Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-12-23

And when equal and exact law,
equal and exact justice is not admin
istered to all persons whether.individu-
ally or as corporate persons, then in
deed has "the Star-eyed Goddess of
Liberty" received an overthrow: then
indeed are the laws and the times
awry.
Then, equal rules, equal justice, and
equal laws. should. in Republican
America, be administered to the rich
and the poor alike, to the individual
man and to the corporate person in
equal proportions.
But is it so? is such the case?
1t is duty of every citizen to pay
certain and fixed taxes for the support
of the government in return for The
rights and the protection guaranteed
him by that government, but that du-
ty to pay those taxes is proportioned to
the rights and the protection needed
and afforded. Therefore he who has
only little property to be protected
and guaranteed in the user thereof is
proportionally less liable, justly, TO the
bearing of the burdens of taxation. But
do we find this rule carried out? Far
from it. Let us come near home for
an illustration. Suppose man of Iron
county had farm or other property
VIGOROUSLY worth $4,000 and the sams
were only assessed at $1,000, what a
howl there would be; and if it were
personal property and he had returned
his list in this shape, how soon would
the grand jury return q true bill
against him for making false affida-
Wit and false return Of his property
And how he would held up to the con-
tempt of all true men as a bad citizen.
But what cannot be done by a man
and he go Inwhipped of justice, may
be done and is done in this state by
corporations. and by miIlionaires here
and elsewhere. For illustration, the
railroads in this State are assessed al
about 40,0OO, 900, while, after paying
the actual and unnecessary expenses OF
operating them. the earnings are equal
to six per cent upon $500 ,OOO.-
Therefore those properties, worth $500,
600, 600, pay taxes upon less than one
thirtieth of their value. This is equal
and exact justice with vengeance!-
This is truly bearing an equal share OF
the burdens of government. Then let
us take few instances of the evasion
of taxation on the part of individual
rich men, and the instances cited are
illustrative of the class with few eX.
ceptions. Gould, who, is several times
over a hundred mill ionaire, and the
bulk of whose property is personally
whose taxability follows the habitation
of the owner, Cor years, has, IN New
York, where he lives, been only as
sessed 100000; while in truth and
in fact, single plaything of his, his
yacht the>,Atatanta is worth, and cost
more than his entire assessment
amounts to.
VIM. H. Vanderbilt. who, at his
death, was worth more than $500, 0OO,-
900, never was, in New York, assessed
at more than a single million, and
| threatened if the assessors demanded
or made higher assessment he would
remove his habitation to New Jersey,
thus depriving the first named state
of all personal taxation from him.
These are only few instances, bt I
are illustrative of the fact that already
in this country, men ond corporations
are stronger than the law; and while
deriving protection from the govern
ment, fail and refuse to proportionally
support it. They claim to be and are
verify privileged class. Then fun
damental principle of our polity is dis
regarded when equal and exact justice
is not herein administered. Further,
almost the entire federal revenue is de-
rived from internal taxation upon ar
ticles of daily use, and upon imported
articles of necessity to the masses ofthe
common people. Those masses of the
people are the poor.
Only a very small proportion of the
articles upon which the internal tax is
laid, and upon which the import tariff
is collected, are consumed by the rich.
For the rich man of $3.50, 900, 900 can
eat and wear few more of the nee essa-
ries of life than his neighbp1 worth
$4,000 or $40.
We venture the assertion that seven
tenths of the Internal Revenue tax aud
the tariff upon imports of necessary
and.daily use is paid by those who. work
at manual labor for living. If this
be true the above proportion of the
burdens of government is borne by
classes which enjoy far less than that
proportion of the benefits Of govern
ment, while the capitalist and monop-
olists and corporations bearing only
three tenths of the federal taxes enjoy
probably seven tenths of the benefits
of that government. This is equal and
exact justice-equal and exact law with
a vengence!
To remedy part of this evil the In
ternal Revenue tax and the Tariff on
imports should be pared down so that
from these sources there would be less
than enough income to meet the obi
cations the federal govern ment, and the
deficit should be raised by tax on the
net incomes of all men from their in
vestments of money; he having MANY