Birmingham age-herald., 1894-10-28

actment down to the present time, and which I Iaud yet, but it is not as good a bill as we have now on the statute books. It is not as cheap to the people; it is not as well distributed; 1t does not make every man come up and pay what he ough. to pay like the senate bill does and It had in it no tax on incomes.
 WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE INCOME TAxY Loud and enthusiastic applause). l think you will like it., and l ought to pay taxes for the support of the government according to his ability. [Applause. Now, isn't that right? A voice: Yes, that Is right That is the way we taxed everyb body In the pres ent bill; that ought to be right; every man ought to pay taxes for the support of the government according to his ability, and no man ought to be required to apay more than his ability would justify, or any taxes for any improper or unnecessary purposes, When we come to exercise the tyrauuicai power of which have been speaking, we must act according to the good conscience and good faith that must exist between the represen tative and the voter. And we must not abuse that power, so arbitrary in It's nature, as to inflict injustice upon any body. A man that will use power of that kind, given to him by the people, to harm and to in jure innocent men, II he had the right sort of temptation and an opportun- ity, would do something much worse than that. e 3ssssas
 Now, like the income tax; it is good. true, common-sepse doctrine of taxation. Loud applause.l 1t is on the right prin- ciple. As said awhile ago, it does not do any harm to anybody, and 1t does justice to everybody. On the principle have just stated, that every man must pay ac- cording to his ability, is, according to my idea. the correct theory. Now, then, here is man who goes to work In one or these coal mines and earns his Sl .5O day and works hard for 1t; he has wife and a cabin aud a family of children about him and he is an honest, hard working man. He feels like respectable man, because he pays his debts and buys for his family all that he can afford out of his earnings, and risks his life and health every day to do 1t. I think that is pretty hard sort Of life, bull think that it is the life of an honest man, and no matter how he may range on the schedule of wealth and respectabi in the chancery of Heaven that man has got mighty good record. He is straight all the time. Now, when he goes into the mine in the morning and comes out at night he gets his $l 50; he sits down by his fireside and muses to him. self, have got so much of this to pay TOT woolens for the baby, so much for pair of shoes for one of the children, so much for bacon aud meal and flour and a little coffee and sugar, and so much for the tax col lector, and, if he is a religious man, he feels like contributing something to his pastor, and so much for the doctor, and by the timo he gets through his income Is all gone. Now, so much of that tax as rests upon articles whichthat man must have to preserve the lives and provide for comfort and decenoy in his family is tax upon his income. Is it not? It takes his income. to provide these things, does It notf You tax that man out of nearly all his Income, i. of the necessities of life, ,and by the law on the other part, and they both consume his in- come until he has no income leIt. NOV, here is another man worth VI ,UUO, OOO. He may be a miser, or he may bea man that lives in modern luxury, or splendor, or Tn fantastic or imperial style. He supplies himself with such articles as he must eat and his family must eat and wear-bread and meat of some kind, or long list of luxurious things he may want to put on his table, with wines and liquors, so tnat ne may sit down in peace, honor and glory. That man has a portion of his income con- sumed also in the necessary matters of living; he may have spent no more upon his family than the poor miner II he chooses; it is optional with nm to ao so. spends his income in paying taxes, and every tax that is imposed upon him Is tax upon his income. And this Income has come from the people who labor and toll, and has probably come from them as usurious interest, or It has come from them for rents, or from speculation; but It is his income. Now, we have laid tax upon his income, not double tax on what he consumes, but upon just so much as hls necessities and his tastes require him to consume at the same rate paid by the coal miner. So, with the poor miner we have exactly the same thing; both of them nav the tax out of their lncomeS, and neither pays double tax.
 Now, we come to point where the legis- lator says to his constituents, in order that every man shall pay an equal amount upon the cotton goods and upon the Il annel goods and upon the silk goods and everything else, we will tax all these articles, and the poor man has to pay this tax whenever ne consumes any of these articles. me rlcn man has to pay the same thing. We will ascertain upon a certain sum of money, when put at a moderate rate of 1n- terest, what amount is it that will supply a family of five persons, for that IS the average family in the United States, a good fair, comfortable living. We will fix it at $40OO year, which is about s9O0 to the individual, and is supposed to supply in every necessary degree all thae pertains to the comfort of the body-clotnlng and food, education of the mind, contributions to the spiritual welfare of the soul, con- tributions to the physician who heals the infirmities of the body. Four thousand dollars is very liberal al- lowance, very just allowance, and it is larger than the average of expend- itures of the families, rich and poor, in this country; hence we have fixed d,oan the maximum for fair expenditures at $aoVO, below which amount no tax must be levied, for no man must be twice taxed. first upon what he consumes and then upon his income. We take $4000 as the just medium. Above that his income ought to be taxed. because aoove that sum the habit of saving, accumulation and hoariiinr commences. When a man has
 es .aa.su annnuh tn sunnlY his family of