Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-03-30
nsss.ss. v.su. s..~ IN. oa,.,a..

noosunee We've frssn she Oaiside.
: Not the least Of the blessings
which the Kearney revival has
Dkowered upon the State Of Cali
lornIa II the creation Of q class,
Which numbers at least ten thou
1and, who fancy that they are
l1ntesmen and orators. A country
Which numbers from thirty to fifty
nilllons Of people has chance, say
onos in ffty years, of producing
ono genuine statesman and one
flrst-class orator. California, on
the other hand, could furnish the
whole world with orators and
statesmen for the next thousand
years. and the Sand Lots would.
nevertheless, not suffer any per-
osptible dimlnution In attendance.
There would be this besides, about
both the orators and Statesmen,
the former, like the Apostles of old,
upon whom the Holy Ghost had
descended In the full plenituds OF
his power, would have the gift Of
tongues. In the sense that
40 soheme OF syntax or prosody
could be adjusted to their utter
auees, and the latter would have
panaceas for all imaginable politi.
cal ills;-in other words, they
would be ~ very political quacks
= the "Three Tailors Of Tooley
Street, who Illuminated 3 new
civil and social code for the people
Of England.
The New York Times, Of March
10th, which has just reached US,
has . carefully considered article
upon the projected new organic
law. One portion Of Its remarks is
devoted to the Chinese question.
This We pass by because the Times
has had no opportunity to study
the Chinese question In detail.
That is . purely local matter, and
we claim to know more about 1t
than our Eastern brethren can
possibly know. But, in adverting
to the clauses of the new Constitu
tlon relating to taxation, our able
Eastern contemporary deals with q
subject which is the Same In ali
ages and all quarters OF the world.
We give below this portion OF the
1imes's article:
There are two features In the pro.
posed new Constitution of CalifOr-
MIA which strike the impartial
reader a. peculiar. One is the pro-
scription Of the Chinese by the use
OF extreme measures, aud the other
is the provision made for excessive
and unequal taxation. There are
other clauses In this somewhat ex.
traordinary document which invite
criticism; but the two which have
Just been mentioned are conspicu
Gus. After providing for the taxa
tl0n of every species Of property,
the new Constitution authorizes
the assessment and collection of in.
cn-->e kaxa. fsen. "Prrsons, vvrpUra.
tions, Joint stock associations, or
companies resident or doing busi-
ness" In the State, "in such cases
aud amounts, and in such manner
as may be prescribed by law" The
California Constitution makers
first eliminated the words
"equal and uniform" SO that
taxation may be unequal, and
then they tax all things and
the representatives, of all things,
and, finally, they provide for tax.
ing incomes produced from the use
Of property, That Is to say, the
property having been already
taxed. its product, and the product
Of the energy and enterprise be-
slowed upon 1t, are also taxed.
The California newspapers hold
In SO much contempt ali persans
who comment on their local affairs
that criticism in such a case as
this becomes hazardous. Sober
meu do not choose to be derided as
"impertinent youngsters three
thousand miles away" or to be
twitted with "the Ignorance and
impudence of Eastern advIsers,n as
We are sure to be whenever We ex-
press an humble opinion concern
ing transcontinental matters. New
erthelsss, with due deference to the
age and experience of California
publicists. we may say that this
provision for double and unequal
taxation seems to be concession
TO tho elements represented by Mr..
Denis Kearney. If the Constitu-
tIon-makers OF California desired
to tax capital and enterprise out of
existence, they could not have
more ingeniously gone to work.
The Statesmen who weekly assem-
BILE on the San Francisco sand lots
and clamor for the sum mary hang
ing Of the rich men OF the city
must be pleased with the article of
the proposed new Constitution
which relates to revenue aud taxa
tion. Should 1t become the fupda-
mental law of the State, capital,
which ts notoriously q foe to the
general welfare, would become
very much discouraged.
We might, II we had the space,
reproduce an article from the Chi
oAgo Tribune, showing how the pro.
vision in the law Of Illinois taxing
mortgages has operated oppress-
ively upon the debtor classes, but
Mr.. J. de Barth Shorb has handled
this aspect Of the question from q
local standpoint SO satisfactorily