Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1894-10-17

Carmack here tells how Mem
phis, despite everything, has grown
in natural wealth, and says:
READ! READ! READ!!l
GAN this has been achieved by those
who hold the payment of taxes as a part
of their religion. Thew have stood the
test of civic virtue. They have horne
their burdens uncomplsiningly. They
have faced their obligations and have
met them. But now, as they contem-
plate their work and recall their sacri-
fees, they grow indignant upon finding
that they have been played upon by
their own servants. They have discov-
cred that millions Of taxes which should
have been paid, have not been paid, and
because OF the connlvance OF those whose
sworn duty it was to collect the taxes
They have learned that the high rate
which they so Loyalty accepted as neces.
sary to the communal welfare on the rep.
reservations OF those whom they had
trusted to show the truth, was unneces.
sary, and that the willing, the brave, the
honest, the proud, the city-loving ana
county-loving taxpayer was befooled in
order that the politicians might gain
votes by refusing to collect the taxes due
the city, county and state from certain
classes.
THEY R MINDFUL
Now of how much more might have been
achieved, how less arduous would have
been the labor of our business leagues
how much greater would have been oul
population. how many more manufac.
tories would have been established, how
much more extensive would have been
our public improvements, how much
wider would have been the range of oul
county road system, how much less ex.
acting would have been the tax.gatherer
how small would have been the accumu
lation OF back taxes-if the sworn ser.
wants OF the people had regarded theil
oaths OF Office. Never was an earnest and
e%nterprising community so damnably
put upon. 1t had come to the pass that
the man who bore his taxes without
seeking to evade them could set himsel.
down an ass. Wonderful, indeed, must be
the destiny of Memphis and Shelby
county, ii so much could be achieved
under conditions so utterly ~despicable
1t looks like the stars in their courses
had been fighting for Memphis as against
her foes within her fold"
OH! DON'T E TIRED.
But hear the eloquent Tennes.
sean, the glorious writer in a good
cause, Ed. Carmack, tell of demo-
cratic rule:
But apart from the material lies the
moral consideration. When politicians
are able to promise exemption from the
law, and to fulfill their promises; when
men wishing to be honest are tempted to
evade the law because their competitors
are privileged to evade it; when the
most successful man in business is the
man who puts public servants under the
greatest personal obligations growing out
of bargains at the primaries; when beef
steaks are taxed heavily that liquor may
be free; when taxpaying ceases to be
a virtue in the popular mind-then is the
state of that community deplorable in.
decd. And it was just to this condition
that Memphis and Shelby county Lad
been reduced when the grand jury, in
the exercise Of its functions, undertook
to correct the evil. The serpent had
twined over everything and the atmos.
phere of the courthouse had become
thoroughly poisoned.
II PULPIT AND THE PRESS,
The law and order leagues, and the indi.
vidual protestant had striven in vain to
arouse the people to a sense OF their dan.
ger and of the community's disgrace, until
the grand jury, without announcement
of its purpose, suddenly tore the veil
away and disclosed the revolving spec.
tacle in all its horror. The revulsion was
instant and complete. The people rea.
lized the iniquity in its full measure, and
now they demand absolute and imme,
date extirpation. They see how the
corruption has impregnated the whole
body polite; how young men have been
swerved from the standards of private
morality; how difficult it has become to
secure law-fearing public officials; how
conventional evasion of the law had
grown to be. But there is to be an end
OF it all. Out Of pocket and nearly out OF
honor, the community feels the electric
impulse of real reform. The men who
value good government and who have
striven to show in their own lives Their
own devotion to the right ideals OF citi.
zenship, have welcomed the grand jury's
revelations, distressing and deplorable az
they are. They will stand the brunt that
the reform may be prosecuted. They
have faced affiiction before, and will &c
bravely and fearlessly forward to the
task of shifting the serpent's head.
POOR FELLOW!
His prejudice against "Brown.
low," against the negro, against
the party that set him free, is SC
great that he cannot see that the
first step in the great crime he en-.
Weighs against was in violating
the election laws. The leading
church men, merchants and pro.
fessional men connived and as.
sisted in the rape of the ballot
they made a harlot of the insignia
of our liberty and were robbed by
the robbers and dared not open
their mouths. Cooper's skirts were