The New Orleans Democrat., 1876-08-13

1,0vrpvnrnT AND TAXATION.

70 6y.t causc.' again, Id the
same article. the Bulletin says, Inis 10
: Government OF the people. ana the
Administration IL but a reflex OF tne
,,.onlo themselves. their vices and lol.-
ksSk.s IL = vclI - virtues" Accept these
,n"as @ Mental propositions of the Butle-
fin and what do they, proye SlmPly
INIT Vice and folly In the people cons'''
tute bad government, and that bad gov
r,rnac,,ti and ti,sorghnisedf tndfstftes
are always found together. This ID very
nearly our view of the case.
We concede that bad morals are
,roliflo cause Of bad government. bo'
there nre other causes over wh'eh sne
,srv.yned havo no control, and against
which they now contend, which ereate
had uovernment. No ono can hold that
the bnd morals Of the people OF Louls'-
nna nro nj the bottom Of the iniqultous
poyefnmept which has scourged tnis
ltate for eleven years. Under the oe.
nornxing influences Of this carpet t-peg
,nionity. the morals OF the people nave
become to certain extent cofrupeeo'
nut the government which has oohe
! s..sy -.--.i,ed our industries,
could not be resisted.
| However. we do not care to dwell
upon this exception to the Bullet,n's
proposition. What we do object to. Is
that our neighbor does not adhere to its
very clear and truthful declaration that
bad government and dsorganized in
duatries are concurrent calamities. II
ass,imes this ground In common with
the DEMOCRAT, and then proceeds 10
contradict 1t by saying that some Of
the most prosperous people have devel-
oped their wealth under the most odious
and oppressive governments. Wecan
designate number OF nations with the
richest natural resources, which, ut
one period OF their history, en-
joyed splendid prosperity, but
which, under bad government
and excessive taxation have become
wretchedly poor. miserable and con
temptible. But we know Of no people
who have tlourished under misrule.
rapacity and oppression. There are nu-
merous instances Of nations which have
grown rich and great under despotic
rule, and OF others which have advanced
In prosperity and civilization though
the personnel Of the government was
bad and Its internal administration to
a certain extent corrupt, but we have
read of no country that advanced in
material wealth which was run In the
interest of individuals, which failed to
enforce the laws, and which was the
soourge of It's people. France, under
the wretched 1espotsm of Louis XIV,
supported u splendid aristocracy and
the most magnificent court, In the
world. To the superficial observer, the
nation seemed rich and prosperous.
But the accounts given us Of the condi-
tion Of the people by the historians of
the period, even now harrow our hearts.
The Bulletin quotes Montesquieu
against Junius, AS quoted by the
DEMOCRAT, to show that bad govern
ment and excessive taxation are not the
causes Of national decay. We do
not find that the quotation from
Montesquieu Is at all In conflict
with the quotation we gave from the
great English writer. But If it be,
tho weight Of authority Is certainly with
Junius, who was one Of the ablest poll
tical writer's Of his time. while Montes-
quieu, though man Of splendid
genius, was rather speculative philos-
opher than a practical statesman.
The DEMOCRAT has never held that
high taxation was in every case an evil,
or that the arts, manufactures and in
dustries are not essential to u peoples
Low taxation Is always to
be preferred to high taxation
but undoubtedly there are times
under the best and purest ad-
in which the public
interests require high rate Of taxation,
and when the revenues thus raised are
honestly applied to legitimate purposes,
c Is only narrow selfishness which
yroans. The taxation which blights
md prostrates property, trade and in
lustry, Is that which Is levied and |
gathered by rapacious and corrupt al
and squandered or stolen by
corrupt officials. Indeed, under this sort
If ftaxation-the sort we have had in Lou
iana--accompanied by maladministra-
ions Of all descriptions, property de-
,reciates in value, the people are impov-
,rished, and often the oppressors are
orced to illustrate the observation of
that it is necessary to re-
luce taxation in proportion to the in
,rease of the degradation and ruin of
he people. The people become too
Door to pay the higher rate their prop
,rties and industries fail to yield reve-
lues, and the rate must be reduced to
he capacity Of the wretched people or
slaves to pay. This has been the case
n this city and State. The rates Of the
,ity tax and Of the State tax have been
'educed, it is true; but at the same time
ho ~ thn ,,ooplo hnrn L. |