The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-12-26

the money-lenders:-t farmers paid
everything and fed everybody, and
worked day and night to do it; and
| they were serfs-slaves-brut
graded below the standard of human
lty. Thousands of millions of them,
through many hundreds of years, led
this life-an awful, base, cruel, horri-
Die life, from the cradle to the grave.
When the great French Revolution
broke out-God be praised for 1.-THE
farmers of France had the Single Tax.
Not soul in the community, clerical
or laic, priests, barons, bishops, cardi.
nails, princes, or the royal family, paid
one penny to support the protigacy,
corruption and cruelty of the up
pc n classes, but the peasants footed
the entire bill; and they became re.
duced to such depths of wretchedness
that when they had nothing else to
TAX the aristocracy taxed their salt-a
necessity of life:-and Arthur Young,
VINO travelled there before the Revo-
luton, describes them as coming down
out or the mountains, half naked.
meagre with starvation, to pay the
TAX ana get the salt. At last the con-
dltlons became SO horrible that the Sim
gle Tax would not support the princes
ana their harlots, and the government
collapsed; the king called the Three
Estates together and the end came.
One great tinancier urged the king, as
a measure Of safety, to request the
church and the aristocracy to pay
some part Of the taxes necessary to
save the nation; but they had the Sin
gle Tax and they insisted that it
should stand; and it did stand until
the sans culottes,-the fellows who had
not enough, after paying their taxes,
TO buy pair of breeches apiece,-cut
their drafted heads off. And so Single
Tax ended in France, and it never
was heard of again on this round
earth, until a few years ago Calfor-
MIA philosopher suggested that the
best way to get poor man home
was to tax it SO heavily that no rich
man could afford to hold it! If the
poor man would get down under that
load, lie could have the pleasure of
raising his potatoes, and working
like Turk to support all the rest Of
the community. And in the mean
time our aristocracy, like the French
should pay nothing, and could run
their banks and their railroads and
their trusts to their hearts content.
And the Workmen in the cities they
want home. they are entitled to
home, but they can only have it, un-
der this system, by paying the taxes of
the rich men in the community. The
lot on which bank stands, with a
capital of million dollars, and carry
ing on business of ten millions
year, is to be assessed as if it was bare
of all improve or for about the
same as another lot, on which a poor
man runs little grocery store or cob
blers shop. Here is a Mr.. Williams,
New York banker, who went before
congressional committee, the .other
day, to labor to have the Carlisle bill
passed, so that his guild would own all
the money of this vast country and
rent it out to the people, who are the
government, for immense profits: and
when he was 'cross-eXamined as to his
bank, we read in the press dispatch as
follows:
''Incidentally Mr.. Williams gave a
statement concerning his own bank
which caused some of the members OF
the committee to raise their eyebrows
in surprise. Its capital is $500, 900; its
surplus $4,000, 600; it's undivided profits
more than $1,000, 900: its deposits $780,
OJO, 900 its diridends $50 per cent per on
nam, and it's stock was selling at $1,000
per share Of $l0O..."
Now, the Single Takers propose
that there shall not be a cent of tax
collected from all this vast wealth,
wrung from the people; but the poor
wretchcs on our frontier, and in the
Dakotas, who have been burning hay
and weeds for fuel, shall make up the
tax for the exempted capitalists.
The proposition is simply horrible.
1t shows that well-meaning doctri-
naire can be one of the most danger
Gus creatures on EARTH He would
Ike the props out from under the
universe on a theory. He would bring
down the cerulean vault of heaven to
catch larks. to satisfy hobby.
We shall reply to our esteemed
friend, G. S. Buell., next week.
In Hurry to Get Out OF the
Country