The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-10-19


matter how far of we may be from those
who are thus disabled from buying ol
selling. If for example, the people II
the remote Southern States cannot raise
cotton and rice at profit, then they car
not buy of us at the North their clothes
their boots and shoes, their wagons anC
farm tools, and other articles whicf
they need. They do not deal directly
with the laborers and mechanics in thi
town, but every one Of them will feel th'
trouble because his trade will suffer else
where, and all must come down together
This trouble at the South will spread 1t
self through the whole country, as tn
stoppage of factory will make trouble
to every one in town, whether he work.
in that factory or not. What is true 0
the South is also true of the far-of West
We see, then, that what we call trade o.
commerce is the great driving wheel o
industry, which sets men and mechanic
shops and great factories in motion, anc
gives work and wealth and prosperity tt
all classes. We find that the people O.
this country, at the North and the Sonth
the East and the West, are bound togeth
erb by common interest.
WHY STRIFE IS STIRRED UP AMONG MEN
Those who excite hatred and strife be-
tween the different sections of our coun'
try are Just as misChievous and just as
hurtful to labor and industry as those
who excite quarrels and ill-will among
the people of our town. We are hurt
every time that the people of the West
or South are harmed. We see, then,
when we try to find out why industry is
depressed and why labor suffers, that we
must look over our whole country and
learn what there is that is wrong outside
of our town, our county and our state.
In this view politics are something more
than mere scramble for Office, or an eff
fort to crafty our love for triumph over
others, or to crafty ourprejudices against
our neighbors. We see that it is buying
and selling that gives work to labor and
prosperity to all. We call this COM
merce, and as l said, this commerce is
the driving wheel to all the machinery
of industry Why is its motion now so
slow and feeble that il does not give work
enough to enable men to meet the calls
upon themselves and their families? 1t
is true that there are many things that
hinder its action but the great trouble
is taxation. 1t is this which makes it
grind 30 hard on all its bearings. 1t is
this which everywhere throws out of
gear the many thousand delicate pro
cesses which make production in all its
varied forms in every section ofthis great
Union.
AND THE TAX GATHERER DEYoURs THEIR
SUBSTANCE.
When l speak of taxation do not
merely mean the money which the col
lector takes from us upon assessment. 1t
is sometimes hard to pay this But the
burdens of the taxes which we pay by in
direct ways are vastly more hurttul. The
man who has no property may defy the
assessors, but he cannot get rid OF the
taxes which are hidden away in the price
of everything he uses. There is taxation
in his food, in his clothes, in the house
in which he lives, the shroud in which
his form is wrapped in death and in the
coffin in which he is buried. The sums
thus paid by the poorest laboring man
for himself and his family are very great
in the course of his life. But even this
burden is not as great as the suffering
which taxation causes by throwing him
out of work and checking the industry
and prosperity of the community in
which he lives. 1t is to this last bear
ing of taxation of which | wish to speak
to you tonight, and | ask your patient
attention while l do so. We all know
that our country abounds in products
which make the basis of trade, If we
could sell to the people of the world what
we have got and what they want there
would be IN end to hard times. We have
great forests of timber; we have mines
Of precious metals; the plains OF the
West are covered with vast herds OF cat
lie, while their titled fields give an
abundance of wheat and corn. The
Southern States produce cotton, rice and
sugar. The people of this quarter are
engaged in dairying or in different
branches of manufactures.
HOW THE VEST MIGHT GROW RICH AND
THE EAST PROSPER.
Let us now take the case of the grain
regions of the West. They have
oeen settled by our relatives and neigh
oors, and we know their condition. If
hey can get their products into the mark
,ts of the world they are made rich, and
We are made prosperous. They buy
what we have to sell they set our work
shops and factories in motion; labor is
made cheerful and our homes happy. As
hey have these products to sell, and as
he East and Europe wants them what
linders this prosperity ? In order to sell
hey must sell cheaper than the price for
which the same products can be bought
elsewhere. As we have the cheapest and
most fertile lands and the best imple-
nents of labor, we can raise grain cheap
,r than any. other people. Our only
drawback is distance from market. 1t is
,lear, then, that all that stands between
Is and prosperity is the cost of carrying.
Dur grain meets in the markets of Eu-
rope that which is raised in the vast en-
Dire of Russia and in other parts Of the
European Continent. If we can sell any
over than other people, say TIN ee cents
|. bushel, we have the market to our
selves and all goes we'll, Upon this trif
ing margin turns in good degree the
prosperity of our people.
BUT NEITHER DO FOR THE LOAD OF
HFH.. TAXES. .H ushH
The question of our trade, then, hangs
lpon the question: Does taxation make
so costly that we are un-
lole to sell our products, while more
economy, more reform and less taxation
would set the wheels of commerce in
notion? have shown how indirect
axation enters into everything and adds
% cost. But for taxation the cost of our
'ailroads would have been one-third less,
You will see this when you take into ac-
,ount the heavy duties on railroad iron
md the increased cost of living to labor,
.rs. Whoever will make the calculation
will find if there was no taxation, direct
N indirect, to swell the cost of railroads,
If boats and of vessels on the canals,
axes and oceans, we could always reach
he markets of the world. If we could
nut down our taxation one-half, we could
a.t.;..I,, A. Al N so,,,a tb;,, tt mn oo,,ld