Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1874-06-06
mopopolies, and. vii co operate with
this great movement Iifythey arc not
repudiated by our Order.

us great in0yement II stney arc not
epudiated BIZ our Order.
Therefore, conceive the unequal
lisfributionofth the wealthof the nation
O have grown out of class legislation
md an unequal system of taxation and |
u unjust administration of your State
md National laws, by which are crea-
ed great swarms of hungry officers
md cormorsnt parasites, the favorltes
,f authorities, that hover over your
State and National treasures, like
that by the delightful music
Of their wings sing the nation to re-
pose while they stealthily extract the
wealth of your treasures. Besides
the unequal taxation, &C., there is too
great q disparity in the pay of officers,
the unjust amount of salaries and that
Of the labors Of the producers and
bear no just proportion the
pay of officers often exceeding double, |
yea, treble what the labor of the ofiee
is worth, while the pay of the farmer
or mechanic affords but scanty sup !,
port. All salaries of every descrip- |
ton, the pay of officers, railroad prop |
erty and bonds and stock of every de-
scription at par value that exceed law
full exemption should be taxed to sup
port the government that protects them
in the enjoyment of that right. There
is principle in mathematics that un
errlngly teaches that two lines of the
same extension are equal. Now
farm valued at ten thousand dollars
and an Office the pay of which is worth
ten thousand dollars are equal and
should be taxed equally, both being
fragments of the same government
and the recipients of the same bless
ings and protection, allowing the same
exemption that is allowed the farmer.
Does the mere elevation of a man to
office so change his nature as to abb
solve or lessen his obligation to aid IN
the support of that government that
gives him fortune and fostering pro-
lection in the enjoyment the same?
Does the mere engaging in the stupenl
dous enterprise of conducting long
lines of railroads for the Improvement
of the country, as they will tell you,
however SO dearly the people may have
to pay to keep that Improvement up,
in the least entitle the constructors to
ages of enjoyment of unbounded
wealth in our midst and not pay
farthing to the support of our govern
ment that fosters, protects and makes
them. its peculiar pets? As | have
before said, in the formation Of gov
ernments every integral class created
by the necessities of society forms a
legitimate part, and elch class is iudis-
pensable to the well being of the
whole. The farming, mechanical and
other laboriDg classes are surely of as
much importance to the well-being of
the government as those enjoying fat
offices and high-salaried positions and
| the unlimited wealth of the various
railroad compan MES and other mOnied
monopolies. Why should the farmer
be taxed and the latter not? 1t is a
piece of gross injustice All should
be taxed under the same rules of taxa
ton. This fault in your laws of taxa
| ton has grown out of your corrupt and
unjust legislators, who of late years
have gained such an ascendancy over
| the masses that they are able to whisk
the people aboutto and fro, exposing
them to the changing fate of their err
rors and whims at will Many of the
representatives of your interest are
not as of old yOur representatives, but
the representatives of the various mon
led powers and monopolies and their
own special interests. You will see
such on their return from your legisla-
tive halls clothed in spotless robes and
fowery garlands upon their brow, won
as they will tell you in battles fought
for your rights. They will canvass
your country, make long patriotic
speeches closely allied with divine SER
vice in which they will endeavor to
show you with what zeal and fidelity
they will stand by your interests, as
immovably as the rocks of Gibraltar,
when the enemy beseige on all sides
until they make their base born com
positions shine like gold before your
deluded minds. Such demagogues are
more numerous than you are aware,
| fear, and not at all what they seem,
but Proteus like, changing their faces
and habits tas suit succeeding events,
often INDUCING In affeetionate, smooth
glances, cunning and officious terms,
passionate protestatlons, and oaths OF
fidelity to your interests, then by due
course of fawning complete their OBJ
ject of throwing mist before your
unsOphisticated, credulous minds.
As soon as they find from your flatter-
ing countenances, gulled eyes and the
sniveling of their audiences that they
have succeeded in diffusing rOse-like
oder and that their wrong and base
natures have ripened and mellOwed
into virtue and patriotism, they mod
estly remind you that they never sought
the Office, but it was rather forced upon
them, on which account it would be
decidedly patriotic to elect them. The
thirst of such law-mak ers is not for
fame in virtue and craftsmanship, but
for gold, and their thirst is quite
rapacious, their caution is so well de-
veloped they rarely expose themselves
TO public censure, unless, as occasion
ally happens, they grasp more of your
hard earnings than they can hold and
hide.
Patrons, one great difficulty we have
TO contend with in getting clear of the
evils in question is that the public
mind is formed by poetical leaders and
the general status of politics; if they
be corrupt and evil or virtuous and
noble the public breast will in all prob
ability be likewise. From which the
ingredients are gathered that compose
public virtue. Therefore, we should
Individually, aud as an Order, doif the
shackles Of all old party predictions
and assiduously guard against any new
political allegiances, as it would be a
bane to our Order that has no antidote
! We should mature well our course to
be pursued in politics, acting as unit
needing not the sophistry and balder-
dash of cunning politicians, whose
plans are already laid for making ON
Order subserve their unhallowed pur-
poses or for its destruction. Our pub
lie and private gatherings should be
characterized by the discussion OF
topics of domestic interest, and We
should not allow the introduction OF
these party issues that divide the nation
and engender sectional strife which
will surely drag US into the mighty
whirlpool of ruin, by dividing the
Oranges of the United States into as
many factions as there are political
parties. Our Order is neither political
nor sectional BY allowing at oul
public meetings the discussion of the
very measures we advocate here in the