The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1874-05-27


tee and the treasurer should be re.
quired to give new bonds at once. The
statue above referred to, Il will be seen
bond within ten days after the COM
mencelnent of his term of Office. his
office shall be vacant"
The above deciesion, il will be un.
derstood. refers to school trustees Of
cities and Incorporated towns. Special
care should be taken that School
Boards conform strictly to the law as
interpreted by the proper au,hori-
ties.
For the Palladium.
How to Replace she Revenae froa
LfSuor.
The question is frequently raised by
opponents of the prohibition OF the
liquor traffic, Where is the revenue
now raised by duties and licenses to
como from if this business he stop.
ped ?" We do not know how far this
question might influence the Secreta-
ry of the Treasury in the matter. We
do know what the greatest finance
minister Of the world, W. F.. Glad
stone, said upon this subject when a
deputation Of brewers urged upon him
the loss Of the revenue by any step
towards prohibition. "Gentlemen," he
said, you need not give yourselves
any trouble about the revenue; the
question of revenue must never stand
in the way Of needed reform; besides,
with. a sober population not wasting
their earnings, l will know where to
obtain the revenue" This ought to
be equally true and applicable in the
United States.
1t is admitted on all hands-no one
questions it-that drinking keeps the
masses of the people pocr. The more
revenues we raise by duties on liquors,
the poorer We are making the mass of
the population, and the less able to
pay taxes. The duty on spirits is one
of the lowest taxes in this country;
that is to say, the Government gets
less per cent. Of the gross ssexpenditure
on drinks for the exchequer than from
any other outlay Of the population.
Let drinking be stopped, and those in
rags and wretchedness now, will then
wear bfoadcloth and silks, and the
revenue will derive more from the one
source than from the other.
This was established beyond doubt
in Ireland in Father Matthews day.
The consumption Of drink was re-
duced from Il. .OO0. 900 gallons to 4,OOO.-
600 gallons 1t ", asserted that the
revenue would suffer BY this move
ment. The contrary was the fact.
There was an increase to the revenue
through the purchasing and colsump-
ton of home comforts instead of
drunkard making drinks.
The loss to this Republic is so great
through intemperance, and even
through the moderate consumption Of
liquors, there are SO many hundreds
of millions Of dollars wasted in drink;
there is so much poverty, crime. lu-
macy, disease and death, produced by
drink, and left burden on the CON-
munity, that it would be vast advan-
tage to the nation to wipe out the en-
tire drink traffic. root and branch, and
for the people to make up the amount
of the revenue from fairly adjusted
income and property tax. The many
millions of the population now kept
in poverty by drinking, would be able
to pay an income and property tax
equal to the whole whisky revenue, if
they were only sober, industrious
and thrifty people.
1t is killing the goose that laid the
golden eggs to replenish the revenue
through the whisky still. Better, By
far better. encourage and foster sobri-
ETY. and thrift amongst the population;
and as they increased in wealth, and
the whole country in capital in consc-
quence, the revenue cannot suffer. a
sober, wealthy people can afford to
pay taxes. Taxes cannot bc got from
an impoverished community. Itwould
be like trying to take the creeks o
Hielandman." We think this line Of
= a
thought and argument will show our
population how silly is the. objection
of the liquor dealers on the question
of revenue.
How very anxious the licensed IL
quor dealers pretend to be Tor the
safety and security Of the revenue!
Whose revenue? Their own not the
nations. They do not care row Of
pins for the national revenue. They
take every means to cheat the revenue
now. They only took to the receipts
in their own tills Temperance men
are the real upholdcrs of the national
revenue, and the best supporters of
the nations honor. They don't want
to lessen the revenue, but to increase
II. The best way to accomplish this
IL to preserve a sober community, ad-
ding to the wealth and capital Of the
country, and consequently to its great
est sources of revenue. @
To hear licensed liquor dealers talk
about the revenue, one would fancy
that they paid the taxes ON liquors
They do nothing ef the. kind They
make their dupes Of customers pay
the taxes four times over. Would it
not be better to get the people freed
from liquor saloon influences and their
dire results. and let them pay directly