The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-07-23

QOunC0Q dangerous 6n0 0Ao4SAAS"AO'
If a law would tend to burden them,
though it might alleviate millions OF
poor, the cry goes up that it threatens
to undermine the government.
Another piece of injustice is the
wringing of taxes from the masses to
build up institutions that, from the
very nature of the case, cannot be at
tended by the people at large. 1t may
be that the institutions are good IN
themselves, and are, beneficial to those
who do attend them. As, for instance,
the University. An institution OF
learning is a great and good thing.
But in a State of one and a half mil
lions of inhabitants only five hundred
attend the University. That is one out
of every three thousand. Three thou
sand are taxed to help one. But to be
more exact-suppose the population be
divided into families of ten each, this
would give us one hunred and fifty
thousand families. Suppose the boys
90 n each from a family, represent.
ing thus five hundred families. Then
one hundred and fifty thousand fami-
lies are taxed to benefit five hundred.
That means that three hundred fami-
lies are are taxed to benefit one family.
This is not just. Besides, an education
is something that is worth paying for.
and there are numbers of schools of a
private character, equal to and better
than these State supported schools. We
build schools We support schools.
Within the last twenty-five years
thirty millions of dollars have been in
vested in Baptist institutions without
asking or receiving one cent from the
taxes Of the people to build and equip
these schools. We believe in justice,
and we believe it unjust to tax three
hundred families to educate the son of
one family. Justice demands that the
peoples money be expended in educat-
ing the people, 4. e., be invested in free
public schools where all can attend.
}. Do Justice IN Politics.
There is an old saying that anything
is fair in4ove or war" The same princi-
pie is applied to politics today. Church
members DANGEROUSLY assert that any
thing is fair in politics anything just
to beat the other side. There is no
particle of truth in this statement. 1t
is entirely contrary to the Bible and
Christianity. And that protesting
Christian who propagate such a doc
trine and acts upon it will find fearful
charges against him in the final reck-
oning.
We are brethren, and God will not
overlook damnable falsehood used to
defeat an opponent, nor will he disre-
gard cruel injustice practiced against a
successful competitor. During the late
campaign papers and speakers Of all
parties hurled falsehoods against their
opponents for the special purpose of
injuring and defeating them. Argu-
ment is all right. exposing frauds and
wrongs is all right. Upnolding ones
principles is ell right. But cheating,
robbing, d~efrauding, lying, stealing,
are not all right, even in politics.
In the late Legislature many things
we're done, not from principle, it would
seem, but as pure spite work at the
other party. But this is hardly strange,
when it contained men that would
boldly declare that we had no reason
to thank God-that God that gives us
all our blessings. They gowed the
wind, and what caus efor surprise that
they reaped the whirlwind?
We might instance various cases of
boldfaced injustice practiced upon an
opponent. This we might find in
either party. But I choose to instance
one practiced by my own party, so far
as I have a party, and practiced against
a man for whom I did not vote but for
whose rival I did vote. But Justice is
justice. 1t is justice not only when in
my favor, but also when in favor of
my opponent. And so long as our
politics and government are permeated
and controlled by such principles as
now hold high carnival. we shall be
ground in the mill of cruel wrong and
injustice.
Let the Christian speaker, the Chris
tian editor, the Christian voter, the
Christian magistrate, do justice even
in politics.
But to the case of which I spoke. In
a certain county of North Carolina at
the last election a man was lawfully
elected County Treasurer. He was
required, but not according to any law,
to give twice as large a bond as his
his predecessor, who was of the other
party. Upon the face of this was writ.