, 1875-02-23

the estimated value Of tie stock, and both are
taxed | The right to hsue certificates OF
shares to the several owners is called waltz
nblo franchise" mud IN heavily assessed md
taxed 10 that in fact tho faw taxes tho mere
lcgal right OF privilege which another
| statute gives to citizens to unite
| to carry on m industrial enterprise.
| Do legislators reflect that tllis prohibition Of
| suci. consolidation Of emnll aums prohibits
the employment Of labor, prohibits the con-
version Of raw material into finiahcl fabrics,
mud is Of itself one Of tho great Causes Of hard
times? Yet two hundred and moro gcntle-
men arc in session at Springfield, sent there
to lcgialato for the welfare Of the State, md
not one Of thom haa proposed to repeal tho
legal prohibitions against tho union Of small
capitalists mud the combination Of their mcans
for the purpose Of industrial production, Il
there were on the atatuto-book a Inv pro-
hihiting tho mfgration to this State of labor
GRE, or the employment Of laborors now here,
thoro would 10 n raco among these legislators
for tho honor OF proposing tho repeal Of the
| prohibition but the sumo men take no notice
Of the law which prevents the combination Of
small capitalists, or the introduction here Of
capital with which to employ tho thousands
who, willing to work, con find no employ
ment. The bad policy md iuiquity Of the
one prohibition is ouly paral1eled BY that OF
tho othor.
Another and striking popularity OF tho
/ law Of Illinois is, that it imposes sovoro
penalty On my man who darcs to borrow
money. It treats tho farmer or tho stock
raiser, or tho tradosman, OF tho builder, or
merchant, or manufacturer, who bor.ows
money, rs man dangerous to society, and
ono 1T to bo punished by heavy penalties
The ,nan who wants 5000 on ten years.
time, proposing to use the money in in-
cronsel production, Antls that the marketable
value Of money on real estate mortgage is
about per cont, which rental he is willing
and able to pay. But tho law intesfcros,
and says that tho crimo Of borrowing
money to bo invested in increased production
is OF such magnitude TINT it must be pun
ishcd by such taxation TINT tho borrower will
mover DO nblo to extricate himself from the
consequences OF his oct. In addition to tax
ing him on tho land or capital he obtains, it
subjects him to tax for State, city, county,
town, md MI other purposes on the loan md
on tho additional property he has secured
with tho proceeds Of the loan. By
IN amusing fiction, 1t requires this
ta1 to DO paid nominalIy by the
lender, who uses this fiction to add or per
cont to tho ordinary value Of the money, and,
to protect himself against unforeseen taxes
and other e1actions, requires TINT tho bor-
rover pay him 10 pcr cent q year interest,
with commissions, ETC., equivalent to or 2
per cent per annum additional. Tho bor-
rover hos no alternative; lie must pay this
ruinous rato or 60 without the money, and
the result is TINT tho people Of Illinois
who hive borrowed money on mortgage pay
from 10 to II per cont interest annually.
compelled to do 30 by tie law Of the State.
We know Of nothing so productive of "hard
ti,ncs as to require every man borrowing
money to pay from 10 to IL per cant interest.
II the law Of the State, in express tcrrns, pro-
hibited tho borrowing Of money at less rato
OF interest than that, it could not bo more
ctfectual than the present Inv. It ia ono Of
the curiositiea Of tho enlightenment Of tho
present day that this low, which compels bor-
!, rowcra 10 pay from 9 to per cent moro
for tho use Of money than its real market
, value, is especially ohnmpioned and defended
, by the representatives Of the men who want
to borrow! They cling with devotion to the
wcightwhich ie bearing them to tho dust. AND
, yet any person with three grains Of common
, sense must porceivo that oil taxes levied or
: the lenders right Of repayment Or return o.
. his capital will invariably be added by hin
| To- ~ f@,fa nj fia.%u al ht