The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-09-24


so cordially by the press and The people
and with a leader in the person of the no.
Die, the peerless Porter, we will move in an
unbrOken phalaIlx to glorious victory. II
is a sound and healthy code of political
principles. 1t announces:
''1. That all honest labor should be pro
teeted and receive its just reward"
Here is a basis of union for the mechanic
and manufacturer, the merchant and pro-
fessional man, the farmer and the day
laborer. Does the present legisl ltion Of
the National Congress give equal protec-
ton to all the laboring classes? II protects
the manufacturer, but where is the protec-
tion given the farmer and other classes?
Let the odious aud discriminating tariff
laws answer tue question. J on pay largely
more revenue every month in duties upon
the necessaries of life than you pay in one
year in the shape of taxes to the State.
During the past four years a Bureau Of
Agriculture has been organized in Tennes-
see, for the purpose OF giving statistics to
the farmer and furnishing desirable infor-
matiLn to those abroad. This bureau has
published a report which has attracted at
tention not only in America, but also in
Europe. had an order a few DAYS ago
for hundred copies to go to Switzerland,
and another large order has been received
at Nashville FOR books to go to Great Brit
ain.
In this connection, it is not improper TO
mention, that under the present admins
tratiOn, the best public school law, which
has ever blessed the State, has been de-
vised and successfully established. Its
value is too well known to YOU, and TO the
people of the State, to demand any further
notice on this occasion.
-. That the burden of government
should be borne by the whole property Of
1 na hat oil 81
should be equal, uniform and Just. and no
improper discrimination should be made
against any species Of property
As 1t is, more than two hundreds of mill
lions of national bonds pay no taxes. Their
holders, equally protected in life, liberty
and property with {, tiller Ct the soil and
the honest mechanic and the merchant,
draw their interest in coin, wrung from the
labor and the toll of the country, Yet they
! pay nothing to support the Government.
T e rich corporations are, many of them,
exempt from taxation. Even in Ten
nessee the railroad property, worth
/ $IG0,O0O,O0n, claims immunity from
! the revenue laws Of the State. Hith-
| eric the holders of invisible, hidden wealth,
/ such as money, bonds stocks, prOmissory
notes, etc, have been practically exempt,
| while the owner Of the soil and live stock,
and other visible property, were burdened
l W ilh all cN ptllStS u SoNeiuluCHJ anu the
/ administration of jus ice. This is in vio-
| lation of the spirit 81 free institutions.
The Dem Jcrdti c and Conservative party
| proposes 10 remedy these evils. Since its
/ accession TO power in the State, some of
| these evils have been remedied. Suits
are now pending IN the courts, in
stiiuted under the present admin
| istra ion OF the State government,
! seeking to have all acts of Assembly ex-
/ property of other corporations declared I'M
constitutional. And il Is believed these
suits will result successfully TO the State.
| This will tighten the burdens of taxation
/ upon the labor AMI productive energies OF
| the country. Elevate the Democratic party
to national Iower, and the odiOus exemp-
/ ton in favor of bonds, national bank and
other favored mOnoPOlies, will disappear
| from the Congressional statutes. Then.
/ and not until then, will be 10 unjust dis
/ elimination in the assessment of property
| for taxes. This is in accord with The thirc
resolution Of our platform of 1868, and the
eighth resolution of 1870.
3. ''That we favor a strict construction
| of the Constitution of the United States,
and insist that no power should be eXer-
! cised by the General Government that is
not clearly delegated or clearly implied in
| the necessary exercise of the powers so del
| egated."
No intelligent man will question the
soundness of this doctrine. It is beauti-
| full blending of the ancient theories of the
| Wing and Democratic parties. Webster,
| one If the great expounders of the Onsti-
| tuition, and by his political opponents,
| charged with favoring a strong central
! government, declared more than once, that
| the States or this Union had exclusive
jurisdiction over all ques ions at issue be-
tween its citizens, and for the punishment
of all crime within their borders. Aud
that by no latitudinarian construction
| could that power be assumed by the Fed
eral Government. Gen. JacAson, on ne
tirement to private life, said:
''lf the principle of constructive powers
shall ever be permitted to justi-
! fy the assumption of a power not given b.
| he Constitution, the general Government
will, before long, absorb all he powers OF
| legislation, and you will have, in effect,
but one consolidated government, :
| Aud every friend of our free Institutions
| should always be prepared to maintain, un-
| impaired and in full vieOr, the rights anu
sovereignty of the States, and to cOntine
! the action of tie general Government 10
the sphere of its appropriate duties"
And even the party who now set at de-
| fiance the time-honOIed landmarks planted
by the fathers of the Republic, enunciated
| when they nominated Mr.. Lincoln in 1860
this great principle in the most unmistake-
able and emphatic manner, viz:
"Resolved, That the maintenance inviO-
late of the rights of States, and especially
the right of each State to control its own
domestic institutions, Accord G to its own
judgment exclusively, is essential to that
balance Of power Oh which the perfection
/ and balance Of our political fabric de-
| ponds.
But what is now the theory and practi-
cas- Of that party? II is TO annihilate the
last vsstige Of power in the State govern
ments, by unwarTanted constructions of the
| Constitution OF the United States. For
! their practices. look to the Reconstruction
! Acts, and amendments thereto; the cotton
| tax law, passed during Mr.. Lincoln's ad-
! minstIatiOn, under which so much mOrey
was cOerccd from Tennessee, alone over
! $1,000, 600, in direct violation Of the Con-
stitutiOn; the Internal Revenue laws and
/ Stamp Acts; the Feedmen's Bureau bills;
| the COn6scation and Treasurer bills; the
| Enforcement Acts of 1868, 1870 and 1871,
! aud ruonv ofber measures l-Ss coruurai.ar-