The Louisiana Democrat., 1891-11-04
THE QUESTION OF TAXES
TTimes-Democrat.l


are showing in the present campaign
is we'll illustrated by the following
from the Natchitoches Enterprise
The Ants have said many rfmarka-
BILE things that must surprise and
shock even their own followers, but
the following undoubtedly "takes the
cake :"
We have heard it asserted by Lottery
ties IN justification Of their support OF the
recbarter of the Louisiana Lottery Com
many that the State is unable to pay the
interest upon her State debt, in fact, that
there is a dedcit every year. we can
hardly believe this is an Intentional mis-
representation of facts, for the figures
show that not only is the interest met
and paid every year, but that the prlncl'
nal has been reduced in ten years -, ,437,-
600. This is the State debt. The county
deht of the State has been reduced from
81 lO7, ,47O to SLIT ,79S, nearly a million
dollars in ten years. And al! TINS mas
heen done with lower rate of taxation
than auv State in the Union except two.
Onr lottery friends should try not to
mislead the people by sHch perversion
of facts.
The principal of the State debt has
been reduced in ten years 81 437 600
and the interest met and paid every
wear! The rate of taxation in Lou
isiapa is lower than that of any State
in the Union except two. And yet
the Enterprise, with an e1rontery
which must have taken away the
breath of its readers, is opposed to
"misleading the people by perver'
sion of facts"
Why, may we ask, have these as
tonishing facts it relates been con
cealed from the people SO long7 why
have they not been told that 81 ,437,
7 600 of the State debt has been palt
y off, 50 bouutifully has money poure'
into the State treasury7 When wa
lis it paid, and where did the none
come from, and who paid it, and why
pg if Louisiana had SO much money
,gh paw off its debt, has it had so little
)r. it for the schools and leveesS VIII
IS, is it that every State Auditor an
"a Treasurer of Louisiana has been mil
an, leading us, and telling US that th
~ State debt is increasing instead
falling off, as the Enterprise declares
According to the Auditors report
oss 1881 the debt was s12, ,949.e0;
ia. 1882 sl3,42l,775.2O, and Sept.
tls9l, Sl4, ,229,6ls.76. This does n
g look like very great reductio
When, where and how was it reduce
and where did the money come from
The We need not tell any intellige
ppi reader, or any person who kno'
nd, aught about the affairs in Louisiar
ere that the entire story of the Enterpr
ned is what it styles "a perveesion
fact" without the slightest foune
ton. The debt of Louisiana has 7
:" been reduced one cent in the past
- cade, but on the contrary, it has
"'' creased in the floating indebtedne
%! due to large deficit each year
''', cause the revenues were not able
"'' meet the expenditures. Treasu
''' Pipes, himself an ardent Anti, adm
'''' this: and says that the attempt Of
new Constitution to prevent any
crease of the State debt has prove'
vote failure, for the debt had increas
,pue In his last report to the Legi
so, ture (ls9o) on the subject he So
the Article Al of the Constitution EXPIRE
+, in prohibits the Legislature from contr
ing any debt or liability against the S
.oo except for the purpose of repelling IL
., 0Uo sion OF for the suppression OF insur
O,OOo tiOn. If the intention of this claus
I, ,O00 the Constitution was to limit approx
O,OOO tions to revenues it has sadly failed,
O,ooo without mentioning the surylus war;
O,ooo from 1880 to January, 1884, we find
the years 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887 and
light there we're outstanding on January
1890, warrants ts the amount of $544
ues- %, over 80 per cent. of which is In OK
muel of the revenues OF those years. If t
,dest onoins+ tbs State tbew shonld h. prov
been for. If not future Legislatures ca
too vigorously contine appropriat
Soh s within the limits of the revenues.
fardi should be enacted to place the State
- debt-paying basis. This can be dor
Cres- but one of two ways, either to incl
, the taxation by constitutional amendme
IL. raise assessments or reduce the expt
''suo of government. The condition of
people. together with the limitatio
taxation in the Constitution, forbi'
that thought of increasing taxation unle
should be absolutely necessary.
"' We were very much surprised t
'1 a Louisiana paper guilty of ma
= 81 ~ so absurd a statement as the e
p;ttee prise has done, to the effect thai
gross State has not only paid the intere
hat l its debt, but s7,O00,00O of primo
oe'h but we have since found that the