Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-01-11
MEMPHIS APPEAL
WHO PAYS TIE TAXES,

The strongest difference between
northern and southern people con-
sists row in the fact that one class
talks ofFhat it made; the other, Of
what it LOST by the war. This is a
generic difference. The species de-
nominated cs~rpet-bagger PIRATES of the
prohtableness Of loyalty; while the
bedeviled rebel deplores the knavery
Of oflce-holders. The ultimate vic
tim Of wrongs done by the governing
class, and endured by the governed,
is the hapless negro, who has yet to
learn that every evil Of misrule rests
at last, with all its crushing force, up
on the productive labor of
q country. The negroes have
learned that csrpet-baggers as a
class, are unmixed thieves; but while
these wretched adventures in the
South psnder to negro prejudices
these eolored people forget that they
are the 1ltimate victims Of their own
folly. All taxation and every dollar
that goes into the treasury Of a city, q
county or State comes at last from the
laborers-the producers Of the coun-
try. 1t is therefore true that when
yer the negro population Of this city
has learned that in voting for knaves
they vote for the peTpetuation Of their
own end Of the poverty Of their chill
dren they will also learn to vote for
honest candidates for Office and
for those who, living in our
midst, and having here their homes,
are so identified with us that they
viii not sacrifice an honorable name
simply for the purpose Of growing
rich through the tenure Of office.
Next after the negro the white peo-
pie 5fEState commit a most eyre
gious folly when they levy heavy
rates Of taxation on a specific class Of
non-prOducers. Tax 8 merchant as
you may, he collects the tax from
his customers. Not only this, but he
charges interest and profit on the tax.
The man who digs money out of the !
soil pays it all. True enough, the
merchant here in Tennessee may be
so heavily taxed that he is driven into .
another State; but the reason for his
exile is that he must go to q place in !
which his customer-the consumer l
is forced by comparative cheapness to !
buy. Tax Memphis merchants hesv- :
lily and they advance the price Of their .
wares, pGTi passt, until buyers 60 to !
st. Louis or Chicago, and then Mem 2
phis merchants must transfer their I
wealth to ST. Louis or Chicago. Tax d
q note-shaver heavily and he only
adds the tax to his scent per cent"
The rate Of interest charged by s
brokers and bankers is advanced f
with the rate Of taxation and there S
Is no evading 1.-THE man who digs f
money out Of the ground, the produ- g
pays it all. He would pay less if o
he paid it directly instead Of indirect 1
". The n~ote-shaver, like the mer- o
liant, charges interest and profit on is
he tax whenever he makes a loan, p
md whenever this burden becomes so s
,reat that the people viii not or can a
lot borrow here, the lender sends his tC
apitsl to a mOre wisely governed State Il
7 city. The producers Of a State are ID
be majority Of its people, and if Il
hese knew that they paid all the
axes; B~6eL9 and were
iot cheated SIS to t6e-smount al
Y indirect modes of levying r
hess burdens, we would soon find DIS
hem combining everywhere to eject a
lcapsble and dishonest demagOgues su
ON Office and substituting honest ne
nd wise men. or all men, farmers kI
nOuld oppose most bitterly that sys- co
I'M Of taxation devised by the mean VI
st demsgogCes who pretend to i'm
Ose unequal burdens upon different
escriptions Of honest industry. They 90
re conscious that they are robbing the vc
inner while pandering to the pref u
1ices and selfshness of ignorance. 70,