St. Landry democrat., 1879-02-01
Relieving Taxpayers
New Orleans Times. !


New Orleans Times
A bill for the relief Of taxpayers IS as
inevitable cOncomltant OF Lot!iHla r''
legislatures as is the bill TO proVluc iol
the mileage and per diem OF C'ie nIJIn,
i'nr, Evrrv wear adds to the number
of ,]cscrvins and patriotic citizens who
rno11ire relief and who have sent gel'!c,
n,nn to the Legislature for the especlal
n ,,,u Of securing it. These bills are
"a mnch a part of the proceedings. as
n nT bv the Chaplain or tilibusterln;E
t,v the minority. They arc Oh hand,
like the conventional corpse at tlle
EDvntain bauouet, to remind us OF the
r3I,;tv Of the law which is made to pro
tnct and encourage lawbreakers. And
~ thev come up, and are passed with Il
Majestic and unbroken regularity, the
deiinouents and the noble army OF taX-
rrsjsters in general take heart and the
robbery of good citizens receives cheer
Another of the relief bills is before
this Legislature. 1t is inspired by the
same old patriotism that pfeathes
through every pore OF its predecessors;
It's object is to reward those VINO holo
the commonwealth in contempt anu TO
rehuke and deride those who treat the
government with good faith. Its enecII
IS to put premium on delinquency and
to at]ixa penalty to prompt payment,
It's mission is to illustrate the folly OF
having taxes and, as c0ntrOrc, the WIS
dom of not paying them. 1t is, III short,
monIded on the old modeland is in every
vav a worthy scion OF the family.
If we rightly understood the some
what excited remarks of Mr.. Munday
of East Feliciana, when the bill was I'M
dergoing a preliminary discussion on
Thursday, the idea Of its advocates Is
that everyone who processes an inability
to nav his taxes ought to be excused
with APOLOGIES on the part of the Govern
mpnt, We may not have followed Mr.
Munday's drift altogether, but that l;
thc,imple ssion he produccdson us. The
people, as he expounds them, don't wan
! TO be troubled with taxes and the GOV
! eminent ought not to trouble them. Mr.
.JeffrieS of Rapides replied to this argn
ment-let us call it an argument TO
want of d better name-and in doing
so took substantially the ground occu
pied by Governor Nichols in his lat.
everyone speaking nationally on TIN
subject is bound to take, and which tn
: noorrst intelligence must recognize a
unanswerably truthful. The conclusion
: is obvious that if everyone who detie
> the tax-collector be excused, and con
tempt of the law he thus set up as
valid defense against the eNact'ons 0
thc law itself, it cannot be long ere til
whole community will become tax rests
, trrs and The government be left withou
,, 4 dollar of revenue. To pass such bil
l is to present to the world the slngula
; spectacle of a government which aban
dons its friends and rewards its ene
e mies-a government which heaps honor
and Indulgence upon the breakers O
the law and has only neglect and con
t,lmelv for the rcspecters OF the law
COY. Nichols dWells upon this theme !
very much the same view as did Nj
,Jeffries, which, we may remark, is th
n ONLY vein in which it is possible to dis
V cuss it from any intelligent or patriot
e standpoint. We commend the porto
!. of me Governor message to the after
: ton Of these m5mhers VITO CONTEMPT lat
fayoring this "reief bill when it sha
9 finally come before the Legislature, an
e ask them to consider whether any obi
t Cation which they as public officials al
r bound to respect requires them to al
q II c..pEling end paralyzing the govern
: mcnt tAey lave sWotp to honor an
q D,otpnt