The Louisiana populist. [volume] (Natchitoches, Natchitoches Parish, La.) 1894-1898, 1895-08-23

preme court, in the bred Scott case in
1857, elated the slave holders of the
south no less thar the recent decision
of the Supreme court on the income tax,
elate the plutocratic bondholders of the
east and the north.
The decision in the bred Scott case
followed great national political vic
tory by the democratic party-a party
which had been the friend and advo-
cate of the doctrine of slavery.
The income tax decision follows the
political victory of the republican party
"a party which has been the friend and
advocate Of plutocracy and class legis-
lation.
The advocates Of slavery regarded the
decision Of this high court as a final
settlement of question which had two
sides to 1t.
But the decision did not settle the
question. 1t aroused indignation and
cemented opposition. The people dis
trusted the patriotism and honesty Of
the members of the court-a four years.
war destroyed slavery and amended the
constitution.
The millionaires and bondholders of
the north and east may regard the in
come tax decision as final settlement
of the question of the protected classes
against the unprotected masses. But
1t has not settled it and will not SET
tie it.
The doctrine that those who have
money derived from the renting of real
estate, or from the leasing or using Of
tangible personal property, or who own
invested personal property, have tax
privileges that cannot be accorded TO
those who have money derived from
the labor of their hands, the sweat of
their brow or the exercise of their skill,
Is a doctrine that cannot stand in
America.
Justice Harlan in his dissenting
opinion put the case mildly when he
said ARE those in whose behalf argu-
ments are made that rest upon favorit-
ism by the law making power aware
that they are provoking a contest which,
in some countries, has swept away in
a tempest of frenzy and passion, exist
ing social organizations, and put in
peril all that was dear to the friends
Of law and orderf"
Thomas Jefferson understood and
feared the power of a corrupt Judiciary
when he wrote Mr.. Coray as follows:
"At the establishment of our consti-
tuition the judicial bodies were supposed
to be the most helpless and harmless
members of the government. Expert
ence, however, soon showed in what
way they were to become the most
dangerous-that the insuficiency of
the means provided for their removal
gave them a freehold and irresponsi-
bility In office: that their decisions,
seeming to concern individual suitors
only, pass silent and unheeded by the
public at large; that these decisions,
nevertheless, become law by prece-
dent, sapping little by little the foun-
datioEs of the constitution and work.
ing its change by construction before
any one has perceived that that invisi-
BILE worm has been busily employed in
consuming its substance"
Has not subsequent history conferred
upon the utterance Of Jefferson the dig
nifty Of prophecy?
The bred Scott decision seemed "to
concern individual suitors only" but
being contrary to the public sentiment
existing at the time Of its rendering
1t took on national and sectional i'm
portance and resulted in installing the
third" or minority, political party in
to power and control of the govern
ment.
The income tax decision sets at
naught all presidents Of law; denounces
the legislative branch Of the govern
ment as set of demagogues and MIN
compoops; violates public sentiment
and attempts to establish a monied
autocracy.
The further fact Of the equal division
of the bench upon this question when
1t was first argued, and the subsequent
change Of opinion by Justic Shiras, by
which the majority Of one was obtained