Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1872-02-22
MnLERsBURG, HOLMES COUNTY, O., THURSDAY FEB 22 1872

not accept the position of Judge on ac-
count of the low salary. Ont of the
twelve or thirteen hundred lawyers in
the State of Ohio, how many have an
income of twenty-five hundred dollars
per year-the present salary of Judge'
Not over two hundred-while not over
one hundred have an income of three
thousand dollars, the salary proposed
by this bill; and, as far as my knOwl-
edge goes, have not become aware of
any difficulty in any part of the State,
in procuring the best talent on the
bench of the Supreme or Common Pleas
Courts at the present rate of compensa-
ton. Take a candid view of our ex-
penditures, and then say we should
add further to the burdens of the peo-
| pie. While the increase of population
Lin ten years has been only thirteen and
Iseven-tenths per cent, the expenses of
our State government have advanced,
as shown by the Auditors report, about
one hundred per cent; local expendi-
lures about one hundred and twenty
IKE per cent, and out of this increase
in State expenditures, the greatest in-
crease is in the judiciary, whichit is now
proposed still further to advance.
The people of Ohio, during the year
1871, were taxed twenty-three and one
half millions of dollars for State and
local purposes the expendi-
lures of 1861 by about twelve millions,
an increase without precedent in the
financial history of any country-and
this in the face of the fact that the
property of Ohio, if we consider the
imaginary values which have been given
to property on account of an inflated
currency, of the excitement and unset
tied condition of things resulting from
the war, has not increased above twen-
ty per cent.
But this is not all. Not only have
we to contend with the burdens of
State taxation, but Ohio-the third
State in the Union-holding within her
boundaries about one-tenth of the
wealth Of the country, pays about one
tenth of the Federal expenses, levied
directly upon individuals, and by means
of the unseen but heavy hand of the
Government, indirectly through the tar
iff and otherwise, adding one-tenth of
all the income of the Federal Govern
ment to our State expenses, and we
have the immense sum of about sixty
three millions of dollars taken from
our people, directly and indirectly, in
taxation during 1871. No wonder that
the commissioners, appointed by the
Legislature of New York to investigate
into the subject of taxation, reported
that the people of the United States
were the heaviest taxed people on the
earth.
This is an era OF reform-not alone in
one or two localities, but bounded only
by the oceans east and west, and the
territories of Mexico and Great Britain
north and south.
And it is not, and should not, be con-
fined to any political party. No party
can long remain i'll power when the
people lose faith in its honesty; and it
is not only the dnty, but the interest of
each party, when they see corruption
and extravaganza creeping into its ad-
ministration, to expose it; to nip it in
the bud-to crush it, though in doing
so temporary advantage may be
gained by political opponents. The
work of reform was commenced in New
York last fall-and had the honest por-
tion of the Democratic party performed
that work two years ago, by purging
their own ranks of cunning rascals,
who had been in office for years until
they so well posted as to conceal, in
the books, their frauds; had |
they taken the work in hand and un- |
earthed the ring, which when unearthed,
showed combination of scoundrels of
both parties to swindle the people, the
majority dividing the plumber with the
minority to procure their silence; L
say, had this spirit of extravaganza and
been exposed years ago, the
people would have saved millions and
the Democratic party the defeat of its
State ticket in New York, and perhaps
other States.
The people are waking up, and ex-
will receive no approval
from them, for in the path of extrava-
gance and large expenditures of money
follows corruption. The work of re-
form commenced in New York will
sweep as tidal wave all over our Uni
on, North and South, East and West,
and in its influence will be felt in
State and Federal expenditures. Here
and now is the time to commence the
work of reform in our State, and think
the heavy burdens of our people call
upon us to decrease those burdens, in
stead of opening up an almost bound
less opportunity for increase by adding
to the already high salaries of our Ju-
dietary.