The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1883-11-01
come; and finally lie is taxed again by

this ordeal VI private taxation he il as
poor as when he plaiitcd his tas-ridden
crop. Similarly, wage workers and
small manufacturers and merchants In
cities have been taxed for private pnr.
poses until few can ever hope to cnjo,
more than the nccessarics Of modern
life, and the great majority are forced
to live upon poor fare, to find homes in
tenements where light and air and
health nrc strangers, and to see the,
children driven to drn,lgcrv ut an AZ,
when children should he mt school and
play.
OF the money with which business j.
done i'll this country, only about tllir.!
is issued by the Governments; for tina,
the people pay nothing save tho trifinl
expense Of paper and printing. But
another third ISSUED by the hanks, tt
which Congress Ia, delegated this SOY
creign power, costs the people ever,
year more than half tie appropriate on
Of the River and Harbor bill. about
which SO mech Indignation was re-, emil,
aroused 10y the "rascals' without against
the "rascals" within. The renal. ing
third comes from the mines, every ounce
being 80 much wealth Withdrawn from
the arts; society il t. that extent the
poorer. For each dollar Of this entire
volume of money there are - Of credit
which the banks and other money loan
crs ultimately control, and hold in ter
rorem over the business community a
SOFT Of financial club ~ be lrandishcd
III every direction If their tax is not
promptly paid.
On the invention of man who died
comparatively poor M invention which
WAS put in successful operation by
capital supplied from the public treas.
my. telegraph monopoly has bee.
created that leyies through n single
company an annual tax of 40 per cent
of the investment. That this monopoly
should be made part Of tho postal
service and the enormous private tax
removed was one of the early demand.
OF the National party. That demand
is now echoed over the country, and.
as it grows, predicts ultimate triumph
along the entire line OF economic re
form.
To obtain the power Of taking
private property and levying taxes,
the railway corporations claimed to be
public institutions; but, having &C
uuired the power, they pretend to he
private enterprises and demand Of the
producers all the tariff will bear. The
tax imposed by them on commerce, il
excess Of fair return for their invest
ment, cannot he readily computed. As
al example, however, one railroad
corporation i'm this State pays annua
dividends aggrcgating 30 per cent oi
its cost. AS these exceed the legal
allowance by "a per cent. and the pre-
vailing rate of interest 10y % por cent.
an idea may be had Of the cnormou.
tax the producing asses of thi.
country pay every year to enrich rail
road kings.
OF our vast public domain, but little
is left Ea'l'oad companies, American
Barons, and European Sirs and Lords,
have come into po session of mil ions
OF acres. 1t is estimated that thirty
owners monopolize a territory in the
United States which would make o
path eight miles wide once around the
earth. Ont of and upon this land, gen
erations t. come must live, bnt the
present owners have acquired, for them.
selves and their successors, the fran.
chise of forever levying nm increasing
tax for its use. It is not alone on
Western plains. however, that the evils
lana-grabbing appear. Toa degree far
less in area, but greater in value, the
lands of our cities East and West, have
hecn wrongfully appropriated to pri
yate use and made the basis Of private
taxation. Though it is impossible tc
commute the amount Of this tax
which all have to pay for the benefit oil
the few, it is apapable fact that it must
be prodigious sum. But this evil does
not end with the tax; the land being
largely withheld from use, cities are
unduly crowded, progress impcted,
wealth is concentrated, poverty is in.
creased, and caste distinctions are en-.
couraged conditions from which the
whole country suffers.
To uproot the manifest wrongs which
| have cndeavored to indicate, is a
religious as well as II patriotic duty.
Patriotism demands that the power OF
wealth concentrated in the hands of the
few by taxation for private use, shall
be subdued before it smothers the spirit
Of liberty and oyerturns republican
government. But true religion makes
even nobler call. 1t demands justice
for all men Not tho religion of cant
and creed, of plumber and prayer; not
the religion Of vast estates and lordly
congregations, with their magnificent
temples that shelter the noble and
crush the poor" not the religion that
compounds for injustice by distributing
charity; not the religion Of the Phari-
sees-bnt the religion of humanity, oil
love, of brotherhood, of iusticc--the
religion that found expression in CALI
lee and whose faithful disciples were
slaughtered at Rome.