Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1892-05-21
LOGIC.
- is Something Like the %IrIshman's Flea
When You Put Your Finger Upon IL 1t Is
Not Tb.rc

u Is Something Like the IrIshman's Flea.
When You Put Your Finger Upon IL 1t
Not There.
Hon J. II. Walker, of Massachusetts
is a big manufacturer of leather an,
boots and shoes. He helped to make tn
Mckinley tariff bill and is regarded a
mt of the staunchest and stronges
protcctionists, His speech of March 10
1892, is printed in a 45-page pamphlet
On page 5 occurs the following:
II have to say that you may search
the speeches that are made in favor o
protection from beginning to end ant
you will not find one per cent. of error
where you will find 90 per cent, of error
in the statements that are made by
those in favor of free trade as opposed
to n protective tariff
1t is evident that Mr.. Walker knows
what error and logic are and hat he in
tends to sustain the good record of his
brethren. On page 4 is this statement:
1T is of no consequence to the manu-
f%acturers of this country, as manu-
facturerS, whether we have free trade
or whether we have protection. We
are just rs well satisfied with free trade
as we are with protection"
This will be news TO thousands of
manufacturers who employ lobbyists
at Washington ana who have said that
the Mills bill would have driven half
of them out of the country. But for
fear of being in error he hedges this
statement in the following paragraph,
thus.
The we'll being OF every citizen of
this country is bound up with the in
terest of the manufacturers in a pro-
tcctive tariff
On page t is the following:
NOW, it is conceded by every statisti-
can of this country and every other
that this is the lowest-taxed country
on the face of the earth that is counted
as a civilized nation
Aud on page this;
II affirm that there is no greater evil
dence Of civilization, Christian civiliza-
ton, than taxation, and the volume of
taxation per capita expresses it. Show
me the taxes per capita of any people.
and | can determine by that their adj.
yanccment in the scale Of civilization"
This is hard on the United States-to
be the lowest in civilization because it
is the lowest taxed country, But this
is truth and logic and there is no escape
for Us. He then defines taxation:
"What does taxation come to in its
last analysis? 1t comes to taking the
property OF the rich and dividing it pro
rata for the benefit of every man, wom-
an and child in the community. That
is what taxation comes to at last"
This proves that economists-i. e, i'm
practical book economists out of con-
gress-are entirely in error for they all
agree that taxation has always rested
most heavily upon the poor, He then
further elucidatcs and simplifes his
definition:
Now, what is taxation? Taxation
IS but the government taking a part of
the income of the citizen and spending
it for the citizen to better advantage
than he can himself spend it. That is
all there is in taxation"
This is unpleasant information for
some of us who prefer to spend our own
incomes, but there can be no mistake.
MIR. Walker is well versed in statistics
and cannot be in error in this next
statement:
More than onc-third of the income
from all the property east of the Missis-
sippi and north of the Ohio is taken in
taxation, and beneticently taken-taken
and returned to the citizens pro rata,
rich and poor alike, after being taken
out of the boards Of the rich"
But think what taxes must be paid
by really civilized countries when one
third of the income of this lowest taxed
country is taken for taxes, and what
awful blessings we are missing by not
increasing our taxes unit. the govern
mcnt invests say ninety per cent. of our
incomes for us.
We now reach page 6, where Mr..
Walker shows the wonderful instinct
by which taxation, no matter whore let
loose returns to the same spot.
1T makes comparatively little differ
ence where You lay your taxes. Lay |
them where you will, they will follow
back and ultimately rest on the same
persons and in the same spot. We may
as well lay all the taxation of this gov-
eminent on wool if we choose, as well |
as anywhere else. 1t will all rest IN |
the same spot finally. 1t isof compara-
lively little Importance where You Law
taxes. 1t may take twenty years for
them to adjust themselves to their final
point. 1t may cake thirty or forty
years, but if You levy taxation any
where it seeks out and rests upon the
same individuals in the community who
will ultimately bear the burdens. |
think the statistics will bear me out in
this statement"
Let it be remembered that free
traders make at least 100 times as
many errors as ''prote%c tionsts" and that
u