The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1874-01-22


prehensibe that they should prove a per
letual burden upon the taxpayers. ! can
see DO COED reason why this institution,
under proper nanagenens should not be
made nearly or quits self sus tanning, when
the peuItentiaries Of 80 man states in the
I nion are source Of revenue to the pub
nc treasury. Il is claimed by those who
Aave made careful comparison OF the
statistics tiat the inmates of our State
Prison cost De more per capita than dc the
inmates Of any Of the charitable institu
tons Of the state For this condition Of
things thers seems to be neither Iustifcs
zion nor excuse. The continuance of an
enlightened policy toward the prisoners,
Z boxing to the protecrior Of society rather
than to malicou punishment Of the guilty.
viii not tend to retard that reform in this
direction which is now SO inperatively de-
manded.
TEMPERANCE Law.
Our government was wisely institut ed
for the protection of society, aud is not an
approorlate instraEsntality for the 6is-
semination Of religious doctrine, or for the
definition and enforcement of private mo
rallty. Cur state constitution clearly re-
cegnlzes personal liberty as among the in
herent rights Of man, and the obligations
imposed upon US in this regard character
lie all free government wherever instituted.
he precise line of division between the
freedom OF the individual and the rights Of
society may sometimes be difficult of defini-
ton. But the general restrictions npon
the exercise of legislative power in this d.
rection, are not the less positive and oblga
/ tory. The natural inclination of all class
es of people is to invoke the power of the
government as a remedy for all evils, real
or imaginary, and the greatest danger lies
IN the direction of TOO liberal concessions
to those demands. There is, in fact no iag-
gregation Of popular evils more to be ap-
pretended than government loaded with
a superabundance of arbitrary peweIs and
4 burdened with the seif-mposed response
! biiitY of ghting all the wrongs ct which
society complains. Inordinats expenditure
and taxation, popular dscontents, and dis
+ re-pect to all the obligations of law, are
! the natural and direct fruits Of these arbi-
trary interfersnces with the social hstits,
private enterprises or religious beliefs Of
the people.
i Some Of the provisions of the existing
( temperance law manifestly conflict with
these views, and are believed to be ineif
Gent for the accomplishment of the lsuda-
bic purposes contemplated. Think as we
may and say what We v i'll upon the alb
stract question of temperance legislation,
there Is little doubt that majority of the
people of this state are opposed to the
present furm Of TIE SO called Graham
Law. | therefore recommend such a mo-
ditcation of existing legislation on this
s ,I.,n Il.
/ ious provisions, without IN any degree I'M
pairing the appropriate power of the state
to regulate and restrain the traffic in intox-
eating liquors, or to punish offences
against society originating in this cause.
BANKS AND BANKING.
Some legislation is desirable for the bet
ter protection of deposits IN banks, both
corporate and private. The general bank
ing law CT this state WAS framed mainly
with reference 10 securing notes of clrcula,
ton which have boon taxed out Of existence
By federal legislation. " hile these monied
institution are now organized for an entire
iy different purpose, the statutes relating
10 them have undergone no thorough re-
vision. The daposi;or in a state bank has
20 adequate security against .oss; his faith
ii the integrity and capacity of its officers
is really his only guarantee.
The capital stock OF such a corporation
may be swallowed up in reckless s2ecula-
tIon, its funds may be stolen and squander
ell by those who are placed to guard them,
and Us creditors have no sure means OF
learning its true condition until it ha, fail
ID and its books are in the hands o an as
signee. The regular re porte Of interested
officials is not a sufhcient guarantee of the
souudness Of banking institution, nor is
fictitious stock proper foundation for PUB
lie credit. The people should be pro teeted
: from all such irresponsible institutions by
the positive and Wholesale restraints of
statutory enaetrnents.
| would therefore recommend that the
General Banking laws be go amended as to
increase the liability of stockholders, and
that all persons doing banking business
IN tie State, whether corporate or private,
except corporations organized under acts of
Congress, be placed under the supervision
OF state authority, and some system Of in
specti0u adopted by which the public NAV
be accurately informed as to the amount Of
cash capital, the nature of the Investments,
and the character eff the securities
Such statement Of tie affairs of
a bank, by a competent and trustworthy
officer of the State, experimenting the re
gular semi-aGnual report now required
/ would afford all the protection against
fraud and mismanagenent that the peeple
can reasonably ask at your hands.
CHEAP TRANSPORTATION BY WATER.
4 The relation Of our state to national
commerce is peculiar More than three
ftths of the Wisconsin boundary is wash
ed by navIgable water, conceded to be
under the special care of the general
government, Our principal interior streams
are also navigable, dividing their bounty
between the Gulf of Mexico and the
Atlantic Ocean, on line nearly eqni-dis
tant between Lake Michigan and the
Mississippi River.
! | coucete that the moneys paid into the
federal treasury belong to the people of the
whole Union, and We cannot rightfully
claim the intervention Of the federal COY
eminent for any strictly local objects.
But as to the duty Of general government
10 improve natural channels Of commerce,
clearly pertaining to the general welfare
AMI necessary to Interstate commerce.
there can be no reasonable ground for
doubt. More than City years ago, Presi-
! dent Monroe commended to Congress the
/ rroprlety of improving the navigation of
western rivers between their highest nayi-
( gable points, fo- the purI oss of faclita-
tlng Intercourse between the Atlantic and
the western country" The government
/ has hitherto most signaly failed to fulfil
! the measure cf its obligations in this par
I tiouiar. Congress has male large AMI uni.
form concessions to special Industries fos-
/ tered by eastern capital and these indus
tries haYe been largely sustained BY Judi
rect taxation upon western labor and the
! Products of oar fertile soil. Equity, as
well as the discharge of a clear censtitu-
| tionai duty, requires different estimate
and the apportionment of federal oh iga-
/ tons in future, to the end that the bless
ings OF government to our agricultural and
( commercial population may better accord
! with its cost. 1t is impracticable in this
pace to explore or explain all the myster-
/ les of taxation upon the western labor and
productions But the direct and indirect
contributions CT Wisconsin to the federal
/ treasury are believed to equal SIX or eight
/ millions of dollars per annum, in addition
/ to-taxes indirectly imposed for the protcc-
4 ton of special industries constituting no
! part of the national revenue. 1t is obvious
+ that for the most Of this taxation we are