Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-08-20

Tut wnen the laws unuerraKe TO auu TO
those natural and just advantages artificial
distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities and
exclusive privileges, to make the rich rich
er and the potent more powerful the hum
BILE members of society, the farmers, me-
chanics and the day laborers, who have
neither the time nor the means Of securing
like favors for themselves, have a right to
complain Of the injustice Of their govern
ment. Those who support the Chicago
platform indorse all of the quotation from
Jackson, the latter part as we'll as the
former part.
We are not surprised to find arrayed
against us those who are the beneficiaries
of government favoritism. They have read
our platform. Nor are we surprised to
learn that we must in this campaign face
the hostility of those who find a pecuniary
advantage in advocating the doctrine Of
noninterference when great aggregations of
wealth are trespassing upon the rights of
individuals. We welcome such opposition.
1t is the highest Endorsement which
could be bestowed upon us, Weare content
to have the cooperation of those VINO desire
to have the government administered with
out fear or favor. 1t is not the wish of the
general public that trusts should spring
into existence and override the weaker
members of society 1t is not the wish of
the general public that these trusts should
destroy competition and then collect such
Sax as they will from those who are at
their mercy. Nor is it the fault of the gen
eral public that the instrumentalities of
government have been so often prostituted
to purposes Of private gain. Those who
stand upon the Chicago platform believe
that the government should not only avoid
wrongdoing, but that it should also pre-
vent wrongdoing and they believe that
the law should be enforced alike against
all enemies Of the public veal. They do
not excuse petit larceny, but they declare
that grand larceny is equally crime They
do not defend the occupation of the high
waynan who robs the unsuspecting trav-
.slcr, but they include among the transeTess-
ors those who, through the more polite and
less hazardous means of legislation, appro-
pirate to their own use the proceeds of the
toll of others The commandments Thou
shalt not steal, - thundered from Sinai and
reiterated in the legislation of all nations,
is no respecter of persons. 1t must be ap-
piled to the great as well as the small, to
the strong as well as the weak, to the cor
porate person created by law as well as to
the person of flesh and blood created by
the Almighty No government is worthy
of the name which is not able to protect
from every arm uplifted for his injury the
humblest citizen who lives beneath the
flag. 1t follows as necessary conclusion
that vicious legislation must be remedied
by tine people who suffer from the effects of
such legislation and not by those who en-
joy its benefits.
The Income Tax Decision.
The Chicago platform has been con-
demned by some because it dissents from
an opinion rendered by the supreme court
declaring the income tax law unconstitu-
tional Our critics even go so far as to ap-
ply the name anarchist to those who stand
upon that plank of the platform. 1t must
be remembered that we expressly recog-
nize the binding force of that decision SO
long as it stands as O part of the law of
the land. There is in the platform no sug
gestion of an attempt to dispute the au-
thority 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 1t may hereafter be consti-
tuted." Is there any disloyalty In that
pledge2 For 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 "a fntJ1re
court as much right to return to the judi
cial precedents of 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 a rehearing.
While the money question overshafows
all other questions in importance, desire
it distinctly understood that shall offer
no apology for the income taxplank 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.
oral 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
of transferring one mans property to an
other mans pocket, and while. the PROCESS
may be quite satisfactory to the men who
escape just taxation 1t can never be salts
factory to those who are overburdened
The last income tax law, with its exemp-
ton provisions, when considered In con-