The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-10-04
ZEN. HARRISON ON THE SURPLUS

GEN. HARRISON On THE SURPLUS
In looking over, the other day, pub
LEGATION of the campaign of 1910, fell
upon a card signed by fifteen Democrats
of Orange, n. j., giving their reasons
for leaving the Democratic party. 1t
has occurred TO me that it might be in
teresting to some of these old gentle
men. (Cries of 1--WE want to hear it. =
and Read it, " 1t was as follows:
"We might give many reasons for
The following, however, we deem sufii.
cient: We do not believe that Ma
tional debt is a National blessing.
daughter and applause.) We do not
believe the price of labor in the free
country should be reduced to the stan
dard prescribed by despots in foreign
countries. (Applause.) We do not be
lieve in fighting for the country and be
ing unrepresented in the councils of the
country. "a cry of That's it.') We
do not believe in an exclusive hard me-
tallic currency any more than we be
Iieve in hard bread or no bread. laugh
teri We do not believe it was the de-
sign of the trainers of the Constitution
that the President should occupy his
time, during his first term, in election.
eering for his reelection to a second
term loud laughter and applause)
have read this simply as historical
curiosity and to refresh your recollec-
tions as to some of the issues of that
campaign. If it has any application to
our modern politics, will leave you to
make it. daughter and appIuse.
l have recently been talking, and have
one thing further to say, about the sur
plus. (Cries of Good, good" and
That's what we want TO hear about. ~
There is a very proper use, think, that
can be made of over twenty millions of
it. During the Civil War our customs
receipts and our receipts from internal
taxes, which at last had brought under
tribute almost every pursuit. III life,
were inadequate to the great drain upon
our treasury caused by the Civil War.
Our Congress, exercising one of the
powers of the Constitution, levied di-
rect tax upon the States, Ohio paid her
part of it. Indiana paid hers, and so did
the other LOYAL States. The southern
States were in the Rebellion and did not
pay theirs. Now we have come to a
time when the Government has surplus
money and the proposition was made in
Congress to return this tax to the States
that had paid it. (AppIause) The State
Of Indiana would have received $1,000
900, which my fellow-citlzens of this
State know would have been a great re-
lief to our taxpayers in the present de-
pleted condition of our treasury.
(Cheers.) | do not recall the exact
amount Ohio would have received, but
it was much larger. II any one asks
"Why repay this tax this illustration
will be sufficient answer: Suppose five
men are associated in a business corpor-
alton. The corporation suffers losses
and its capital is impaired. An assess
ment becomes necessary, and three
pay their assessments, while
two do not. The corporation is again
and there is surplus of
money in the treasury. What shall be |
done with it? Manifestly. justice re-
quires that the two delinquents should |
pay up or that there should be returned |
upon them. Great cheering) A bill
providing for the repayment of the tax
was killed in the House Of Representa-
tives not by voting 1t down, bnt by fill
a majority of the House be
ing in favor of it's passage. And those
who defeated the bill by those revolu
iionary tactics were largely from the
States that had not paid the tax.
Cheers.) l mention these facts to show
hat twenty millions of the surplus now
wing in the banks where it draws no in
crest might very righteously be used so
IS to greatly tighten the real burdens of
iaxation now resting on the people, bur-
lens that the people know to be taxes
any argument from our states
men. applause and laughter)