The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1876-05-06
QUE NATIONAL FINANCES.


1876:
have been requested by members Of |
the Legal Tender Club No. l, Of the city |
Of st Louis, to furnish such facts ~ | may
think tend to show that the present high
rate Of taxation and rate that Congress has
fixed for interest to be paid on the National
Debt, is the primary cause that has pro-
duced the present conflict and antagonism
between productive labor and unprOductive
capital.
And If it can be made manifest that the
present high rate of the tax ON productive
industry has resulted in discord and strife,
then the remedy, and the only remedy, is
to lower the rate Of taxation 20 M TO pEO-
duce q proper equilibrium that in to say,
there should be established some plan for
an equitable distribution Of the net produc-
tions Of lab Dr and capital.
Now, in order TO establish and carry into
effect plan for lowering the present high
rate of taxation, land when use the word
taxation, / include the rate Of interest the
government fixed on the public debit, fer
all interest paid for the loan or hire Of
money, is q tax on labor, and IL paid by
labor.
this high rate Of taxation can be reduced
to the rate of increase in the national
wealth by natural production (which il at
the rate of 81 per cent. per annum com
pounded), is q question Of power, and It is
with that question that wish to deal.
And in dealing with the question of
power, / have made no attempt at fine
writing. have confined myself to . state
ment of facts that are upon the record, and
without any regard to the rules Of rhetoric,
the correctness Of dictiOn, or ornaments of
style
"When important interests are at stake,
when momentous questions are to be con-
sidered, elaborate orators is contemplate. "
Webster.
By the law Of nature, which, says Sir
William Blackstone, 10 cOeval with man
kind, and dictated by God himself, every
community has an inherent right to Iro-
vide the means to relieve their Necessities
This inherent right need not be declared,
it is older than written constitutions or
municipal laws
An eminent Doctor Of the Divine Law
states God, when he created man, did
not deliver him to the mercy Of chance
He gave him the right Of fulfilling his
necessities, and has imposed on him the
care Of his own preservation as q duty"
And when the Almighty created the hu-
man race, ample provision was made for
their sustenance ''Of the things pertain
long to US in common with all others, such
as light, sir, water and soil"
Now, of those common gifts, no one il
entitled to a surplus which which will de-
priVe another Of sufficiency.
There is, however, but one OF the common
gifts that man can be deprived Of a suffic-
iency, and that Ia the one most essential
for his existence, Namely suficiency Of
the soil as q right belonging to every indi.
vidual. Without that sufficiency Of the
soil, man would be rendered incapable OF
fulfilling the duties imposed on him name
ly-the care Of his own preservation"
The main inquiry a. to the amount Of
soil man is entitled to az a suficiency, ii
readily answered in the abstract. 1t can
not be a less quantity than that necessary
to provide himself with shelter, and he il
not entitled as gift to any greater guam
tity. Man, being provided with shelter, II
at liberty TO pursue whatever calling hi
genius. talents or tastes may lead lead him
But in the event Of failure to support him
self by his industry, or inability to find EN-
| ployment for q time, he is entitled to q
shelter to fall back upon. And it is the
chief duty as well as the prime interest OF
the State, to provide for the support Of the
individual citizen. The Statec an survive
the loss Of the citizen, or the citizen the
loss Of his suf6ciency.
do not mean that the State ought 10
support the citizen. He must support
himself.
But it is the duty as well as the interest OF
the State to provide that the citizen, with
the co-Opertion Of his means Of labor,
should have the uninterrupted privilege 81
taking to himself a sufficiency Of the soil
as right belonging to him, as a common
gift, in order that he may fulfill all the re-
quirements Of the care for his own preser.
walton "a duty.
This, my friends, IL q question that IN
derlies the financial question, and one OF
far greater moment to the American people
IN its consequences, than all others that
may arise in our system Of political econ
omy. This important question have had
much at heart fos several years. | have
hitherto elaborated it fully a. to the plan
for carrying 1t into practical effect, it has
been submitted to some of the most emin-
ent philosophers and jurists in the land, and
by them endorsed.
| cannot argue the financial question
without founding it upon the aVOwal that
it is essential for communities to exercise
their inherent right to provide the means
to relieve their necessities when ever the
exigencies happen.
1t il upon this right Of self-preservation,
one of the most sacred rights that God has
given to man, that we derive the power to
provide ourselves with all things needful
for our preservation ; nay, it is duty i'm
posed upon man by the Creator.
The necessities of q nation beget its at
tributes, and every community, being en-
dowed with the power for self-preservation,
can exercise that inherent power as they
may thiAk best for the common good.
but there must be government and the
obligations of obedience. There 10 no
theory so clear, simple and solid.
The authority which commands obed-
fence should be legitimately established.
Now, this brings US to the inquiry a. to
how legitimate authority may be sstAb-
lished
Wherever sovereignty resides in 9 na-
ton government belongs.
When John g. Calhoun was asked the
question {; "What is government 7" He
answered promptly ''It il the will Of the
governed" That may he true of mon
Archy, but in q republic it Ia the will Of the
governor, that is to say republican
America the government will of n
majority OF all the electors ople OF all
the States, hence IN our republic the gov
eminent belongs to and il inherent in the
people.
Bat agents to perform the duties thereof
are necessary, and therefore are created
say President, Congress, . judiciary.
This agency is not the government, how
ever, nor In there q sentence or work in the