The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-04-28
SECRET SESSIONS.

ENJOY of excluding all reporters, in conse-
quence Of the notoriety given to their former
proceedings. They made no charge against
the accuracy of the reports. The sole objeo-
tion TO them was, as we understand, that
when the reverend gentlemen assembled to
talk over church affairs in an informal man
ner with coats and gloves off and grammar
LOOSE, they did not wish nor expect to "call In
for an audience the myriad readers of the
New York press" Now it seems to us that in
this objection our friends betrayed as little
Of the wisdom of the serpent as the harm
lessness of the dove. In the first place, they
know little Of the genuine reporter not to
understand that locked door only whets his
appetite. If they invite and urge him to their
conference, most likely he will treat them and
their feast Of reason with but slight notice;
but let him scent secret, and he will follow
it like sleuth-hound till it is dragged out
and torn to pieces before all men in the high
way.
On the other hand, why, pray, should they
not have for an audience all New York, or
all the country When the reporter of the
press pries into private affairs, listening at
the key-heles Of back doors for the secrets
and griefs Of domestic life, in order that they
may blazon them abroad for so much line,
ha becomes one Of the most disgusting leeches
That prey upon modern society. No man
who draws his livelihood from the vulgarer
tastes and most prurient passions of other
men can justify his right to live among them.
Bat religious conference is not do
mestic life. These protesting clergy
m en- are by no means in tho position
of club of gentlemen who meet
privately to exchange their views upon a
matter of business, and command the right to
secrecy. Clergymen are men who have set
themselves oonspicuously apart to influence
the world in particular, emphasized manner,
and when they confer together, not only the
church which employs them, but the world on
which they are TO act, has a right to hear and
Judge them. How else are they to decide
upon their fitness for the missionary work
they have undertaken? If the trumpet
give forth an uncertain sound how
shall we prepare ourselves for the battle ?"
Consequently, let there be nc trumpet-blow-
ing behind closet doors or under bushel
measures No minister of God who has his
work earnestly in hand and keeps his life and
words conformsd in integrity to that work
need be afraid of the myriad readers of the
New York press even if his grammar is
rusty and his style slipshod. Let him speak
out his opinion, and the louder the better.
Bad grammar and loose English we all
know SO well nowadays that they pass with
out notice. But good man doing his work
steadily and humbly, be it great or small is
q sight which all mankind turns the second
time to look at. Why then cover it up in
corner?
ENGLISH AND AMERICAN TAXATION.
From, the NJ Y. Times.
Mr. loves first excursion into American
finance has ended disastrously In Difference
to s'the violence of the opposition" tax
equal to cent on each box OF matches of a
similar retail value has been withdrawn.
The mobs of Palace-yard showed the Gov
ernment how much political capital Mr..
10 of O p
imposition. In bowling to the storm, they
have exhibited precisely the kind of pru-
dence the possession of which might have
enabled Charles 1, of unhappy memory,
to retain his kingdom and his head, and
might have helped that most pig-headed of
monarchs, George III, to secure for an
other generation the allegiance of his Ameri :
can colonies. But the difficulties of the
Government are not over yet. The juggler s
task of keeping half dozen balls spinning
In the air at the same moment is a trite COM
pared with the obligations they are pledged
to carry out They have to keep their place
among q number Of great powers armed to
the teeth, and by two of whom they might,
any day, be challenged to mortal combat
Hence the necessity for reorganized army,
and an increase of the national stock of the
newest and most effective weapons, involving
an outlay of some two or three mil
lions sterling. AS an essential part of
army reform, and as a sop to the
''ferce Democracy" the abolition of promo
tion by purchase comes in with a demand
on this years expenditure for one or two mil
lions more. Altogether, the Governmust
must raise nearly twenty-hv millions of dol
lars to meet the additional demands made
upon the National Treasury. From last year
there is a surplus of some ten millions Of
dollars, but as six millions of this will be
swallowed up in the abolition of the house
tax, which is to be removed to make way for
uniform system of local taxation, the def
cheney is not sensibly diminished.
To understand the significance of this
taxation problem in Great Britain, COM
parison with our own burdens may be in
structive. The English Chancellor of the
Exchequer asks from the nation for the ex-
penditure of the coming year, $3.50, 600.
Mr.. Boutwell, calculated that our own expen-
diture, exclusive of any payments to account
of the redemption of the public debt, would
amount, for the year ending June 80, 1872,
something short of $310, 900. The APP
preparation actually made by Congress re-
duced the total still lower. OF course, this
represents but one side of the contrast The
national taxation of the two countries cannot
be called identical in kind, since our State
burdens cover q number of items which in
England are charged to the people at large.
The elaborate figures of Mr.. Gosehen, com
piled with view to the reform of local taxa
tion in Great Britain, enable us to make the
parallel tolerably complete. He shows that in
England and Wales the annual sum raised by
locat rates amounts to $3.50, 600, 900. Includ.
ing Ireland and Scotland in the estimate in
proportion to their population, we place the
aggregate of local taxation in Great Britain al