The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1891-08-28
TAXES II ENGLAND AND THE
UNITED STATES.

The leaders of the two British par
ties in this country, Democratic and
Third party, in their speeches, lee
lures and circulating free trade liter
allure are making a great ado about
the enormous taxes the Americans
have to pay annually to support the
government. The leaders of these
parties are men of less conscience or
less disposition to tell the truth than
the English statistician or statesman
has. when comparing the condition OF
the British with that OF the Amerl-
can people. They have as good an OPP
portunity to know the true condition
Of the two peoples as the Englishman,
and their falsehoods should not be
imputed to ignorance.
The american Economist quotes as
follows from recent letter which
DR.. G.. B. Badenoch, well known
worker in British politics, recently
addressed to the Kentish Mercury:
The rates and taxes which we have to pay
every year amount to e1S0,00O,0OO, $780,
600 ,0OO) For every f100 worth of home pro-
duction we have to pay, TO meet this enormous
yearly sum, s12, while the people OF America
pay no more than 60 ON the same amount
This arises from the duty which they exact
| on foreign goods sent from England and other
countries.
DR.. Badenoch sees what free trade
does: it makes the British pay nearly
two and half times as much in di-
rect taxes as the American has to pay.
But this is not all: DR.. Badenoch con-
tinueS:
Besides this let us reflect upon the words of
John Morey, in his address to the Amalgamat-
ed Engineers at Newcastle, ten years ago. 1t is
an awful fact-really not short of awful-that in
Great Britain, with all its wealth and power, 40
per cent, which is very nearly one half, of all
the persons who reach the age of 60 years are or
have been paupers Also as DR.. Rhodes said in
his address to the Social Science congress, held
at Leeds in September, 1890 there are in Eng
land to-day sufficient number OF paupers to
form procession four deep and 100 miles long.
Their cost in poor relief for the last was no less
than fS, 44O, S21. or 6s (S1.5o) per head to the
entire population.
Thanks to protection. which creates
a demand for American labor, we are
not in the sad condition of nation
whose tax for the relief of paupers
amounts to $3.50 on every man, woman
and child in its domain.
What the English free trader says
| is the best contradiction that can be
given to what the American free trad
er says of the effects of protection
upon the industries of this Republic.
There is another point to be taken in
connection that our assessed gross val
uation. 1t surpasses that of England
by the nice sum of 49,, 900, 900, 900. Ours
amounting to ST. 900, 900, 000while Eng
land, Ireland, Scotland and Wales inclu-
ded is only $40, 900, 000,0 Just think
that only century ago about 3,000,-
900 American colonists that had never
been permitted to manufacture hob
| nail or horse shoe or shoe for them
| selves had just cast off the British fet-
tiers, drove the British army with
their HeSsian hirelings from our cOun-
try and set up shop for themselves and
established as the fundamental prin-
ciple of our government the grand and
glorious theory Of protection to all
citizens and all home industries and
now we surpass them in population. in
national wealth, agricultural wealth,
in manufactures and internal trans
portation. England now, with but lit
more than half our population, only
exceeds us in three times the amount
of taxation and ten times the number
Of paupers. Protection has made US
what we are, and free trade has and is
doing England's business. There is
one thing more in which the British
government eXcels the United States
Her national debt exceeds that of the
United States in about the same ratio
as does her taxation and is constantly
increasing while that of the United
States is constantly decreasing. Shall
we change policies to help England
out of trouble-lift her burden to our
own shoulders?
suffered from acute Inflammation
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