The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-10-11

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The Aledo Record, very "loyal" radica
paper, arguing agains, The free trade notoh
of the farmers, treats them to a lecture on 30
litical economy in this style:
Free trade is Cclusion-a chiniera, l
never has been, never will be, ana ncVe
can be realized. Divested OF the ho"erl
rhetoric which artful demagogues throw
around IT. it means the payment of govern
ment expenses, of pensions, of intercSs on the
national debt, and of the debt itself by direc
taxation-as ,statc, county and school take:
are new paid If experience proves anything
it is that, in the payment of state taxes, banks
brokers, railways and other rich corporations
paw only nominal taxes, while the brunt OF
taxation is borne by farmers, merchants ana
mechanics. Repeal the tarlt laws, as Tree
traders propose, and institute direct taXa'iU.
the legitimate offspring OF free trade-ard
. YOU legitimatey relieve the gold gamblers oil
wall street, banks, railways and rich coigo'
rations, from all taxation lot national par
poses, and throw 1t on the farms the houses,
and the productive industry of the country
and the West, being the great industrial rnart,
would be most heavily taxed.
1t would be hard to utter more nonsense by
any conceivable effort Recommendation IN less
space. Understanding by the term free
trade" as its advocates do, the sboi'ion OF
all tariff duties, the pErpose or tendency OF
which is to protect enc class Of the commu,
nifty at the expense of another, Instead of
"frec trade" being chimcrical, OF myth
nothing is ,aorc simple or practicable. Eng
land adopted it ten years ago, and cas found
il a splendid success.
Then Tie RecoYd abors under the delusion
that at present the entire goyernmcntreyenue
about $50, 100000 a year. Is raised by tariff
taxation, when In fact but about S11O,OOOOo0
are raised in that way, the rest being raised
by excise taxation, sale of public lands, &c.
Is it so utterly wild to suppose that the
present S17OCOO,0OO, raised BY a monstrous
tariff, could rot, as in England, be raised by
a tariff on articles, the taxing Of which would
afford no irviduous class Ns-otection :" or
by slight increase of excise taxation, so as
TO avoid the necessity Of direct taxation
BIT as to this hOrribl, morszer "dircct 7aH
atom, "--srppose that, ipstocdoof by tarid, and
'Xtisc, and all the other Indirect cheats and
all the taxes tc support the gov
,rranGut were fairly and honestly levied off
he property of the entire country, so that
Ioln Jacob Aston, with bis $500 o00-@10
rcIld pay something like IN honest proper
len to his wealth, instead OF about h@lf IS
puch'5s an average tarmG pays under The
arif grab system: &nd the Drews and Van
IerbiltS, and Gould,, and aLl the rest OF the
Eall street milliopaircs pail in the same FRO
,ortion instead of, as now, less than the av-
rage farmer under the tariff systeynt--srIp-
loSe this, we say, and what would there he SO
orrihle in direct taxatiqn? Illinois now
alSes about $J,0e9000a wear for state pur {
oseses, and of this sum the tax of the aver {
re farmer Is not over so purely for state
urrOsesJ To support the general govern |
vent by direct taxation would require Hi :
DIS to pay about S1000oFO0 more, increasing {
Ie tax of the average, comfortable farmer by
bout $40 year. j. this SO monstrous. 1t
about what lie pays under the tariff system !
.hcu he buys ~ oyGrooat and p.ir of
oots.
In the prescHt shape.Gf the national con
,itution of course direct taxation IS out Of the
acstiOn; but instead of il being monster to
c dreaded it is rather, we apprehend,. 70 be
2g2rded as q calamity Glat direct taxation is y
o. Immediately practicable. c