Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-07-31
The Levee cotton rax AgaIn.
Editor Commercial Herald.

The Levee Cotton Tax Again.
Editor Commercial Herald.
Dear Shallow me, in a few words,
to state more precisely the issue pre-
scented to the people Of the Yazoo
Delta in my letter Of the 18th inst.
The day has come when the feasibility
Of protecting this country from over
flow by levees as wen as the desirable
ity Of such a thing as respects the cost
Of leVees and the value Of the country
when protected are matters no longer
questioned by any one. 1t only re-
mains to ascertain who is to pay the
bill. l am, therefore, in favor Of levees
at any cost. But we want good ones,
wish the burthen equally distributed,
and desire no more to witness the
spectacle Of the cotton interest at
tempting to shoulder the entire load,
the country as a resultant overdowed,
and a dry land journal shouting to the
planter on his raft praising the levees
and telling him there Is only one
break" Such Ievees as we now de-
mand, and such ones as the immense
change that the country has lately I'M
dergone justiies us in believing that,
harmoniZed and united we are able to
build, will require a far greater sum
than the long crayfsh palaces we are
now throwing up. 1t will never do in
the future as in the past to look to the
cotton tax alone as the main stay Of
the levees. For years we have taxed
this industry almost to the point Of
starvation. It has as patiently as pos
sible borne the heavy burthen unwill-
ingly forced upon it while other in
terests and other sections have shirked
their part. Its utter i%nadequacy as a
main resource l maintain is fully dem
onstrated by the questionable protec-
ton we have and frequent disasters
to the country occurring. A continu-
ance of this programme in future will
be but a guarantee of the repetition of
past calamities. While still | would
submit as a planter Of cotton in view
of perfect protection to have the in
come therefrom if found necessary
taxed even to the extent it now is /
would have the railroads-my mer-
chant friends who grow rich in the
country and other Industries, lend an
equal helping hand. | would avert
from the people Of the Yazoo Delta
the day that seems coming when great
corporations having contributedlnoth-
ing toward levees shall own an i'm
mense tract comprising If reclaimed
the fairest portion of the country prac-
tically exempt from taxation for levees
or taxes of any kind and hold in
addition a mortgage on the in
come Of the balance for levee building,
and levee maintenance. Allow me II
conclusion, to say for the benefit OF
the Greenville Times, that the writer
is not, as that journal seems to insinu
ate, a candidate for any office. He Ii
a cotton p~lanter--a cotton Taxpayer
and therefore too poor to waste valua
BILE time in securing and filling an of
fee. His very moderate abilities finC
other more congenial and remunerativ,
employment than Office hunting. No.
does he profess a greater degree o
plilanthropic feeling than is usual,
found in the breasts Of other homes
men. He does claim the privilege anC
right however of inviting public at
tention to matters affecting the perma.
nent public good, and at the same
time demand immunity from scurri-
lous comments Of the Times as to pos,
sible and probable motives. AS to the
contest in the county six years ago
tauntingly referred to by the Times in
refutation of the statement that the
tax was odious here, l say that if thu
gentleman referred to from patriotic
motives, refused to question tina
count, 1t ill becomes the "Times" t
stir those embers, and l refer the
"Times" to a certain contested election
in this county Of a similar nature, il
which the friends of the parties, al
respectable, in view of threatened ex
posures, came together and effected
compromise involving a divide Of tn,
emoluments of the Office.
Yours respectfully,
A. G. PAXTON.
ARcoLA, MISS, July %, 1885.