The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1877-12-29
News from Our Friends.
VERNON.
PARISH OF VERNON, I
nol,nr IL IS1Z


DcW 1'm7icdtor
The tax collector in the faithful dis
char.r Of his duties has been engaged III
selling III. land Of delinquent taxpayers.
no douht some unint"rmrd people blame
him for " hat seems to TO harsh meas
urr, but they are wrong in doing SO.
There is no option left to the collector,
the law points ont his duties. and as
sworn office! and an honest man. ne Is
| bound to obey. The Delinquent List OF
Vernon is Il Tar e one, and embraces some
! of pur best citizens. There al" ivy"
causes for the nonpaymcnt OF taxes III
this State. and both are within the reach
of the voters Of the state for remedy,
one of them more directly than the otl''r
however. The first and most prominent
cause for nonpymcnt is, the cNh"rbI~
t;nt and unprecedented rate OF taxation
i,nosrl ly the State on her '''lZenS
There is not another state in the snlon
that cxacts 1A4 mills on tn" dollar. TINS
enormous tax is Legitimate rh'}d OF
R;td;ca|jsm, and finds its root and germ
in the vast multiplication of hiSh-Sala~
rrd officers. many of them fa>trnru on
to the people Ivy tho present Radical
Constitution. Now, this cause comes IT,
rctly within the reach of the voters OF
the State by means OF a Constitutional
| Convention. which should be ordered by
the LEGISLATURE among the first OF its
acts on assembling. And if the present
Legislature fails to ORDER Convention,
.hru tho voters of the State should tie
very careful in the selection Of the men
to composr the next Leg slature, and
ONLY vote for such men AZ Will pledge
themselves to vote for Il Constitutional
Convention. A more expeditions plan,
however. would be for the people OF tie
State to exercise their sovereign rights
bv coming together in the different pre-
cinctS If the State. and hold the clrc-
tion for Delegates to a Convention. Such
step would be Revolutionary, and It"
not think will he necessary, but 1t would
he rirht if We cannot get 4 Convention
without.
The other cause for nonpaymcnt OF
taxes is the great scarcity OF money!
pro,Iuccd wv the ruinous contraction
rolicy of the National Government, III
order to bring the circulate II down WITH
in the reach of specie rrSumptl"n' ana
this same specie resumption IS n"tt'lf"
more nor less than q well devised scheme
of the monryrd power to get complete
control of the Government, and through
the Government, of tho people, ami the
sale of the homes of the producers or
farmers is one of the first nails driven IN
the coffin of our Liberties, by the ham
} mrr of Gold Basis or specie resumption.
THE question may be asked, how has the
preparation for specie resumption affect
ed the ability of the people of the State
E of Louisiana. or the parish of Vernon to
pav their taxes? | thiuk the effect Is
very plain and direct. Any man who
has kept himself at all posted knows
that since the passage of the Act known
, as the Resumption Act, there has been
t constant contraction Of the circulating
= medium, that millions of Greeback dol
lars have been called in and burned by
the Treasury Department, and Bonds Is
sued in their stead. These Beads have
= not supplied the deficit in the cirrula
ton. brcauSr they are too large and I'M
. vi,llv in their amounts, aud as they arr
z gold interest hearing, and are not taxa
. Die, they are pr ,titahlc as an investment
and if they were not by their size inca
uacitated fer circulation. their value AZ
. an investment would keep them h"rtt'd
! This contraction has gone on until there
u is but littl, money in circulation, an'
: the purchasing power OF that am"un
Il has been so increased that the prices
farm nrul,cts have been reduced to s.
low tiuurc that farmers can scarcel,
realize enough from their surplus pro
duets to sustain their families, or p"f
chase those nrcc>Saries which they can
5 not raise. 1t is a natural sequence tia
Il in proportion as the purchasing power Q
o money increases. its debt paying rowc
v decreases, bat the dollar of debt remain
h the same. Five or six years ago bal
!. of cotton was worth about - dollars
n and would therefore pay that amount
~ debt, now, however, that same bale {
= cotton, is worth about 81 dollars, and
E would require two bales to pay debt
tt Is dollars. And although dollar i
II Grccnbacls will buy twice as much as
II did 5 or years ago, it will not pay tn
II Same amount of debt, while it rpVu re
r. twice as much labor to produce that do
# lar. New, the dollar of tax and the DO
- lar of debt are one and the same, {
" rather their relation to production
:" very near the same, and their relation
!, the valuation of property is exactly tt
T. same. The slrnkagc i'll valuation
e property has kept even pace with tn
I'd contraction of circulation, and the il
l. crease Of the purchasing power of none,
X but the taxable valuation of propert,
70 rates as high as it did when cotton WI
" worth IS dollars per bale, and yet, i
kind of property when put upon tt
market, will bring more than one-l'al1
much now as it would then. Now,
ir the producing power Of our lands ha
H. been increased in proportion as the
r. products decreased in valuation, the
~ we might still be able to pay our take
- but such thing is impossible. | tim
g., the remedy for this last cause is with
~ the reach of the voters OF the State
exact proportion to the influence of Lo'
ye isiana in the councils of the Nation. L.
q us vote for no man to represent us
! Congress who is not pronounced in Il
~. opposition to tho money power. Al
~ when the next Presidential election sh;
T. come around let us not pander to tt
q. money power, but assert our rights
is the election of the President.
nd Yours truly,