The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1892-07-05
PROTECTION LOGIC.
y RESEMBLES IN EvAsvENess THE
IRISHMAN,s Flea.

y H-o-WI-Go IN EFASivENESS The
iRisHaAN's FLEA
when You Tut you- Finger on 1t It Isn't
Therc-canEie,Ing Statements OF the
Hon. j. u. walker. of aIassaehusetts.
One Of the rariT sIalers-
Hon. J. H. Walker, of Massachusetts.
is biz manufactures Of leather and
boots ard shoes. lie helped to make the
Mckinley tariff lii. and IS regarded as
one OF the starchest and strongest of pro-
tectionists. lis speech Of March Is,
1892. is printed in a forty-five page
pamphlet. On page 5 occurs the follow
ing:
II haveto say that you may search the
speeches that are made in favor of pro-
lection from beginning to end and you
will not find 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 a pro-
tective tariff
It is evident that Mr.. Walker knows
what error and logic are. and that he in
tends TO sustain the good record Of his
brethren. Cnliage A IS this statement:
1t is of no consequence to the manu-
facturers of this country, as inanufae-
tuners. whether we have free trade or
whether we have protection. We are
just as well satisfied with free trade as
we are with protection"
This will benew to thousands of man
ufacturers who employ lobbyists at
Washington and 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 state.
ment in the following paragraph thus:
The well being of every city of this
country is bound Up with the interest of
the manufacturers in a protective tariff. !"
On page is the following:
"Now, it is conceded by every statis-
tician of this country and every other
that this is the lowest taxed country on
the face of the earth that is counted as
civilized nation"
And 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 ad-
vancement 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 MS. He then defines taxation:
What does taxation come to in its
last analysis 1t comes to taking tho
property of the rich and dividing it pro
rata for the benefit of every man. wo-
man and child in the community. That
= x xx-lraf for ION -. u. -,
This proves that economists. e.. i'm
practical book economists out of con-
gress-are entirely in error, for they all
agree that taxation has always rested
most heavilysupon the poor He then
further calculates and simplifies his
definition:
Snow. 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.
Mr.. Walker is we'll versed in statistics
and cannot be iis error ia this next state
ment:
'More than one-third of the income
from all Tie property east of the Mis-.
sissippi and north of the Ohio is taken in
taxation, and beneicently 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 until the govern
mentinvests, say, 80 per cent. of our in
comes for us.
We now reach page 6, where Mr..
Walker shows the wonderful instinct
by which taxation, no matter where let
loose, returns to the Same spot.
vt makes comparatively little differ
ence where you lay your taxes. Law
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
ernment ON wool if we choose as wei as
anywhere else. It will all rest on the
same spot finally. 1t is of comparative
~ little Importance where you lay taxes.
1t may take twenty years for them to
adjust themselves to their final point
It may take thirty OF forty years, but if
you levy taxation anywhere it seeks ont
and rests upon the same individuals in
the community who will ultimately
bear the burdens. think the statistics
will bear me cut in this statement"
Let 1t be remembered that '.free trad
ers" make at least ninety-nine times as
many errors as 'protectionists," and
that Mr. Walker is a specialist in his
line.
Startling Array.
The proclaimed purpose of the No
kinley tariff is to enable American en-