New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-06-02
4 NOVEyT VI .VOONAHINE.

4 MOMENT N NOONHHTNE
| Let lis turn away for moment from the
! distinctions of politics and the confusion Of
! Conventions and breathe awhile the scent OF
appc-blossomS, the fIagrance OF clover and
! the aroma of the hay-fcldS. Let ms lean ON
! the arm of the Hon. Robert l.. Taylor, OF
! Tennessee, and walk through the moonshncrs
! and the mnonshnc of his native State; amid
| the mountain cOrgcs and tic apple trees ana
! the unused apples that cry aloud to the moon
! sinner to smile away their maiden bloom and
| turn thcm cen by surrcpitious processes, to
| applcack. Pass we now out Of the hubbub
aud the hurry -burly. SitWc here on grassy
! banks, Ivy puriing streams, or amid howery
mclls, ard listen to the pleasing pratilc OF
/ Robert l.. Taylor, of Tennessee as he tells us
Of Ceres and Pomona and Of BAcchls; OF the
apple blushing with it's own forwaldn IS as 1t
cries through all the orchard -" Pluck me ana
squeeze me, and bottle me untaXcd" of the
waving corn whose taIcIng spiudlrs stirred by
| gentle bicczrs write III constant curves against
! the ambient air the words Sour Mash :! ana
/ of The simple farmer man to whose poetic fancy
! NIL these products Of the soil put forth their
mute appeal.
1t was upon a bill relating to the licensing OF
! dealers in leaf tObacrO that the Hon. Robert
! l.. Taylor sWunE himself largely loose from his
environment and clipped the string that held lis
/ caelc down. Ills remarks are printed in the
/ Record. Wcsu>prct that they never smotr the ear
Of the House. This suspicion We h.:,c upon the
| abstncc of parcnthrsrS ami Interruptions i'll
! the printed speech. rs wei as upon the iac'
/ that no mention of il ever appeared in the
current reports of the debates. He caught.
| no doubt, the Speakers eye long enough to
GIT leave to PRINT. But the speech not having
been spoken, is in danger, in time Of gICat
| political excitement like the present, of beng
! lost to the general public We take it upon
| ourselves then to say that this was II speech III
whrh the Hon. Robert l.. Taylor moi only
| discussed broadly the tax on tobacco, but paid
| also an incidental tribute to Bacch-US. Space
! forhds the transIcIcncc entire of his powerful
| Remuneration of the tobacco tax, bat we cannot
! forbcar quoting his noble defence of the
/ moonshlncrs and the burning words with
| which he describes the hired mmiuns' who
spot" him for the tax.
| ContcmlLuo he says, the unhappy victim Of
! moonshuingl Away ont among the l"urr and
the ivy ~ some obscure mountain gorge shroudcd IN
drcpr shadows BE tolls n, crooked art His night
t. his land aud his orchard Las been questioned.
The fruit ne thinks IS his and this belief he acts
The urnrccds Of that orchard have supplied The
forls OF f. to his aud children for many year.
The memories OF past cnJoymcuts tempt him with
sistl,s4 arguments and yir dS Tor bond is impUssl
! be and the tax wuuld leave pay for his fruit
/ labor IIo Is simply dcyo,ing what no always
! believed TO he hs own property to hs
| own use Unfortunate man! Tho hired
miuiuns Of the revenue have spotted Inn. Their
dr,pcabc Subsidized dccoys and detective inormcIs,
ike the Bloodhound, OF his track Like Judas. they
sell Their victims and their souls tor money ; and ike
Judas bcray them with kiss. lie Is arr CStrd! IIo
| hurried away from wife md children and humc-his
pOprriy appropriated or destroyed before his eyes
away to trial and the pcnitcnary. SIR. what apology
can modern sutcamanrhip ilunncd as 1t Is by the ad
vanccd moral ideas OF the age offer to enlightened
Christian people, to great nation who glory In the
truth cblzonrd In the forefront Of their Declaration
| of Independence that "nl men born free aud
cuuaI" and with nalirnablo rights conspicuous
among which " lie and liberty" and Tho hight to
pursue happiness. for such mochcrYl
Ii may be said that this noble appeal is in
the nature Of an argument against all taxa
ton. TO n certain extent it is open TO that
objection. Still it should be borne N mind
that applcjack is II peculiarly 5enefccnt pro-
duct and that there are many sections of the
country where politics would be waste
without it. 1t differs from other products in
this particular, and there may be force in
taxed. To the moOnshincr in the mountain
gorge, "among the laurel and the IVY" there
is 10 doubt that tie apple retains all the
aluring power that gave it its first fatal
notoricty among fruits. lilo smells cider in
its first blossom and sees cider brandy in its
earliest blush and he has discovered that
though 1t contains the knowledge of good and
evil, it never reveals it till it is poured out
of Jug What wonder, then, that he falls,
as did tho mother of us ALL before the
| temptation And on the whole, why tax him
for being buman1
Proceeding from tobacco and applejacl, Mr..
Taylor warns up still further in the contem-
platiOn of agriculture generally. And thereon
| his eagle scars on lifted piniOns thus:
If agriculture prosper fresh vitality with electric
velocity and power flashes through every nerve and
| muscle Of humanity; civilization advances and de.
velops every limo or Thought and cndeav0r; trade
1Oullshes nanua, Tires enlarge aud multiply, com
roads her w.. 10 breeze, and lands her
rich argOses shore earth yields her ngots OF