Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-11-05
this most highly protected State will
hardly bring the cost Of the buildings
upon them

udiO4i OEluS TIC COSt Ot tue DullQl0g5
upon them.
But the economic evils, however great,
Of the Mckinley bill and the unreasonable
system of protection it represents are of
far less importance to my mind than the
moral evils which follow in their wake.
In deciding for what purposes the masses
OF the people may properly be taxed, it
must not be forgotten that taxes have a
wonderful capacity for filtering through
all intervening obstacles till they reach
the bowed back OF toll and resting there.
and therefore the giving of bounties
under any form Of taxation IS mainly the
giving away OF the wages of labor. The
sad truth that the curse o. the poor is
their poverty is illustrated in nothing
more clearly than 10 the undue share
they suffer Of the burdens Of taxation.
But, apart from this consideration,
ought not taxes on.y be imposed as re-
quired for public purposes, or may they
ALSO be imposed for the necunarv ad-
vantage of such persons or classes as are
able to control Congressional action in
their favor2 1t seems to me like
Mckinley bill does, the farmer who
crows corn in Indiana to pay bounty
to the farmer who produces cane sugar
III Louisiana, or to require the farmer
who grows wheat in Pennsylvania to pay
bounty to the farmer who produces
maple sugar in Vermont; but it is nearer
tragedy than travesty to tax the masses
Of the people to increase the wealth of
the very wealthy owners Of mos. OF Our
protected industries.
But even such inequality and injustice
are the least Of its evils, for while such
system endures political corruption is
absolutely sure to increase, as such
system not only invites, but it rel lires.
the corrupt use of money both at the
polls and in Congress. 1t is OF its very
essence that ''fat" shall be "frie1" out
of its benehcaries. Who shall happen
to do the frying" or who shall happen
to distribute the ''fat' upon any partic:-
u!ar occasion is mere matter of detail,
but while that system lasts both will con-
tnue to be done by somebody.
And the evils of a system of legislative
bounties, so far from stopping, only be
gins with those bounties secured to the
industries protected by the tariff. The
disastrous course Of the Republican Party
on the silver question is an apt illustra-
ton of this truth. 1t ought to be an
honest money party. and it would be if
it could but while it demanded increased
bount:es for its favorite manufacturers, it
the silver producers, as the votes they
control were probably necessary to the
passage of the Mckinley bill. So situated,
the Republican Party had no alternative
but to pass the silver law of 1890, dou.
bling the purchase of silver and requiring
the building Of more warehouses in which
to store the useless metal
The total purchases made by the Gov
ernment amount to hundreds of millions
of dollars, and would not realize, if re-
sold, one half their cost, while the poi,
son OF debased currency, whose work,
however slow, is sure, is making itself
daily more and more felt in every chan
mel Of business and finance, and is iu-
evitably driving gold out of the country
and leading US to all the evils Of a fluc-
luating and therefore dishonest currency
Eased uoon silver alone The Republ-
can Party cannot take any effective steps
toward repeating the bill, for the silver
men are very likely if their bounty is
stopped to so vote that the bounties of
the Mckinley bill will stop also.
The abuses of the pension system fur
nish another apt il!ustrationsof the evils
| sure TO follow such system of legisla-
| ,!on. If Congress was 70 levy taxes upon
| the people to confer oouties upon certain
| classes of manufacturers, it was very ma
| tural that the pension agents should ais,
| siOin hands to Increase their fees by an
| iudiscrlminate granting OF pensions. The
| result IS that nearly a generation after
| the close of the war there is u steady in
| crease Of the vast sums passing throu "a
| the pension agents hands, until nov the
| total amount stag .ers belief. aud has be
| come o! itself very serious burden uppa
the Treasury. From the day o. Lees
surrender until now no single voice has
ever been raised against the most yea
erous provision for every person wno IA
| any Just claim upon the oratltu ie Of tle
country; but surely tsere IS neither rea-
son nor justice IN legislation walch de-
stroys all distinction between the dis
| charge OF duty and the shlrHiny of it,
between loyal service and de>ertion OF
! the colors between wounds rece!vei IN
/ battle and diseases contracted IN the par
suits OF peace.
There is sslll another great and in
creasln. evil chiefly traceao.e. IN my
opir ion, to the maintenance Of IA exc-s-
| sive tariff since tae war, and the coz
slant meddling with it to MAKE j, NJ, ler.
| and, ,thai is the bringing TO our shores 0,
| those vast swarms OF undesirable I'm nj
grants who degrade American labor og
their competition aud threaten the sta
| bl,ty OF institution, based upon an III
tell GENT love ot c0uCtTs. Just IS the
duties upon imported merchandise have
been increased, SO has the grade Of in
ported labor been lowered. until now,
| under tho NcEfoiev hill there are com