Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-04-28
NJ EMPHIS APPEAL
MORNINa APRIL Is, 1872.
AZ APrEkL TO TIRE NORTHERN
SEySF or JUSTICE.

A. APrEAL To TaE NORTHERN
SENSE or IESTICE-
There are many facts which inspire
the hope that The people of the South
have already endured the heaviest bur
dens which were 70 be imposed on them
by the dominant party al the North,
under the inspiration Of passions engen-
dered by the war. one of the most sig
nifcant signs of the times is the favor
with which the proposition 10 refund the
cotton tax collected in lS65-6-7-s, has
been received by all parties in an out of
Congress. House bill No. 1892 was in
troduced on the nineteenth OF February
last 10y Mr.. Mckee, of Mississippi. Its
title, which fully indicates the purpose
of the bill, is as follows: To refund GER
tain taxes collected by the Government
of the United States on raw cotton dur
ing the years IS65-6-7-S. This hill
promptly passed a first and second read
ing, and is now being patiently con-
sidered by the Committee Of Ways aud
Means, from whom a favorable report
is confidently expected. The preamble
to the bill briefly recites certain funda-
mental propositions OF truths, which no
well-informed lawyer or statesman will
DENY. II rccitcs that Whereas, large
sums of money have been collected by
the United States as a tax on raw cot
ton. since the close Of tilc late civil war,
under The provisions of the internal It.
venue laws of the United States; and
Whereas, after solemn arguments,
the Judges orthe supreme Court Of the
United States were equally divided in
opinion as To the validity of said taxes,
and the con~stitutionality of the laws
under which they were collected; and
Whereas, the same were unequal and
unjust i'm their operation, and have been
repealed 50 far a regards said cotton
lax: and Whereas, said tax laws, in
their practical operation, have not had
the effect contemplated when they were
enacted, of imposing a burden upon
the consumer, hut said taxes have fall
len exclusively upon producers, who,
while payiug this especial tax on cotton,
and which al that time was especially
buTdensome, have, in common with
citizens of the several States, paid their
due proportion Of all other taxes; and,
Whereas no other raw agricultural pro-
duct Of any Of the States has ever been
taxed, even during war, therefore, etc"
Now, if the averments in this preamble
are true, il j. difficult TO conceive how
any Just, fair-minded man can insist
upon retaining in the Treasury the
moneys nus uniustly and illegally col
Iected. We admit that all due allow
ance must he made for those by whom
this tax was imposed. We had just
emerged from a great war, which had
aroused and exasperated the preiudices
and passions of the victorious party.
The demands upon the Treasury
were enormous, and doubtful powers
We're confidently invoked to reach every
interest which might increase the re-
ceipts Of the treasury. Under these cir
cumstances, this cotton tax was hastily
and inconsideratel imposed. Now that
the passions Of the people have had time
10 cool and the voice of reason and ar
gument is permitted to be heSrd, we are
promised another notification Of the
maxim, that the sober second thought
of the people j. always right And we
confidently believe that Congress will
make this " sober second thought Of
the people efficient 10y passing
the bill now pending. The North
ern newspapers, and Representa-
lives in Congress, have evinced a most
liberal spirit 50 far in the discussion Of
this question, which is a most encourage
ing augury of good results. Leading
Republican Senators and Representa-
tiye- have cviuccd a purpose to consider
the measure upon its merits alone, and
many Of them have already avowed the
purpose to undo a wrong which was the
result Of hasty legislative action, and
which resulted i'm immense pecuniaTy
injury to the south, when all her indus
trial energies were paralyzed. The re-
turn Of the moneys thus collected will do
more to obliterate the sad memories Of
the past than "a thousand political plat
forms offering a stone when we asked for
bread.