Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1896-08-20

LEONAHOIOV
/ rs those who, through the more polite and
iess hazardous means Of legislation appro-
| pirate 10 their own use the proceeds of the
I oil Of others The commandment, Thou
shalt not steal, +" thundered from Sinai and
reiterated In the legislation Of all nations,
| Is no respecteF Of persons. Il must be ap-
| piled to the great as well as the small, TO
| the strong as well as the weak, TO the cor
poratc person created by law as well as 70
| The person of flesh and blood created by
! the Almighty. No government is worthy
| 5f the name which Is not able TO protect
from every arm uplifted for his injury the
humblest citizen who lives beneath the
| dag It follows as a necessary conclusion
/ that vicious Legislation must be remedied
| By the people who suffer from the effects Of
such Legislation and not by those who en-
/ Joy its benefits.
The Income Tar Declsloa.
- &c e. 60 Raa;aaz.z =. -, - 60 :
declaring the Income tax law unconstitu.
sionaL Our critics even go so far as to ap.
| ply the name anarchist 10 those who stand
| upon that plank of tho platform II must
be remembered that we expressly recog-
nize the binding force of that decision SO
| long rs IL stands as part of the law OF
| the land. There Is in the platform no sug-
| gestion of an attempt to dispute the au-
| shority of the supreme court. The party is
| simply pledged TO use "all the constitu-
| tional power which remains after that de-
| cision or which may come from its reversal
! by the court as IL may hereafter be consti-
| tuted." Is there any disloyalty in that
| pledge? For u hundred years the supreme
court of the United States has sustained
the principle which underlies the income
tax. Some 90 years ago this same court
sustained without a dissenting voice an in
come tax law almost identical with the
one recently overthrown. Has not n future
court as much right to return 10 the Judi.
cial precedents Of a century as the present
! court had TO depart from them: When
courts allow rehearings they admit that
error is possible. The late decision against
the income tax was rendered by majority
Of one after rchcaring.
While the money question overshadows
all other questions in Importance, desire
Ii distinctly understood that / shall offer
no apology for the income tax plank of the
Chicago platform. The last income tax
law sought to apportion the burdens of
government more equitably among those
who enjoy the protection of the govern
ment At present the expenses Of the fed
cral government, collected through internal
| revenue taxes and import duties, are espe
cially burdensome upon the poorer classes
Of society. a law which collects from some
citizens more than their share of the taxes
and collects from other citizens less than
their share is simply an indirect means
4 g =
| other mans pocket, and while the process
may be quite satisfactory to the men who
escape just taxation it can never be salts
factory TO those who are Overburdened.
The last income tax law, with its exemp-
ton provisions, when considered in con-
nection with other methods of taxation in
force, was not unjust to the possessors of
large incomes, because they were not COM
PEELED to pay n total federal tax greater
than their share The income tax is not
| new, nor is it based upon hostility to the
rich. The system is employed in several
of the most important nations Of Europe,
and every income tax law row upon the
statute books in any land, so far ns have
been able TO ascertain, contains an exemp-
| ton clause While the collection Of an in
come tax in other countries does not make
| it necessary for this nation to adopt the
system, yet it ought to moderate the IAN
guage of those who denounce the income
tax as an assault upon the well to do.
Not only shall l refuse 10 apologize for
! the advocacy of an income tax law by the
| national convention, but shall also refuse
| TO apologize for the exercise by it of the
right to dissent from n decision of the su-
| preme court. In "a government like ours
| every public official is n public servant,
| whether he holds office by election or by
| appointment, whether he serves for n term
of years or during good behavior, and the
| people have a right to criticise his official
| acts. Confidence is everywhere the parent
/ of deSpOtism. Free government exists in
| jealousy and not in confidence " These are
! the words of Thomas jefferson, ard sub
| NIT that they present truer conception OF
| popular government than that entertained
| by those who would prohibit an unfavor-
| able comment upon n court decision.
/ Truth will vindicatc itself Only error fears
! free speech. No public official who con-
scicntiously discharges his duty as he sees
/ it will desire to deny to those whom he
serves the right TO discuss his official con.
! duct
The Paramount Question.
Now let me ask you to consider the para
mount question If this campaign - the
money question. 1t is scarcely necessary to
defend the principle of 5imetallism. No
national party during the entire history OF
| the United States has ever declared against
| it, and no party in this campaign has had
| the temerity TO oppose 1t. Three parties
| the Democratic, Populist and Silver par.
ties-have not only declared! for bimetal-
lism, but have outlined the specific legisla.
tion necessary to restore silver TO its an
cient position by the side Of gold. The
| Republican platform declares that bimetal-
| lism is desirable when 1t pledges the Re
| publican party to aid in securing il as soon
as the assistance of certain foreign nations
can he obtained. Those who represented
the minority sentiment in the Chicago con
! vention opposed the free coinage OF silver
! by the United States by independent &C.
| ton on the ground that, IN their Judgment
] IL ''would retard or entirely prevent the
| establishment Of international bimetal
! lism, TO which the efforts Of the govern
ment should be steadily directed. Wher
! they asserted that the efforts Of the govern
/ ment should be steadily directed toward
/ the establishment of international bimetai
ASSN, they condemned monometallism
! The gold standard has been weighed in thC
balance and found wanting. Take from 4
| the powerful support IF the money owning
! and the money changing classes, and II can
| not stand for one day In any nation in tbs
| world 1t was fastened upon the Unitet
| States without discussion before the peg
| pie, and its friends have never yet bee,
willing TO risk a verdict before the voter
upon that issue
There E=n he 70 sympathy o. co-opsra
! tion between tie advocates OF universa
/ gold standard and the advocates Of biue.
/ allism. Between bimetalllsm, whether in
! tieucndent or international! and the goiS