Evening journal., 1892-07-15
is THIS A FAIR CONCLUSION :

~ ANAA1 = fhiNA OANN0EO0l0NN
Our esteemed free trade and Demo
cratic contemporary at Rochester, Che
Union and Advertiser, journal of
character and responsibility, expresses
It's views in the following language:
"Pickpocket protection
Protection which is absolute rob.
berry"
Now, If protection Is pocket picking.
and If it is absolute robbery. is not the
man justified who takes back what he
has been robbed of. wherever he can find
it in other words, the man who robs the
robber, the sneak who has picked his
poclyet2 And are not the Homestead
anarchists justified when they at
tack Andrew Carnegie, "robber
baron, who has got very rich
through the management of pro-
tected industriesl Is it or is it not
right for them TO take possession of his
property and despoil him Of the fruit of
J is 'robberies2 And should not sociei V
in this country be converted into UNI
versal civil war for the destruction cf
such business and such property2 We
ask, is not this fair conclusion from
he premises of our able and earnest
Rochester contemporary We do indeed
seem 60 be rushing into the abyss of uni
versal anarchy when such doctrines are
preached in such quarter New York
Sun.
The Sun has reached fair conclusion
and odd and anarchstic as it may seem
the Homestead anarchists have the same
right to rob as the robber baron has, the
only difference being, that one robs bv
forms Of law, while the other would rob
by force.
The reason why the great wealth of
Andrew Carnegie cannot be recovered by
those who have been robbed is that the
property cannot be identified. A sneak
thief may be caught with $500 Of which
some man is morally certain he has been
robbed, but If he cannot identify the
bills, he cannot recover them.
If John Doe could prove that his wheat
had been taken to increase the fortune of
Andrew Carnegie he could recover by
suit, 1t is the same with money or with
wages The only reason that Andrew
Carnegie and men like him, who hold for.
tunes which could not be acquired in any
normal pursuit Of trade can hold them
lawproof is because the process Of rob
berry has been so intricate, the number OF
changes so great that the property can
not be pursued, identified and reclaimed
by its real owners This principle i.
thoroughly vindicated in the opinion OF
Justice Miller of the United States Su
preme Court. in Loan Association VS.
Topeka. 20 Wallace:
To lay with one hand the power of Tn,
government on the property of Ia,
citizen. and with the other bestow Il
upon favored individuals TO aid privat,
en- .erprises and build up private fortunes
is none the less a robbery because IL 4.
done under the forms of law and is called
/ taxation. This is not legislation. IL /.
a decree under legislative forms. Nor /.
it taxation. A tax saws Webster
| Dictionary. sis a rate or sum Of mone-
assessed on the person or property of !
| citizen By government for the use Of tn,
nation or state Taxes are burdens
or charges imposed by the Legislature
upon persons or property 20 raise none,
for public purposes. We have estah
lished we think, beyond cavil, tina
there can be no lawful tax which is no
laid for public purpose. If il be sal
that a benefit results to the local public @
a town by establishing manufactures, tn
same may be said Of any other busines
or pursuit which employs capital O
A labor. The merchant, the mechanic, tn
inn-keeper the builder, the steam
hopt owner, are equally promoter