The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-01-31

city. and State. Uf New OH " 10
the great central canal. which. bc
fore the building of the mighty
railway lines, constituted the great
highway Of traffic for the vast agrl-
cultural productions Of the West.
No wonder that Il Wise and honest
statesman like Mr.. Tiider could
almost wipe out In a single official
term the aggregated Indebtedness
of the commonwealth ' G which
he had been placed "a governor.
1t is very easy for a reckless Bone
milan or Ishmaelite, with 10 stake
| in the land but his daily rations TO
cry out, down with taxation. But
how are such political characters to
| provide for the restoration Of Il
| public credit : Taxes are heavy
| upon us now, because it Is a system
of digging something out Of nothing.
| We have nothing TO pay taxes with.
| But let ii be once understood that
| the cultivated public mind of North
| Carolina ~ representing and con
| trolling our interests III the le9l>-
| lature. has felt the grand awaken
| ing Of the country, and Is deter
| mined no longer to let IL glorious
| old mother remain, like a ml>era-
| bic Lazarus, covered with sores and
| licked by the dogs at the rich mans
gate, and our people to the last man
will pawn the last shirt to carry
out the wishes of their Legislators.
OF course, %improyident legislation
is not to be tolerated at any time.
| nor under any circumstances. The
using of the peoples money, even
for the people themselves, is to be
done cautiously and guardedly.
Especially are all selfish and cor
rupt conspiracies for individual ag-
grandizcment, to be sternly re-
buked and annihilated at their very
birth. But at the same time, it
seems to us, that the highest wis
dom and the purest virtue of legis-
lation on this subject is, to employ
our present limited resources dis
~creetly. to create other resources
in order that our one talent may
not be buried in the earth without
profit to ourselves or others.
Besides it does aot follow that
our legislators, in order to help the
great enterprises of the present and
the future, are to put their hands
directly into the peoples pockets.
There are many other roaGs to
wealth and power, besides the broad
Appian way of a direct general tax
alton. First Of all, let it be dis
tinctly understood what we need to
do. We will not have to go far to
find examples of sagacious and pru-
dent craftsmanship in matters of
this sort, unless we have the genius
and the spirit, like our Agricul-
tural Department, to be a model
unto ourselves, and to create the
methods and the agencies by which
we are to win success. One thing
we may be assured of, that what
ever the State shall do in its official
capacity, whatever promises may be
made or guarantees offered, Will
carry much greater authority and
force than anything that can be
done by corporations or individuals.
We have always believed that if,
instead of offering our lands to i'm
migrants through the unstable and
unsatisfactory land agencies of the
country, we could have rendered
them through the authoritative
channels now provided, the mighty
tide of immigration would long since
have been turned in this direction.
But it is not too late even yet to
repair our errors. Gov. Vance, in
his usually clear-sighted manner,
has sounded the keynote to this
refrain when he says that we do
not want labors, but capitalists, the
men who are able to purchase and
cultivate small farms. A North
Carolina miner, digging for gold in
California, writes back, that he