Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-10-25
1T a5hln9ton Standard
ENNPI,. WASH.
lElpAl NENINd. OCTOBER .. 1895.
AS 1t Should Be.


The City Council at it. special meet
iug, Tuesday night, did we'll in rcius-
inE 10 follow the suggestion 81 its COM
lItt'c to levy special license tax
upon the hu>in,>> men ui this CITY.
II would, to a large extent, have been a
tan npon tho industry and enterprise
al our people. Every man who had
shown faith hv works" in the en-
deavOr To promote and extend the re-
sources at our command, would have
been required IL pay for the privilege
that We are sometimes willing to con-
tribute a subsidy To open up to strang-
'rs a. means ui Increasing the aggrc-
gate 81 trade, establishing pay-rolls
and promoting the general prosperity
Such TAX would have fallen mainly
upon people of small means, and have
added to the burdens OF Il class that
already pay an unequal proportion Of
the revenue TO support local and State
gayernment.
1t has been said that amid the man.
fold suggestions OF ways and means
to provide sufficient revenue to meet
public expenditures, wealth can always
protect itself, and the rspedl of the in
come tax by the L. $. Supreme Court
affords conclusive proof that it is so.
True il is, likewise, that wealth never
suffers from hard times. Like the
doctors, whose hey-iay OF prosperity
is during an epidemic, the money.
lenders reap their richest har-
vest when trade languishes and the
hearts Of the people are made heavy
from privation and want. Ii the pro-
posed tax could be made to fall upon
those amply able to pay; if it
could be taken from the profits Of call
ings that have been benefited by pro-
longed stagnation OF industry and
prostration OF trade; if it could be
levied upon those who could pay with
out another turn of the screw to econ
omize in use of the necessities OF life,
there might be some reason for in
venting this new means of raising rev.
enue.
The representatives OF the people, in
this instance, have very properly con-
sidered primarily the interests of the
people in their action. While laws
are passed and officers elected to main
tain order and protect the rights OF
the people, there is no doubt but that
the machinery instituted for that pur.
pose is sometimes cumbersome and
often too expensive. There is much
truth in the adage that "The people
are governed best who are governed
least" But, used as we have become
to the methods inaugurated in pros
porous times, with the lavish idea OF
reward for political favorites, there
seems to have become ingrained into
human nature belief that it is duty
to accord for official service q recon-
pense entirely disproportionate to the
wages of labor. This is wrong. The
man who sits at a desk six or eight
hours day can board and clothe his
family quite as well on given amount,
as the man who shoves the plane or
handles the pick ten hours day, and
his salary goes on without Interrupt
ton while the laborer has to keep his
eyes continually open for odd jobs,
and even then must encounter periods
OF enforced idleness.
The committees intimation that
business tax would afford protection
to existing trade was fallacious. Home
products are already protected, by re-
quiring that all who peddle wares not
manufactured or produced in this
county shall pay for license to do so,
and if it was the purpose to make the
bone and sinew stand another burden,
even though it might haye been of the
mythical feathers weight that broke
the camers back, the result would
have been the same in discouraging
effort, if not in disrupting business,
that is struggling to live.
1t strikes us that if, instead of an en-
deavor to raise sufficient revenue to
meet certain estimated expenses, the
effort was made to cut expenses so as
to make them come within possible
revenue, based upon all the considera-
tons that confront us, the proper
course would be pursued. The writer
has not lost sight of the vigorous use
of the pruning shears in the hear past,
but he believes that some OF the large
branches have become so covered with
fungus growth that the health of the
whole tree would be improved by lop-
ping them off. At any rate, it is I'M
wise to tax the impoverished owner
for fertilizers, while it is certain that
the scab and scale will vitiate much OF
the vitality that may be impaired by
them.
AN ACTIVE VOLCANO-MOunt
Constance, the highest peak OF the
Olympic range of mountains, is said
to be in eruption. Flames and smoke
can be seen Issuing from point about
200 feet below the peak, where it is
thought the crater OF an active volca-
no has opened. The only doubt of the
fxl. =.