The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1882-07-13

twelve cents per p0unu ana ten per cent
ad valorem; wooden cloths, fannels,
blankets, wool hats, etc.. from twenty to
fifty cents per pound and thirty-hve per
cent ad valorem; women's and children's
dress goods from six cents per square
yard TO fifty cents per pound and forty
per cent ad valorem; ready-made
wooden clothing, fifty cents per
weddings, beltings, braids, fringes, but
tons, dress trimmings, ETC., fifty cents
per pound and fifty per cent ad valorem
carpets, from seventeen to fifty cents per
yard and from thirty-tive to fifty per cent
ad valorem.
These constitute the leading classified
tons of import duties; following these
we find list. of sundries embracing over
a thousand different articles, many, very
many, of them in daily demand by every
family in the United States. There is an
import duty upon almost every article a
human being needs or wants-beginnIhg
with the cradle and ending only with the
grave. We bolt our room doors at night
with locks that are taxed; we sleep upon
beds, rest our heads upon pillows, and
cover with blankets that are taxed;
the window glass, which admits
the soft morning light, is taxed. We
arise, and if we are so fortunate as to
own a carpet, we stand upon carpet
that is taxed; our wash-basin and pitcher
taxed; the brush and comb and mirror
are taxed; we repair to a breakfast
cooked on a stove that is taxed; the
knives, plates, and everything on
the table is taxed; we go
out to our daily labor through
a gate. the hinges whereupon it swings
and the nails with which it Is constructed
are taxed; our daily vocation, II matters
not what 1t may be, is prosecuted with
tools, appliances or implements which
are taxed and when we come to our
death bed, the medicine We take is
taxed and finally when we are quietly
laid away. the coffin which contains our
earthly remalnsis taxed; even the screws
which fasten down the lid, and the silver
handles which our friends grasp to bear
us to the grave, are taxed; the rope or
webbing used to gently lower us down is
taxed, and the hoe and the shovel used
to perform the last sad service are taxed.
And here it might be thought the gov
eminent would cease its troubling; but
no, there is one more chance yet to wiring
out revenue-the tombstone placed by
loving hands over our grave is taxed.
Thus il is we are taxed from the cradle
to the grave. The fish of the sea, the
minerals and products of the earth are
taxed, and we are left only three essen
tials of life free-light, air and water, and
we verify believe II it were possible for
pass the air and curb the waters, they,
too, would be taxed in the interest of po-
litical beggars, bOndholders and prOtec-
tionists.
Again, we ask, is this right? Is it right
to tax the many for the interest of the
few Any man who will take the trou-
BILE to inform himslt, provided he is able to
read, will readily understand that the
cost of living under the high protective
tariff system, a system perpetuated alone
in the interest OF capital, is increased
fifty per cent.
A sewing machine which costs fifty dol
lars under tariff duties, could, and would.
under the humane flag of free trade and
equal rights, be sold for twenty-five dol
lars knife which now costs one dollar
would be sold for fifty cents |; pair of
blankets which now cost ten dollars, could
be sold for five; a pair of trace chains
which now cost seventy-five cents, could
be sold for thirty-fve cents, and so on
through the whole list of articles ofhome
consumption. Again, we ask, is this
right? Is this good government? Is this
equal rights9 is this what Jefferson,
Hancock, the Adams, the sires of '76,
hoped for, and Washington and his I'M
daunted soldiery battled for? Is this
liberty? No, sirs it is slavery to horde
of monied despOts, to an army of political
mendicants, TO selfish cormorant crops
"
clothed with free franchise how long
will the degenerate sons of the illustrious
sires of '76, submit to such outrage, to
such legaliZed robbery?
IN THE WRONG PEW.
1 fancy can hear some of you say,
why, the map is In the wrong pew he IL
discussing political issues besore an as
sembly convened for the purpose of dis
cusslng matters of education he must
certainly be a candidate for congress
against Hubbard, Chiffon, Kilgore and
Jones. True, gentlemen and ladies, this
is an assembly of educators-an assembly
of men and women whose mission it is to
bear aloft the standard OF civilization, to
elevate the human family, to shape the
destiny of this people, and direct the
course of empire. DO you not feel it do
you not recognize the weighty, the over
towering responsibilities which rest upon
you? Are not the children of the day,
soul, mind and BODY, committed to your
care? Are they not in your hands as the
clay in the hands of the potter. to be
shaped, to be moulded for good or evil.
accordingly as you may faithfully and
conscientiously discharge or basely and
shamefully neglect the great response
bilities which you have voluntarily as
| sumed?
WHAT HAVE TEACHERS TO DO WITH
POLITICS?
answer that every American citizen,
especially the teacher, is in duty bound,
| TO himself, to his fellow-citizen, to his
God and his country, to inform himself
| in the history and politics of the country,
| and to take an active and Jealous interest
| in the administration of the affairs OF
government. The perpetuity of the gov
| eminent, the preservation of liberty, the
peace of society, the happiness and COM
| fort of the individual, and the material
| development of the countfy-all, all de-
pend upon the virtue, intelligence and
patriotism of the people; and virtue, in
| telligence and patriotism receive inspira-
ton from the soul and life of the teacher.
| Give me the character and ability of the
teachers of the children of nation, and
the climate and soil occupied, and l will
| write you the future history of that peo-
| pie. 1t is the development of the body,
| the training of the hand, the culture of
the mind, and the spiritualizing of the
heart which makes people great, happy
/ and prosperous. To do this, Is the mis-
| sion of the teacher.
And vet am asked, what has a teacher
to do with politics? Had the teachers of
| a half century ago been true to their high
| calling and indoctrinated the minds of the
youth of that day with the immutable
principles of justice, and inspired their
|
| ceptions of the duties of citizen
ship. we would possibly have been
| spared the raVages, the ruins, the mis-
cries and cruelties of a civil war, and the
| honest American citizen would have
never been called upon to acknowledge,
with the blush of shame manhing his
cheek, that this government, born of
revolution and nIrtured In the arms of
liberty, had been prostituted to per-
sonal and class government, subjected to
| q tariff act more odious than the stamp
| act, insulted by outrages more hagrant
| than those which raised the battle cry of
90 Free trade and sailors rightsp %
All these evils, which disgrace our
country and our time, spring from preju-
dice and ignorance. 1t need no more be
expected for a stream to run higher than
its source than for a popular government
| to rise to the highest plane of civiliza-
ton while The people, in a great measure,
are ignorant and debased.
JEFFERSON ON THE NECESSITY OF GEN.
ERAL EDUCATION.
Jefferson. in his own words, declared
| that ''under a system OF general educa-
ton, thepeople would be qualified to I'M
derstand their rights, to maintain them,
and TO exercise with Intelligence their
par Is In self-government."
II this proposition be true, the reverse
is also true, that people without educa-
ton would not be qualified to
understand their rights, TO MAIN
tain them, and 20 exercise with
intelligence their parts in self-gOvern-
ment. There is no proposition more evil
dent than that universal suffrage necessi-
tates universal education. Free institu-
lions and free education are inseparable;
the one cannot exist without the other.
Republican government cannot long en-
| dure except under the operation OF wise
and just laws. Wise and just laws cannot