San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-04-26
The Proposed Tax fO~ sW1fngS
l0alveston Nsws.r


The Proposed Tax for swGfrgs
kaslveston Nsws,r
The propositions to amend the Tex.
as constitutions so % 10. require pay.
nent Of poll tax AZ. q condition sf'
suffrage hiss passed 10 ore house aud
awaits action 10 the other, II dess
not clearly appear whether the, ,ohis{
object Of the measure, ~ viewed ~
its supporters, is to promote thecollee. ;
tion Of taxes or to purify politics. "
elevsting tho standard 4 Of suffrage.
If designed in the interest Of ! regular
and general payment Of taxes, tho
measure does not go far, enough. and
would prove indeed ridiouiously inade-
quate to the purpose. The sum u
any poll tax which could be realised
for the State sxohequer under the pruk
posed condition would be tiifing cdm-
pared with the sum Of the property
taxes the payment Of which was na
exaotsd as prerequisite to voting. On
the other hand, If it is the intention of
the measure to inforoe the idea that
only those should participate in the
government who contribute aocordiux
to their ability TO its support,
and to purge corruption from
politics by attaching 'pect-
mary qualification to suffrage,
then the measure is inconsistent with
itself, and in the light Of history and
Of analytical reasoning thoroughly
fallacious. Arich man as is !eoncsivsl
able, may be we'll able to contribute
out of his abundance two On three
thousand dollars, where a poor. man
may be scarcely able to contribute out
Of his scantiDess two dollars. say ,ss q
poll tax, to the support of the govern
meut. But it is proposed to exact
from the rich man and the poor man
alike no more and ns less than two
dollars, as condition Of suffrage. It
it needless to ransack political annals
and accumulate examples to expose
the thorough fallaciousnes- ot the
measure as regards the purpose Of po-
litical reform. Political power based
on property, on monopoly, on exclusive
privileges having no references TO per-
sonal merits and superior traits Of
character, was never known to be otht
er than both corrupt and oppressive. To
organize such q power anywhere in
this country, and under any sort Of
pretext, is in essential antagonism to
the democratic principle of government
asserted in the declaration OF indepen-
dence, and to which our political in,
stitutions have been in form and theory
at least progressively adjusting thsm-
selves. This principle recognizes hu-
manity as standing before property ID
relation to the powers and duties Of
government. 1t holds that the great
end Of government is the protection
and improvement of man, not the cul-
tiyation and aggrandizement OF exter-
ior appurtenances of select number
of men. THE poor man." said DR..
Franklin, "has an equal right, but
greater need of the ballot. than the
rich man." At the same time it can
not be too vividly remembered that in
country of democratic tendencies,
where suffrage is commonly regarded
as birth right, nothing is more calu-
lated to consolidate social order and
firmly establish political justice than
to diffuse wealth to the utmost among
the masses, and to so multiply property
ownership in small but comfortable
parcels that universal suffrage, attend
ed by no other test than intelligent and
responsible humanity, will be almost
completely identified whit some degrse
of both property and personal taxation
Bu. the road to so desirable q state
things is not to be found by the retrof
grade method of monopoly, exclusivism-
arbitrary and artificial discriminatio ns
a method which has always been rife
with corruption, social disorder and
nnlitical instability.