Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-09-18
BUREAU TYRANNY. ),
General Vandever Thinks the I'm.
teFnal Revenue Burea u Ought to
BE AbOlished-It Belongs to the
Whiskey Ring.

General vandever Thinks the In.
ternal Revenue Bureau Ought to
He AbOlished-It Belongs to she
Whiskey Ring.
EDITORS HERALD-The accompanying
letter from the Representative OF this
district, General VIM. Vandever, speaks
for itself.
The letter is strong, manly and plain
statement of the situation, and I feel
glad that our Representative, realizing
the condition of his constituents, comes
to the front and expresses 80 openly his
convictions and his desire to aid our
interests.
Other Congressman and Senators con-
cur in his method of effectually aiding
us, viz, the abrogation of the internal
revenue laws and the suppression of the
bureau.
Either this should be done, or else let
this nation abandon its organic principle
of government of the people by the peo-
pie and for the people, and in its place
adopt that one, more in unison with our
present methods, the ultraism of the
Gar.
If we are to be subject to the Cars
methods of government, why not adopt
the principles as we'll? The unlimited
one-man power is surely preferable to
the unlimited power exercised by q
thousand men. The one-man power, as
exercised in Russia, is certainly cheaper,
and besides, it has this advantage, the
subjects know what to expect; and
further, when people is driven to des-
peration and dynamite is all that is left,
| it is easier and more economical to throw
one bomb than ten Thousand. If the
citizens Of this 30 called free republic
are to be subjected to domiciliary visits
day and night from irresponsible agents
in order to carry out the designs and
orders OF their masters, why Eot put
these men in uniform at once and call
them the gendarmerie of the West
ern Republic? 1t would certainly be
more respectable, and would look better
at nights, and as they crawl around
hunting suspects there would be less
danger of their being shot by mistaking
them for burglars or sneak-thieves.
Once in the history of this country the
officers Of the law were in reality the
servants of the people, from the Presi-
dent down to the township Constable,
and there may be those who hug this de.
lusion still, but it can only be with those
whose business has not brought them
into relation with the Internal Revenue
Bureau. When this bureau came into
existence, along with the internal reve-
nue. laws, Congress, realizing fully how
disagreesble the law would be to the
average American citizen, gave great dis
cretionary power to the Commissioner OF
Internal Revenue, making his regula-
tions equally as binding on the people as
an Act OF Congress itself. This was done
for the purpose Of giving latitude in ad-
ministering the law, 30 as to remove as
far as possible all that was Objectionable
in it to the people. Improperly used, the
unlimited discretionary power becomes
more onerous than the mandates of the
Czar. The Commissioner of the Inter-
nal Revenue does exercise unlimited
power, as do all his subalterns under
him, and he holds in the palm of his
hands not only the properties but even
the personal liberties of all citizens work
ing under the internal revenue laws.
Did our forefathers dream, when they
were building the foundations Of this
government, throwing every safeguard
around the people from the exercise of
any power prejudicial to their interests
and happiness, that in so short q
time in the life OF nation as one
hundred years there would grow ont
Of cnr institutions Of freedom such
an anomaly as this? Gould they
have toreseen this state Of atfairs would