The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1888-01-14
SENATOR VOORHEES, Speech.
HbH'ti II Vf0 'OOLsHLbo DI LLUH.
Tho Indiana senator Reptile. In
MR.. sherman

Tho Indiana senator Reptile. Z.
Mr.. sherman.
AT the conclusion of Senator SLer
mans rcmarks,in the senate, ,Januar,
1, Senator Voorhees,, of Indiana, tool
the floor and spoke as follows:
MIR PREsIDENT:-The subject OF
taxation is a. old as government itself
in whatever form, whether human or
divine, government has been establish
ed on the earth, and yet it is as fresh
and full of interest to-day to the labor
ing masses of mankind as ever al anv
former period OF the worlds existence
Conflicts of opinions arise, debates
ensue and controversies rage now AZ
they have from the tithing aud taxing
days OF Israel down 10 the present
time. On the one hand, government
has the paramount right to the SUPPORT
OF its citizens as long rs it does not
transcend its rightiul powers nor press
them with eXtOrtions beyond its legi,i-
mate requirements; while on the other
hand the very laws of nature, those
supreme and imdestructibe principles
on which rest the natural rights of
man, keep the people imbued with a
perpetual vigilance against the needless
eXactiOnS aud laWles5 greed OF those in
power. Nothing more important in
popular estimation, nor more calcula-
ted TO prodace pnblic agitation and, !,
indeed, revolution, can be conceived
than such all issue when persisted in.
with the exception, perhaps, Of an
actual invasion OF the liberties and
lives OF the people by armed power.
At the very foundation of the American
revolution will he found the question
.0t unjust taxation. Our forefathers
dismembered the British Kingdom,
thon the foremost power in the world,
rather than submit TO oppression in
that form, and in the constitution they
framed tor the great and triumphant
republic, The powers OF the gov
ernment i'll taking the earnings of the
people i'll order TO defray public ex-
penses were clearly defined aud soru-
pulously guarded. The idea that more
money might. could, or ever should be
taken from the pockets of the Ameri-
can people by taxation and placed in
the treasury than was absolutely neces-
sary to detray the actual expenses OF
the government economically admiuls.
tered, had no existence in the early
days of the republic aud no place in
the thoughts or purposes of its immor-
tai founders, Money withdr: WI by
the hand Of
The TAX-GATHERER,
whether acting directly or indirectly,
whether acting visibly or invisibly,
money thus taken from the business
transactions OF the country, from the
active channels of trade and laid away
in government vaults, idle, useless and
! dead, is spectacle belonging TO mod
ern times, modern methods and modern
parties. To contract the volume OF
currency In circulation, to make money
scarce amongst the people, and cOmse.
quently hard To Obtaiu, even in ex-
change for l0w-priccd labor, dcpre.
ciated property or high rates of inter-
est, has always been the financial poll
cy marked by disaster aud suffering
and accur>ed by every frieuL OF the
welfare of his coun!rymrn; but when
this abommable policy is still further
aided and executed by suatcinng the
money OF the people from their very
hands, al the rate of $4,000, 900 a
month, IA the senator from Kansas
(Mr. Plunb) admitted was being done
now, without necessity. excuse or pal
liation, every honest mind must revolt
against such wauton robbery. Over
taxation! over taxation, SIR! II Is y
crime against every home. every fire.
side and every laboring inan and wO-
man in tho United States. Ii is n crime
national in It's proportions, gigantic In
lts strength, Omnipresent In its vista
tions and brnlml in its rapaciiy. When
the life blood is drawn from the human
body by the hand Of mUrder we know
that tue chill aud paralysis of death
must ensue aud we know equally well
when the earnings OF the laboring peo-
pie are seized by an all-pervading, uni
versal system OF over taxation, and
swept out of its usual circulation, that
every neighborhood, every business
community, every branch OF industry
must experience the stagnation and
hardships produced by drainage so
unjust, so criminal, SD unnatural and
SO Inconsistent with the liIe aud pros
perity Of ali the labor Interests Of the
country.
HIT AT SENATOR TELLER.
1t viii be remembered that Just rs
we were adiOurning for the recent re-
cess furry took place on the other
side OF this chamber squall it might
be styled in natural phrase presaging,
perhaps, more dirty aud stormy wealth
er FROM the same point Qi compass
hereafter. III the midst of this pre-
monitory tempest the senator from
Colorado (Mr. Tel!er) undertook to
dispose of the question of overtaxatiun
by contelnptuous and mbored sneer.
After severely unbraiding the president
ior dealing with one single question
In his late annual message to congress,
the senator exclaimed: "lie reserved
himself entirely for thls sreat ilnpcmd-
ing disaster, and what is it? The sur.
plus That Is accumulating in the treas
ury. This Is the new disaster, the
biennial disaster, the disaster which
comes III aid of and support 10 the ex
ecutlVe opinion, the disaster which is
presented 10 brighten the country and
To alarm the people into submitting
unto Legislation that their Judgment
and their cool, deliberate thought will
not sanction. What is it? Fifty. five
million dollars of surplus is the treas
ury of the United States. What
wonderful surplus is 500 .0OO, ,UOO!'|
With what lofty contempt the senator
from the Rocky mountains looks upon
the sum of $50, 100000 OF surplus tax
atom Sir, haye recently been In ,he
.I,.l 1.