Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1894-02-23
DO OR DEPART.

z iue GROWING lniamy IN the career Ol
Nero the tyrant is conceded TO be his mad
revelry while the imperial city was in flames
Dailying with fate is only less criminal thar
inviting pestilence. 1t is the part of man
hood to meet calamity with resolute pur
pose. Men and nations alike owe it to theil
existence never TO palter in the face of {
grave crisis. Trifling for delay is as PERM
cious as trimming the edges Of principle
No body Of men to whom important trus
is delegated can afford to swerve hairs
breadth from the line Of right. Better leave
duty undone, leaving to the future to for
lily with bigger courage the ministers o
public trusts, than cut off the avenue to full
duty by halfdoing it.
If the Legislature of Maryland, as now
constituted, is afraid to do the full measure
OF what was expected, and is demanded Of
II, let it confess its cowardice and leave full
duty as legacy to its successors. Legisla.
tors were sent to Annapolis with instruc.
tons as clear as sunlight. They have nc
doubt of what is due from them. They know
that the people who sent them are groa min G
10 travail and are looking to them Tor relief.
They know what relief is demanded and
how it is to be accomplished. They cannot
be ignorant that the remedy is not one OF
piecemeal. They know that rule of tax
alton that draws on every man for the sup.
port OF government, according TO the bless
ings that government vouchsafes TO him,
is what they were sent to formulate. They
know that anything short OF that is worse
than mockery If they daily with half way
measures, or make further shifts to escape
the full force of their responsibility, it we re
better for them that milestone had been
cast absut their necks than a legislative
commission entrusted to them.
No, gentlemen, there must be no favored
classes in this matter. No taxpayer must
further feel that he is treated with greater
harshness than his neighbor. Justice that
holds the scales may be blind but retribu-
ton that tips the beam when justice fails, is
argus eyed DO your duty, or take the con
sequences. Nothing that produces wealth
should be allowed to shirk its part in the
support Of the government that protects the
producer. Be not deceived by the cunning
sophistries of the selfish. Whatever is de
sirable to possess is worth the price of its pos,
session. Incorporeal property has no claim
!. 10 exemption from the law that makes 1t and
vitalizes it. The bond, the judgment, the
share of stock, alike exist because some enc
is benefited by their existence.
There is no rule that requires man to be
debtor. II be does not choose to incur
debt, no one can compel him to incur it. II
he does incur it, the presumption is resist.
less that he looks to benefit in so doing. In
his venture be takes the risk With all It's pos.
sibii.ties II the venture prospers, no one
hears Of exemption. II it fails, let other
shoulder take up the burden. Exemption
is at best the baby act. The man of affairs
is supposed to be rational. II he is not, he
is unfit to do business. II he is, he accepts
the situation in all its bearings Bonds are
issued for mutual benefit. No one is party
20 their issue who does not expect benefit.
The issuer and the purchaser each has his
ends to subserve. There is no compusion
on the one to issue nor on the other To nc
cept. Each does his wont and appeals to
the law to sustain him in the venture. The
law looks to each for its 1.-THE. No evidence
OF debt was ever issued on any other basis.
The principle is as true OF judgments, or
mortgages, as OF any other bill Of credit
Noone is compelled to become mortgageor.
No one can become n mortgage except by
consent of the man who gives the mortgage.
The giver of II does so for his own behoof
II he does not expect it to profit him, he
does not give il. When he accepts the stu
alton he iorfeits any claim to immunity from
responsibility. The talk Of the motgageor as
poor and prosecuted is mere drivel He
cannot be mortgageor who has nothing to
mortgage. In point OF very fact the giver
of mortgages is often the farthest from pow
erty. He mortgages his possessions in order
to gather more rapidly other possessions.
Soulless corporations are mortgageors TO far
greater extent than all the stricken farmers
of the land. Mortgage debts make mort
gage credits, and mortgage credits make the
world progress. It is the baldest casustry
10 attempt 10 draw line between mortgage
evidences of wealth and any other evidence
OF the wealth producing power that handles
the lever oil universal industry. The appeal
for mercy to the distressed is the merest sen
timentalism The real victims of distress
and want are not troubled about tax on
mortgages. II is the holder who hugs it for
avarice, or the maker who floats it.lor en-.
terprise, that is interested in making the