Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-09-20

Il
| ing war upon other classes. A certain va
riety Of classes is necessary. We know, as
a general proposition that most representa-
tive bodies are controlled by men of GER
| tain profession, but the lawyer, when well
experienced, ana an. honest man, makes
one of the best of legislators. Lawyers are
indispensable to community; doctors are
indispensable and ministers are indispeR-
sable. 1t is not good policy to array one
| class against another, nor do / believe it
right to legislate in favor of one class as
| against another.
Some have an idea that to be called a
farmer or mechanic is letting down. What
would our Government be but for them?
They constitute the foundation upon which
| this mighty fabric rests. II is altogether a
mistake to try to elevate ourselves upon
pride of estate, or upon what our father OF
mother may have been. If you see scion
running back to hunt up ''stock," you may
| conclude that that scion has not much
stock of his own. (Laughter.) We talk
| about "self-made men," There are very
few selfmade men; but, if you depend on
some one else making you, as general
proposition, you'll never be made. (Laugh-
ter.)
And want of It, the fellow"
You have heard how our great men come
ND. You might 90 to your own State, and
/ could enun' crate some Of our most dis
tinq,ished men who were farmers and me-
ehanics. Go back to old Rome. When
anarchy and confusion prevailed they had
to 60 out into the fields and get Cincinnati
tuS to bring order out of chaos. He was a
W. G,,1 mechanics avpn qnnOnp
the Apostles of our Savior. Paul was a
tent maker, and he was very smart man
and wrote some epistles which are referred
70 to this day as models of composition.
Go back among the Greeks. Take Archi-
medes, the great geOmetrician OF ancient
DAYS. He was a practical man and found,
afler MANY experiments, that by the use of
a sunglass he could burn the enemy ships,
and We find him declaring that if ne only
had a fIllcrum upon which 10 rest his lever,
he could move the world. He was car
penter-one of those men who walk about
with a rule sticking out Of his pocket.
[Laughter.l Why, could spin out list
Of this class of men as long as a bill in
chancery. Adam, our great father and
head, the lord Of the world, was
tailor by trade. Laughter and ap-
plause.l "Adam and Eve, when their eyes
were opened, knew they were naked, and
sewed iis leaves together aud made them
aprons"
That is the first we ever heard of tailOIs,
and do not see that-without intending
10 be pcrsonal-any one need be ashamed
10 he called a tailor, nor that any young
lady need be ashamed 10 be a sempStress,
for her mother Eve, it seems, handled a
needle with some skill. (Laughter) L
spcak of these things TO induce young men
and women 70 come forward and show
that they have no false pride and do not
think any one ought TO feel diSgraced at
being called a mechanic. There was one
thing learned when | was quite young,
and that was, that if never disgraced my
calling. my calling would never disgrace
me. (Applause.) l am mechanic. L
would rath-f wear upon my garments the
dince of the shop aud the dust of the
field as badges of the pursuits Of peace,
than the tassel upon my llat, or the epau-
lettes upon my shoulders, or the sword
dangling i'm its scabbard by my side, which
had been stained in brothers blood, as
tie insignia Of honorable and glorious
war. prolonged applause.)
| had hoped that al those things grow
ing out of the war and out of the causes
bringing on the war, had passed away, but
sometimes, when we look around, we seem
to hear the approaching storm. Let me
say that the time has come when you
should look into your public Affairs and not
allow yourselves 10 be misled 10y mistaken
leaders. L had hoped that the day Of strife
and bloodshed bad been driven away, and
that we had reached the time when wecould
see clearly. and when il would indeed be
s.on earth peace, and good will toward
men," Ii has been the earnest desire Of
nv heart that this should lie brought about,
and that mechanism and agriculture should
enioy the products sof their own creation.
[Applause.)
1t seems to NE that this thing YOU call
taxes has an Immediate bearing upon agTi-
culture aud oranges. Ii seems 10 me that
high taxes. and extravaganza in your gov
ernmeut. State and Federal, has an imme-
diate bearing upon the industries Of your
country. How does the matter stand now?
Why is it tllat when you have paid your
taxes and yearly expenses you have Moth
Ing left? | saw in q Memphis paper, re-
Gently, elereR columns of list OF lands and
lots to be sold in that county for taxes.
Taxes in Memphis upon lots were four per
cent. last year. The county and State tax
was two per cent. more, making total Of
six per cent. The statistics show thai
money invested in agriculture does lot pay
more than three or four per cent, and a
large proportion Of farming lands in the
State are being sold for taxes. We hear II
said that the people of Russia have, until
recently, been in deplorable condition Of
serfdom, but if the present state OF things
continues in this country, you, too, will
soon be reduced TO the condition Of serfs.
When the people begin to talk about
these things, the political leaders say ''pay
your taxes, uphold the plightcd faith OF the
country" They say they are going 10
bring about re;renchmcut and reform.
They talk about reducing the salaries Of
the judiciary. but 10 relief need I've expect
ed in this quarter, though the expenses Of
the judiciary ought "a be cut down. We
find our State owes about S2j,OOO,OG0, and
we Will not discuss the subject Of how the
debt was created by faithless public ser
wants. How much VIII the interest on
| this debt be at six per cent? IL is Si,5Do,-
0JG There are some old men here to-day,
who remember when our entire Stale eX-
| panseS were not more than SjnO,OOD per an
mum. Look II your papers Of this morn
ING AMI you viii find lie bonds o. the State
quoted At ffty cents on the dollar, thus
making the interest [ have named
amount 20 twelve per cent. on
! the amour, invested by tie bOEdhOlders.
Then they have arranged to fund the bond &.
| They would not take coupons III payment
| for taxes. but say, ''cI,t Off YOUR coupons,
put them in your bond, and we'll promise to
paw II forty years after date That's what
they call funding, anc We find that the re
suit viii be the making of a permanent debt
one Of the ways OF enslaying a people.
At the end Of forty years You have paid
SG0.GN0.CG0 interest on the ;. ate debt, and
have the principal vet TO pay. You can
not paw this debt, and thus il becomes per
manent. and is inflicted upon your ch'l-
dren and Children's children. What right
have Won to do this? Take the Federal,
State and corporation debts, and we
owe about $4,000 OO,OOO more than the en-
tire debt o. Great Britain. Ii was one of
Mr.. JefitIson'S axioms That no generation
had a right 20 incur debts with 90 beyond
that generation.
But they ask .'How are yOu going tOreGuce
taxas?" would say pay interest only up
on what the bonds cost The holders, which
is not more than SI2,jOO,OJO, and that
would cut orr annual interest down from
| Sl,jOO,UOJ TO the sum Of S7jo,OO0, and that
would make a great deal Of difference with
| our taxpayers. We suspended paying in