The Daily bulletin., 1889-12-31

nothing OF the prihciple involved,
the utilitariaii doctrine of sclf-intcr-
est stands boldly against current
practices. a population of some
$4,000, the men Of whom are for the
most part serfs or plantation labor
ers possible step above serfdom,
whose government for years past
has collected and expended public
moneys averaging over two millions
annually, or n yearly average of
over twenty-five dollars to every
man, woman and child, cannot be
said to be lightly taxed, even when
all get fair play, by payment accord
ing to their wealth. But, as every
body knows, the burden of taxation
is derived FROM petty and annoy
ing system of licensing and personal
taxes, the former of which Sits it.
self down to the small consumer in
every case, while the latter levies as
much against the man straining
every nerve and muscle to keep food
before his family as it does against
the planter who pockets 1865, 900
per snnum in sugar dividends!
Individual facts might he indie
tinitely multiplied to show how far
this unjust system has progressed
toward getting the throat of labor
completely in the unrelenting grip
Of capital. Let one or two suffice.
The practice of making haste to get
rid of all taxable personal property
just preceding the LIST of July each
year, to escape taxation, is Il fami~
liar custom here. 1t is very COM
mon thing for the practice TO be
carried to the extent of frau
dulent transfers. 1t has been
sworn to in the Supreme Court by
one Of the heaviest sugar factors in
She country that it was the "cus-
TOM of the sugar agents to place
large sums ito their credit in the
hands of their San Francisco agents
just before July. The gold, however,
which represented these same ''cre-
dts" would still be lying in bank
in Honolulu! The transfer would
be simply Il draft, followed by an
entry or two on set of books here,
and the same in San Francisco.
After July LIST, the transfer would
probably be made back again-or
as circumstances dictated. But the
poor laborcr or sailor cannot by
transferring" his carease three
miles beyond low water mark es-
cape his five dollars personal tax as
the sugar nabobs do the tax upon
their gold (still lying in the Homo
lulu banks), and their cargoes Of
sugar which they cut adrift from the
wharf at (say) IL 80 o'clock on the
night of June 30th, and put in n
sworn statement Of all their property
on July lst, taking care to leave the
said cargo unmentioncd AS has
been intimatcd these and similar
practices are so common as to pass
unchallenged. But does this fact
in any degree lessen the necessity
for reform? On the contrary it
makes tax reform the more impera-
tive.
And yet the nearness of the
elections may not seem to suggest an
exhaustive discussion of the tax in
justice, las matter for definite settle
ment IN this campaign--particularly
as it is matter so radically affect
ing the whole national revenue, and
especially ms no political party has
thought fit to give tangible shape to
Il demand for the remedy of existing
abuses. Nothing however seems
more certain than this that who
ever in future political campaigns,
shall bring to their side the support
Of those who on principle favor
right as against might-the justice
of equal laws for the toiler as against
the injustice of legalized robbery By
the grasping sugar lords and usurers
this party must adopt as its shib-
bolcth-as a sine qua non Of their
political profession Of faith-an
equitable redistribution of the pre-
sent unequal tax upon labor.
AS regards the matter Of eNemp-