Evening journal., 1890-01-25

property tAAes otADb pflVV llcu butItOL'
Ii Is true there is the ultimate remedy
by Imprisonment of the body in the case
Of mere'poll tax men but II is never re
sorted to--the cost to the county OF con-
fnement In jail, for week even, more
than exceeding the tax. The second SEQ
tion provides that the notice shall be a
sufficient demand upon taxables for their
taxes, and performance Of the duty to
make demand. BY the law before Sec
tions Is and Is Of chapter 12 of the Re-
vised Code, aforesaid collectors) could
only proceed to sell property or imprisou
the body after ten days demand, 60 be
proved by his oath as competent evidence
OF that fact.
The more modern laws are further
brought home TO the case, the law OF
1873 particularly, by discussion Of the
sections relating to delinquents
"The plaintiffs counsel contend that
the object of the legislation Of 1873 was
the Acknowledgement of voters and that
its effect has been to deny the ballot TO
citizens who should exercise IT, In order
to make their point good. they have
given the court an example to show how
q voter is by the law deprived Of his
right to vote But the example Is i'm
possible, except upon an assumption that
the party having the right to vote is de.
feated, or deprived OF II in spite Of his
efforts to enjoy it. This is pure assump-
ton, the fact being that the law cannot
operate without the cooperation or con
sent of the complaining party. II he
desire to vote at elections, he has nothing
TO do but to see to 1t that his name Is
kept upon the assessment list and 1t will
L.. AL. a 4 l.. a
right to vote because Of that, according
to the constitution, If he will keep up,
like other people In like case, the pay
ment Of his tax. If he fail to pay within
two years of the election he cannot vote,
by the constitution; and ought not to
vote. He who will not contribute his
part to support the government that pro
tects him, ought not be allowed by the
use of the ballot, to neutralize the vote
of another who does.
"And he who will not give himself the
trouble to see that he Is assessed, sleeps
upon his rights; and for him the maxim
non dormientibus, sed vigilantibus
leges subvenient' has appropriate appli-
cation.
Treating The suffrage as valuable
POLITICAL right. to be exercised consclenti
ously and intelligently. and for the pub
lie rather than the welfare of a party, II
would have been much better for the
state, If that feature of the act Of 1S4g
which provided for dropping from the as
sessment lists those returned delinquent
had been re-enacted in the act of 1878.
For It is not true that delinquency il
the effect OF poverty. There are none 50
poor that they cannot pay their poll
| taxes. which for them Is scot and lot.
Less than two days hire out of the wages
Of the common laborer being sufficient
/ for that purpose. Labor everywhere
aud always among us, Is In de.
mRnd There Is no hardship
upon any in requiring him to
pay his taxes, which In this state are
county taxes alone, there being no gene
raj state tax of any kind. Men who live
| by their labor, or without work who have
no property are assessed for poll so low
as to be almost Insignificant. It is moi
poverty that creates delinquency, but s
want Of appreciation Of the moral anC
| political nature of the franchise-whicl
! privilege is priced by many white men
and the mass Of the cOlored, simply be
cause it enables them to get money b,
/ the sale of it, The notorious practice oil
purchasing votes by all parties here, as
well as In other states. attests the truth
of this assertion, and justifes the opin
ion expressed before, about the re-enact
ment of the feature referred to in the ACT
Of 1913. That act was not repealed, a.
/ has been said because it was deemed un
constitutional; but the real purpose of il
was to relieve the party just then acct.
dentally in power from the burden OF
paying the taxes Of their proletsriat
Taxes being necessary to the support
of government state has the right e
adopt any measures, short Of actual dis
reimbursement. to compel their payment
No one doubts the validity Of the pro
vision in our statute for Imprisonment Of
non paying taxables; would kthe law be
| unconstitutional because the collector
might choose to take the ultimate course
upon the eve of an election, to shut up il
| Jail non paying citizens to whom it ap
plied2 Why would it not be- Simply
because Imprisonment is an extreme
remedy for non payment of liabilities. as
/ old as the law. Then If such q provision
be valid, why is not that for dropping
/ from the assessment list for twelve
months validg Such an Imprisonment as
mentioned, would effectually cut off, pre-
hac vice, the suffrage right; whereas the
dropping from the list would, under the
circumstances pointed out blythe plaintiff
/ counsel, do nothing more; and in that
case the dropping could not be otherwise
be taken than as done by the voters con-
sent, who had almost a whole year il
which to pay his poll tax, and thus saw,
/ himself from delinquency. IL the opera
tion of the legislation Of 1878 was, pro
/ prio vigore, to disfranchise q voter by
preventing him from paying his taxes a.
others are obliged to do, there would b,
force in the argument Of the plaintiff
| counsel but as it does not so act, andInevei
at all except as a consequence of his owl
neglect, which many others in like con
dition Of in life do not suffer themselves
/ to be guilty Of, it cannot be charged
to the law that he loses temperate,
! the privilege Of voting, but onl,
/ to his own inattention to hi.
| opportunity to retain IT, He has simply
omitted duty he owed to himself. and
/ to the public-if such persons can hi
/ supposed TO be under any obligation to
| the body politic-and deserves all the
consequences resulting from his indiffer-
/ ence to his interests. Without it can Be
shown, which 1t was not, and cannot be-
| land that fact seemed to embarass the
learned counsel in their elaborate argu
ment) that the legislation of 1878 dis.
fir anchises voter in spite Of himself, OF
takes some advantage of him against
| which he had no means of protecting
himself, It is too much 10 ask this couri
TO avoid 1t as unconstitutional, aud a vic
lation of the organic law of this state.
] a