The Opelousas courier., 1895-06-15
TALK ON TAXATION.

SAID one young woman who Away
takes a lively interest in the proceed
ings, but the more l read and studio,
up the question, the l found m,
views veering over to the negative, S,
Miss - and l have changed places.
Miss Adele Field read the first pape:
Dor are the only two sources o
wealth." she said, land all citizens O
a country are entitled to equal rights
in the land which God has created fol
their enjoyment, as we'll as in the air
water facilities, and other natural ad
vantagcs which the Creator has pro
v'ded. In every instance labor has tc
appeal to land for material for it's vari
u enterprises. The shoemaker owes
the leather which he uses in his trade
to the land, because the leather is the
hide Of cattle, and cattle must Be pas:
tLred. The wood used for o many
different purposes, the minerals which
play SO important a part in trade, ev.
cry article used in the arts and manu-.
features comes from the land. Labor
should not be taxed. Labor is the
ooA VI wealth., ~ VIC d HAL 1ldS
accumulated through the outlay of his
own energy belongs to him. To tax
labor tends to discourage it."
The speaker believed in the survival
OF. the fittest, but expressed the opin-
ioa that, a. things are conducted in
this country to-day, tendency was to
foster the survival Of the unfit. To
illustrate her meaning she represented
a shipwrecked party as a dozen adults
and many children landing on an un-
known and uninhabited island. The
island became theirs by right of pos
session, but it would not be fair to par
cel it out to the various families. One
section might be fertile and another
barren. They could know nothing of
its resources, the value of its minerals,
woods and other treasures. The own
ing Of a valuable portion by one citi-
zen and a worthless portion by anoth-
er would be a matter of mere chance.
ALI must it together, and accord
ing as they labored to improve the
particular section which they held I'M
der the government would be their
success or failure, for some would
work and 9th ers would b. indolent.
The next speaker said that, accord
ing to eminent English criticism, the
plan of taxation pursued in the United
States had transformed. a uniformly
prosperous nation into a. nation of null
t:m%illionaires and paupers, With a
rnpidly diminishing middle class She
protested that all the burden of taxa
ton fell upon the farmers, and that no
adequate share was exacted from the
SPECTATORS and money brokers. Cor
porations, she thought, should be
taxed, There might be fewer Injuries
in that case, but the people, at large
would be better off. It was claimed
that it was not possible to collect such
taxes, but it had never been persistent.
ly tried. A tax was a.. small proper
ton OF income set aside by every one
the common purse. The law should
be so adjusted that no one could escape
payment of this obligation.
The next speaker thought that there
was an infinite sourc Of revenue for
government in the taxation of
money-making plants of the big
81 indicates and corporations, IN the cars
and stocks of the railway companies
md other enterprises. 't'Tax 1uxuries,"
said. "To levy taxes on. the land
entirely is unjust and to increase the
price Of food is cruelty. to the poor.
raose who get wealth most easily
be willing to bear a part of the
and increase the common ex-
pa fsfttsa& *tsbs ~ tis,t. ~ tIftl
This young lady spoke. Of a little
french town which she visited where
he guards stood at each gate of the
.ity and levied a tax on every article
hat was brought into it. Gould not
he same plan be adopted in this coun-
ry? she asked, with reference to GER
ain taxable properties known to be
and hard to keep track of.
Such proceedings would interfere
With the very American freedom we
re all SO proud OF" said a voice on the
pposite side of the room. ssThat is
ust what we boast most. of, that we
ave no guards standing about to in
errfere with personal liberty. Every
who has travelled abroad congratu-
stess America on her attitude in this
espect." 4.t.ta III ~
'.fsut we ought not to be proud at
ne expense of our poor people, pro- B
another voice. France may
OF be a very rich nation, hut she has
swer poor people than any other
ountry, according to the statistics" s
The advocate for the negative, who !,
lad the next paper, referred first to i
les difficulty Of collecting taxes on per 4
belongings 1T is d fact she 4
'id, that for years there have only ]
twenty gold watches in Philadel- '
hia, and wealthy men resort to all I
'rts OF devices to avoid paying taxes 2
! bonds sMsaimsn has domestic $50 !
. he orders $50, 600 worth of non-taxa- !
9 stocks, and gives a note for that
mount to d friend. Perhaps that !
lend lal4o gives him AM errer and a i
,tesfd Hsl$so, ooe,. thhen Haiher party
liable to the taxes. IfA man isIwili-
6 to stultify himself he can almost e
ude the law. All incomes, whetherin
eat or small, should be taxed in pro- a
II q man earns 81 a day that Il
should be taxed, and If he earns sc a v
y that ~ should be taxed. It would II
~ amount to q few cents in q year. Z,
q such plan would do away with tt
9 class distinction, SO distasteful. 1,
'en tho smallest income should be &
xed. p