The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-05-12
E SCRANTON TRIBUNE.
SCRANTON. NAY IL, 1894.
CoXEY CANNOT be made martyr.
He is merely an ass.


The battlo of envy and hate which
those who fail in life invariably wage
against those who succeed has enlisted
the support of another trucking poll
tician who sees in it new chance to
become notorious and incidentally to
'make hay" of his own. This partic-
ular law-maker lives in New Jersey
and is member of the state assembly.
lie has introduced bill which ''makes
it unlawful for any person to transmit,
by will or otherwise, property worth
Sl,OO0,00O. All property above that
value is to escheat to the state, and the
attorney general is requested to see
that the state gets its share of all such
estates. The moneys thus received by
the state are to be distributed by the
treasurer among the counties, accord
ing to population, to be used for public
school purposes, maintenance of roads
and the support Of the poor and insane,
The penalty for concealing the exist
ence of such an estate is 5000 fine.
five years Imprisonment, or both"
This bill, it will be seen, puts into
cold type tho miscellaneous longngs Of
those less courageous reformers who
politely dabble in socialism aud bewail
growing accumuIations Of wealth, but
who draw back in sensitive horror
when asked to face the logic of their
discomfort as it is practically eXsmpli
fled in bomb-throwing anarchists or
cut-throat burglars. The denial of the
right Of property at tho million dollar
point in the ascending scale is as much
denial Of all rights of property as ii
there should bo decree that no man
should keep what he earns or saves
Undoubtedly there was e time in the
history Of civilization when 81, 0jO 900
represented sum utterly beyond the
brightest dream Of individual ayarica
Yet evan then it was neyer seriously
proposed to prohibit by statute the ef-
forts Of men TO reach the highest a,ti-
tude Of their financial hopes. Above
aud beyond any question Of expedi
ency, it was recognized that the right
Of ownership to honestly acquired
wealth rested fundamentally in morals,
and could not bs uegliyci without en-
dsngering the entire structure OF civ
ilizati0n
II is high time the minds OF men got
disrusioniz-l Of the leceitfal fancy
Iha. thrift aud prosperity may az ceg-
tain limits pass into the realm Of prop
erly punishable crimes, The Demo
cratic party. in its advocacy OF tue in.
come tax, has done much 10 anchor
this vain belief in the favor Of tae ua-
thinking. The Jersey proposition in
validating the right Of inheritance be.
yonl the million-dollar limit ia an OIL
shoot Of this pernicious domagogism.
and will eventually perish with it, But
there Is danger while the fsllacy lasts
danger lest some men should be de-
luled into faacying that moral law is NJ.
bitrary in It's bounds or that the scheme
which, under the cover Of law, would
literally rob the rich man Of much Of
his wealth, might not be successfully
turned, by the same envious aud shift
less promoters, to the spoliation Of
the man who is only ordinarily well-to-
do.
Income taxes and inheritance limits
are nothing more nor less than clever
articles Of scientific brigandage