Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1895-07-09
pay for all these things7 Certainly
the citizens who are served hy them.

/
transacted, our laws executed, our
peace maintained and our property pre-
served we1 must have courthouses,
| judges, sheriffs, magistrates and other
necessary officers. By careful inves-
tigation 1t viii be found that the sal
aries of all these officers have been re-
| duced to the minimum. When we como
down to our municipal government in
order that we may have still further
protection from the dangers peculiarly
| incident to city life we need . mayor
and ga council and street body Of
armed men called policemen and other
necessary officials. That we may have
the best government, consequently tho
best protection, these men should all
be good men and ,uen who can COM
mand salary at other work, and upon
q careful investigation we fnd that all
these salaries have been cut to the min
imum.
Now then let us see what the average
taxpayer gets for his hundred dollars for
state, country and city taxes. He gets
the state capitol, properly ofhcered and
properly cared for. He gets his legls-
lature and his governor and state
troops, for the maintainance OF his
laws. He gets his treasurer, comp
troller, clerks, bookkeepers and so on
for the proper management OF the
books and finances of his state. He
gets his courthouse properly oficered
and cared for, his judge and his jury,
| his sheriff for the proper execution OK
the laws He gets his treasurer, his
tax collectors and other collectors for
the purpose of collecting and handling
and proper apportionment of the public
funds. BE gets his system OF public
schools, public roads and other public
enterprises.
In his city he gets the mayor and
council to take care OF his city govern
ment, together with band OF unis
formed officers who walk their beats ON
stormy night and wintry days and pre-
serve the order and calm OF a city. He
gets his water works, electric lights,
streets and pavements put up and cared
for at the least possible expense. Fo-
all these buildings of the city, county
and state, which is property OF enor.
nous expense, he gets for his hundred
dollars. For his hundred dollars ha
gets his share of the thousands OF men
and millions of property. Let us sec
how our government expenses comparo
with the expenses of our own homes.
About these we seldom kick.
Every man who has one good negro
woman doing his cooking in the kitch-
en-, II he be honest, ought not to pay
her less than one hundred dollars 9
year; il he have man to take care OK
his horse and COW and yard, he ought
| to pay him one hundred and fifty dol.
| lars q year. If he has a house girl he
ought to pay her one hundred dollars q
| year. To run our own homes with the
| fewest possible servants to make life
comfortable the average man owning
the property 1 have mentioned pays
three colored servants three hundred
and fifty dollars annually to take care
of his house and yard stable, and yet
we ask the state and county and city to
furnish us all their men and buildings
and machinery for one hundred dollars
a wear and kick and grumble tile year
round because we have to pay 1t.
The sum total of what we pay to our
national, state, county and municipal
government for all their services ana
protection is not as much as our cook
or our hostler or our house girl costs
us. The entire amount we pay annual
} Iy will hardly support old Bill, our
buggy horse, or old Brindle, the milk
cow. Now, have left out OF this all
revenues going to our national govern
} ment, and yet no decent, thOughtfui
J citizen would take slab of marble
from our national capitol, foot OF land
from our public grounds or ask any ma
tional servant that we have to work on
less salary.
It is true much of our public funds
are misused and misappropriated. IhaS
is true of all public enterprises, but as
rule the higher salary the better
class of men that fill our offices and tho
more accurately and justly will our
business be transacted. Our national
} government is in debt and our credit in
) peril. There is scarcely state, coun-
ty or city in our union that is not in
debt; and no man will say that our pub
lie buildings are too good or too welL
} kept; that our lawmakers are selected
from q too high class of men; that our
public works and improvements have
been too great, and we all know that
all of these institutions must be sup
: ported by taxation and the taxes are to
come from the people who enjoy tho
blessings, and we further know thas
the men who have made our taxing
} laws are elected by ourselves, and We're
elected with published platforms with
! the understanding that they represent
: their constituents and make the laws
desired by the people, and yet there is
continual growing and complaint
about taxation.
If the laws are made Ia favor OF the
rich against the poor it Is our fault, be-
cause there are more poor people than
rich people, and our officers are elected
by majority of the ballots, except in
some states where they steal votes, and
if the people will sit down and let . lot
} of internal political tricksters gobble
, up their Offices and run their govern
: ment, then they ought to keep their
) mouths shut and suffer. If our taxing
laws are wrong, let us find the wrong
/. place, elect our men and modify the laws.
The ballot is still with the common
} people, and what we need In this coun-
try more than anything else Is intclli-
gent, honest, unpurchasable and un-
: bulldozable officers who will carry out
: the wishes of their constituents and do