Evening journal., 1897-03-03

ment comes In contact with the citizen,
or where the citizen touches the gov
ernment, all must stand on a level,
whether they be high or low, or rich or
poor.
Out of this proposition grows an
other. II all men are created equal, then
no citizen has a natural right to iniure
any other citizen. If all are created
equal, then no citizen can stand up
and claim that he has a natural right
to injure anyone else. No person who
claims that he has that right can call
himself a goodcitizen; or. II he insists
that he has a natural right to injure
somebody else. he Is net only
a bad citizen, but a dangerous
citizen in country like this
am going to follow that prcpo-
sition little farther. II no citizen has
a natural right to injure any other citi-
zen, then no just government will
either enable one citizen to injure an
other or permit one citizen to injure
another. 1t seems to me that these two
propositions must stand as a matter of
course, because government is insti-
tuted among men to preserve the rights
of individuals. The Declaration OF lnde-
pendence lays down four fundamental
propositions. They are that all men are
created equal; that they are endowed
with inalienable rights; that govern
ments are instituted to preserve those
rights; and that governments derive
their just rights from the consent of
the governed. Those four sentences
convey all there is Of a government of
the people. by the people and for the
people. If these principles are true,
rdf ,tf
able or permit one citizen to injure an
other and if you ask me which is the
best government. I gay without hesita-
tion that that government is best which
most nearly fulfills that definition OF a
government which permits neither af-
firmative injustice by legislation, or in
justice among it's people. When / have
stated this of the duties Of government
and described this, have described all
there Is in government. II a govern
ment will protect every citizen in his
equal rights, it has about filled its
sphere of equal government.
You know the commandment is
"Thou shalt not STEAL" but there are
some people who qualify Il in various
ways. One man will qualify it as mean
ing that he shall not steal on a small
scale. Some say that 1t means that a
man is not allowed to steal directly, but
that Indirectly he may take as much as
he wants. Uaughter). l want to sug-
gest to you a few ways larceny may be
committed. / intend to tell you of the
man who would not go out on the
highway and steal. You can't find any
body who will defend highway robbery
or burglary. But there are polite ways
of stealing which are not 50 dangerous
the the men who steal. but very more
injurious to the man who Is robbed. Let
me apply this matter to the subject Of
taxation. I want to speak Of unjust
taxation. What has IL? It Is unequal tax
alton. That is taxation which makes a
man pay more than he ought TO and
enable another to escape with less than
his share. Is there any process, rule
or standard by which you can deter.
mine the justice Of a law that levies tar
upon q people? ! think you win al
agree with me that every citizen should
contribute to the support OF the govern
mens in proportion to the bene.
| fit which he receives from the gov
ernmont; that every citizen should pay
/ 10 his government in proportion to the
protection or good that his government
| vives him. Nobody insists upon q pei
capita tax. You never heard a person
who insisted that If one man owned
! slO0 worth of property and another ST.
/ 600 900 worth of property, that botl
should pay exactly the same amount oil
lax because each one was an individual
Everybody recognizes that taxation
+ should be graded according 20 the bene
fits received from the government Now
what is unjust taxation? Let me sup
pose case. Let me suppose that two
persons live side by side, and according
to the system of taxation in operation
one man pays $40 when he should only
pay So, and the other pays S. when h'
should pay $40. What Is the effect O
such a law? Larceny. Stripped Of al
verbago II is simply larceny By law
The man who pays $40 is robbed Of $s
and the one who pays but So has stole
s.. If the people who make law inten
to put burdens unjustly upon the shoul
ders of those who are unjustly burden
ed, then the people who make the lay
are morally as guilty OF larceny as mel
upon the highway. No one can escdp
that conclusion. You have got 10 agre
with me on these propositions. An IN
} Just law is merely an indirect means b
which one person is able to take al
other persons property. / took cas-
where one man took twice as much a
he should, but you will find cases wheg
they take much more. Once establis
the principle and then IL Is merely
matter of degree. If you tax a man on
dollar more than his share that is cor
tributing to the purse of the ma
who pays one dollar less tina
his share. The principle is the sam
! You can't sit back and say that you al
not Deing unjustly taxed and shoul
not be concerned. People who live in
I country like this ought to be concerne
and should be concerned to root OF
any system unjust in operation eve
though they may at this time be real
!, ing a benefit from the injustice. In II
changing scenes of time man IS M
/ always in the same position. The ma
! who profits by It to-day, may suffer
T. it tomorrow, and his children and h
. children's children after him may su
: fer more than would compensate for a
his gain. There is nothing which "
: can leave your children which
E equally valuable to just government
At this juncture Mrs. Bryan enter'