace. 1t was not intended that you should
ever hear of it at ALL Here is the law
The title reads:
can act to make appropriations FOL
the legislative, executive and judicial ex
penses of the Government. And under
the caption
ITO CoDlFY THE LAWS OF THE UNITEI
STATES"
Is found this appropriation of half NIL
lion to commence building which II
the end will cost at least ten millions =
If we were out of debt such building
would be imperial in its character; bu
in debt as we are, with such taxation az
the people endure it would be crime
UNEQUAL AND OPPRESSIVE TAXATION.
In 1868. Massachusetts paid seventeen
and Ohio twelve millions of internal rev
enue tax While for the current fisca
year, it is estimated tliat Massachusetts
will pay less than four and half mil
lions, and Ohio more than sixteen. The
tax on Ohio has been increased four,an
on Massachusetts reduced twelve and :
half milliai5. This was done by taking
the tax off the manufactures of Massa
chusetts, and imposing them on those OF
Ohio. When the internal tax was taken
off the manufactures of Massachusetts
the price of them ought to have fallen
but was Increased. The very men who
voted to take the tax off of manufactures
increased the tariff tax on foreign goods
thus destroyed competition, and enabled
Massachusetts, to gain enormous profits
on all she made and sold and these
profits were at the cost of Ohio and 9th.
er agricultural States. Id 1868, the six
States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Ken
lucky, Missouri and Virginia, paid four
millions more taxes than the six New
England States, but this year they will
II pay forty-seven millions more; and Ohio
alone Will pay more than double the
whole amount of taxes paid by all New
England. These facts arc taken from
this table, in the official report of the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
TIE TARIFF TAX.
A tariff is taS which compels per-
son to pay more for an article than it is
worth. And of all taxes the most op
ptessite; insidious and odious is the tariff
for what is called protection. 1t is op
pressive because it mainly falls on labor
insidious, because it is paid IN the increas
ed price of the article bought, without be
ing seen: odious, because for every dol
lar of tariff tax which goes into the treas.
ury, the people are compelled to pay the
home manufacturer bonus of So Only
one-fourtl of the wooden goods used in
the United States DIRE imported. And Of
every four pair Of pants worn, the stuff
for only one pair is manufactured abroad
and for the other three pair, at home On
woolen stuff for pantaloons, there is tar
iff tax of sixty cents on the dollar. II the
imported stuff to make pair costs So
the tax is 81 so, and the value of the
goods 81 20. The home manufacturer
then adds sixty cents on the dollar to the
value of his stuff for pantaloons, and as
he Sells three times as much as Is ilnpor
ted, it follows that the people pay him 8
bonus equal to three times the amount
paid into the Treasury on the same ma
terials. Deductiug the tax of twenty
millions on tea and coffee and we have
left tariff taS Of about Si50,O0O.0O0
And assuming that we consume three
times as much of our own manufactures
as VIC import, it follows that the same
year we pay S1G0,000,000 into the treas
ury as a tariff. we pay S4S0,000,000 to
the home monopolist more than his
,ronlS ara worth