New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-04-12
rHE 1HHARMoN1oUs PROPERTY OWNERS

! THE 1HHARHos1ous PROPERTY OWNERS
| When people of one class band them
selves for the purpose Of promoting thei
own selfish interests, and wage war o
diparagement upon other equally worth.
classes, they incur the risk Of being Sc
verely, though, perhaps, very justl!
criticised. A little knot of gentleme,
who have incorporated themselves undel
the high sounding title of 1.-The Property
Holders Union" affords US practical IL
lustration in point just at this time. They
started out as reformers, tax resisters, anG
sore-headed grumblers generally, and wor
considerable ephemeral popularity by de-
claring, with loudness characteristic o.
weakness, that the people owed all thei1
woes to radical government and high
taxes. This theme took very we'll for a
while, and the club became so vain as to
conceive itself quite popular, and actually
set itself up as rival to the great Demo.
cratic party. The ticket which it put
into the field was, however, withdrawn
or defeated, and the funding bill and con-
sequent reduction of taxes deprived it OF
valuable subject out Of which to make
political capital.
The Republicans having succeeded in
tightening the expenses Of the State gov
eminent, disarmed the tax resisters, and
threw them back on the proposition that
a good deal of valuable time had been lost
in the progress Of Louisiana by having
Republican government at all. In the
meantime the debt, expenses and taxation
of the city, under Democratic control, re-
main at food tide. and the hypocrisy Of
these malcontents is exposed to the SIM
plest understanding
Having ventilated the Republican
abuses and the Kellogg usurpation till the
subject is worn to FRAGILE, the non-tax-
paying property owners have fallen by
the ears among themselves, and are per-
fectly frantic over the plain, straight for
ward, business like proposal of Mr..
Wheelock to tax them five mills more on
the dollar to build road outside the
corporate limits of the city. 1t looks as
though majority in amount Of the real
estate owners resident here are in favor
Of the tax. Certainly large majority
Of the prompt taxpayers regard the pro-
ject with favor. The tax resisters and
stewards of absentees are consequently
in a terrible futter and commotion.
''Whatr' exclaims the indignant chief,
''do they dare to ask US to vote an addi- |
ion to the burden Of taxation when we
nave required our Mayor to say it is i'm
possible to pay those already imposed, |
Have we not devised plan to defeat Nor
is Ranger and the Maenhauts, and tried
o avoid the police and school taxes, and
low to be asked to stultify ourselves in
his manner! 1t is too bad"
Nothing could be devised that would
nore clearly show the weakness and want
f union among these noisy agitators
han the pending five mill tax PROPOSE
ion. 1t has broken up the Union into
ecided division Of sentiment, and the
eparation Of views extends, as usual
mong idle people, to personal character,
,e advantages and disadvantages OF ma
onality. The advocate of the tax ac-
lses his opponent OF having sprung
ON the Bog Of Allen, whatever
lat may import, and attributes his hos
lily to selfish motives. There will no
oubt be singing retort if some good
ltured editor will open his columns free
charge, so that the bandying of words t
II cost the disputants nothing. We
ay safely leave them to deal with each '
her, while the clear. headed men of the
y can easily solve the problem whether S
not it is advisa bic to consent to the t
ditional tax. e