Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1883-06-07
Fhe Principles and Attitude Of The RGDHh'
hCdl Party.
SPEECH OF SENATOR SHERMAN

What now are the questions upor
which the contest this fall will depend
Are we right ON these? Ii so. we Car
win the victory if We will. These ques
tions, no d0Hbt, will be formulated by
the State Convention. But one or tuC
of them have been made SO proDinen
by recent events that we can anticipate
the resolutions of the convention. Shal
our tariff laws be framed with view Il
protect labor as well as to levy taxes
Upon that question We are united anC
incontestably right. 1t is the funds
mental national question of the time
which will engrOss the attention of tn,
next Congress, and be the pivotal issue
upon which the Presidential election
will turn. We, as a party, maintain
that while the main object of taxes or
imported goods is to furnish revenue
for the support of the government, yet
that in lsvying them special care should
be taken to foster, build up, and protect
such manufactures, agriculture, or pro
duetion rs are suited to our climate and
the habits of our people. with view Il
secure to our artisans fair wages for q
good days labor, for our farmers home
market for their productions. and to oul
country strength, wealth, and indepen
dencs. This is the chosen position OF
the Republican party, ana upon it We
invite q contest with cur Democratic
friends. whenever, if ever, they make ul
their minds upon the subject.
The other question is: Shall the sale
of spirituous and malt liquors be free
and untaxed in Ohio? Or shall it pay
in taxes some portion of the expenses
caused by the traffic, fer the maintenance
Of our courts, poor houses and local PO-
lice, and for the loss it entails upon the
victims of a diseased appetite, and upon
their wives and children? The Repub-
lican Legislature has embodied their
view of what is right and just in what
is called "the Scott law"
WE MUST STAND or FALLBY THAT LAW.
Not by its defects or impsrfectiOns, il
any, for they can easily be corrected ;but
upon the principles contained in it
upon the justice of the taxes 1t imposes
1t declares that an annual tax of two
hundred dollars shall be imposed upon
all persons who sell spirituous liquors
in Ohio, and one hundred dollars on all
who sell malt liquors. Is this wise and
just measure? believe it is. A tax on
the sale of liquors now exists in nearly
every State in the Union, and in some
States at u rate far higher than the rate
proposed. There is not country in Eu-
rope, or in regions anywhere called CIV
ilized. where some form of taxation is
not levied upon the sale of liquors. In
London, Paris and Berlin, and in most
of the cities of the so-called centers of
civilization, the chief sources of reve-
nue. for local purposes is the tax on the
sale of splits, wine, and \ k.er. In Ohio,
almost alone of the States of the Union,
State Constitution, the sale of liquor is
untaxed, and is as free as the sale of
bread. Is it 50 that the people of Ohio
are less careful of good order and tenn
peran than the people of sister States
or the great cities of Eruope? We would
all resent such an accusation if made.
The truth is, that anomalous position of
this question in Ohio grows out of the
fact that q large portion of the people of
Ohio are so much opposed to liquor SELL
ing that they won't recognize the traffic
by taxing it. Butexperience shows. that
q wise tax law will restrain, to certain
extent, she evils of indiscriminate and
universal traffic in spirits, will yield al
SO fruitful revenue, and not prevent
the passage of any other wise temper
ance law Which, in public opinion, is
with the personal liberty of
the citizen. Therefore Republicans ia
var the Scott law.
THEY MAKE IT PART OF THEIR PLAT
FORM.
They mean to enforce it. They are OPP
posed te its repeal. They invite our
Democratic friends to meet us manfully
on this issue, and take the judgment of
the people upon it. We may lose some
votes. but the Republican party, in all
its brilliant history, vas never more
clearly right thar when it demands Of
those whs sell liquor as beverage to
pay to the public q tax to meet the ex-
pensss caused by their traffic, and being
right. We are e~rtain to win If we have
the courage to fight and the wisdom to
unite with all those who agree with us.
PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND
MENTS.
4HClC Qu0etlOUS Ic1dbluk 70
submitted to the people;
upon which the General Assembly in
vite your discussion. opinion, and vote.
How best to deal with the temperance
question, whether by prohibition, local
option, or legislative control, are fair
subjects of discussion and opinion. l
have opinions upon these subjects, and
am willing to state them. bur this is not
An opportune time. 1t is sufficient to
say that the present Constitution limits
and controls the action of the General
Assembly, and that his Constitution
must be changed to make legislation ef-
fective. You have now an opportunity
Of making such a change by voting for
an amendment to the Constitution. If
you think the evil is so great that pro-
1ibition is the only remedy, Won can so.
If you think the matter car iriy be re-
nitted to the General AsS-H y to pro
vide such measures frutu time as
public opinion will en- II can say
10. These are matters upon which sub
'tantial differences of opinion do and
will exist, aud therefore they are proper
y left to the vote of the people. If these
,ail and you, by your success, establish
N permanence the existence and en-
torcement of good tax law, you will
have the wisest temperance measure
that can he framed under the existing
And 50, my Republican friends of
Riehland county, close rs commenced,
hat, though we are in q minority in
his country, we are contending for
what we believe to be right and for the
pest interests Of all, and will still appeal
% the majority Of our nsighbors, in
and charity, to help US tight the
cause of labor and temperance, as in
former times we appealed to them for
freedom and the Union.
We neither intend to shirk this issue
nor allow our Democratic friends to do
10. Ii they beat Us this time we will try
t again. We will do no injustice to any
,rade or vocation, but we say it is
NOT UNJUST TO IMPOSE AN ANNUAL TAX