davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-03-09

Each citizen has a personal interest, a
pecuniary interest, in the tax return of
his neighor. We are members of
great partnership, and it is the right of
each to know what every other member
is contributing to the partnership and
what he is taking from it. 1t is not
private affair; it is public concern of
OF the first importance.
Perhaps there should be general
proclamation of amnesty and fresh
start. We should discard these old no.
tions, and, wiping the slate off, proclaim
a tax renaissance. Every agency that
deals with public and social questions
should lend its help. The grand jury
should be charged to investigate and to
indict the delinquents. Returns and
assessments must be honest. II there
are inequalities in the law they must be
remedied by legislation, and not by the
ursurpation of the individual. l think
we must assume that there are very
few, if any, of our States prepared to
consent to the abolition of our personal
property tax"
Gas supplemental tax, levied with
in the requirements of equality and
uniformity, succession or inheritance
tax may be wei. enough, if the State
constitution permits it; but the princi-
pie of progression, higher rate for
larger estates, seems 10 me to be incon-
sistant with that rule of proportion and
equality which should characterize all
taxation. The practical question, the
one our people must solve, and solve
speedily, Is the enforcement of the per.
sonal property tax and the equalization
OF real estate assessments. Perhaps
the State might declare and maintain an
estoppel against the claim of any man
or his heirs to property, the ownership
of which has been disclaimed in the tax
returnsD
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-03-09

column on this page. These extracts
make impressive reading at this time.
Vermonrs appraising officers are prob
ably as watchful and as faithful as
those OF any other commonwealth; tax
lodging is probably prevalent in the
State in no greater degree than else
where-perhaps it is less prevalent-but
the evil is not altogether unknown
here, and listers will have occasion for
the exercise of that vigilance and the
practice of that resolution, independ-
ence and fidelity to their lawful duty
that is the price of even an approxi-
mately just and equal distribution of
the burdens of taxation. There is
much in what Mr.. Harrison says that
should lead the assessing officer and the
possessor of wealth each TO a clear
understanding of his duty, and to an
alert listening to the still small voice
of conscience.
President Harrison apparently has
small faith in any of the new tangled
substitutes for taxation of personal
property. He believes in revival and
practice Of common honesty in the
matter of discovering and returning in
tangible personal property for taxation.
He appeals to mems consciences, but
if that appeal is in vain then he would
have recourse to legal process to compel
men of wealth to show their hands to
the tax assessor. He goes 80 far as to
say that "perhaps the State might de-
clare and maintain an estoppel against
the claim of any man or his heirs to
property the ownership of which had
been disclaimed in the tax returns" A
suggestion of this radical nature from
man and lawyer of Benjamin Har-
rison's standing cannot be lightly re-
garded, and it adds force and signifi-
canoe TO his warning that 1--WE must in
augurate, and at once, system that
shall equalize tax burdens" and that
"men of wealth should lead the move
ment."
A moral corollary to honesty in max
ing tax returns is honesty and eff
cheney in expanding money raised by
taxation. Dishonest or wasteful ex-
penditure of taxes does not constitute
valid excuse for tax lodging, but if
the people feel that they are getting
their moneys worth in needed or per-
manent public works, or in judicious
and well considered expenditure of
any kind, the majority will feel less in
clined to cheat the community, general
or local, in making out their lists of
taxable property, and will be more
ready to pay the assessed rate of taxa
ton.
May President Harrison's appeal to
the consciences of his countrymen
prove powerful for diminishing tax
frauds; but if their consciences are not
touched, may the argument addressed
to their fears do its perfect work.
The ex-president has earned the ap-
probation of all good citizens by his for
chile discussion of a matter OF the
gravest importance.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-03-09
Tithing Time.

The officers for taking an account of
the value and the kinds of the taxable
property of the State have heen chosen.
The present is the year of the quadren.
ial appraisal of real estate, and tithing
time is drawing nigh. For Vermont,
its tithing officers and tax payers, the
words of ex-President Harrison appro-
priately spoken at Chicago on the an
niversary of the birth of the Father of
his Country, contain timely admoni-
ton. Extended extracts from the ex-
Presidents remarksIo ION the "Obligations
of Wealth." its duty to contribute to
the support of government it's full rata.
BILE share of taxation, without evasion or
concealment, are printed in another
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-03-09

barbarism in the South will in the end
give place to the supremacy of law and
order.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-03-09
ARTHUR ROPES. General Editor.

THE WAToHMAN's congratulations to
both Joseph w. Sault and Arthur F.
Stone on the alliance these newspaper
men have recently completed.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-03-09

SPAIN is too poor to feed the starv-
ing people, by her brutal order herded
like cattle around the fortified towns of
Cuba, but she is Offering millions for
warships while the people Of the
United States, for whose destruction
the ships are intended, are sending
shiploads of bread and clothing for
her perishing subjects, victims of
an unnatural mothers merciless bar
bsrism. -
THE Herald of Rutland takes some
things both too seriously and too bump
tiously. The WATCHMAN has neither
the power nor the inclination to deny
to the newspapers permission to talk
about whom they like for the Office Of
lieutenant governor or any other Of
fee; and would certainly not put a bit
in the mouth Of the marble city con-
temporary, or undertake the job, -not
il it desired his destruction. If the
Herald, or any other paper, finds de.
light in bsbbling about any man who
will not be candidate for Office under
any circumstances, that is no concern
OF the WATCHMAN. The material fact
is that the person in question cannot be
talked into being candidate for office.
He has enough else to engage his at
tention, and has no stomach for official
straight jackets.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-03-09

THE naval board of inquiry is still
brooding over the cause of the destruc-
ton of the battleship Maine, and no in
timation is given of the stime when it
will report, much less of the nature of
the report. To the non-expert the diff.
Guilty of reaching conclusion from the
evidence the board is likely to have be-
fore it, conclusion that will be con-
vincing, even to Americans, is so great
that satisfactory solution of the mys-
terry does not seem probable. If man
with bullet hole in his head is found
on the Threshold of neighbor who had
cherished against him violont i'll will,
and who had threatened his life, the
theory of suicide would hardly be tena-
BILE. The neighbor would unquestion-
ably be held on the charge of murder
and the chances are that he would be
convicted and hanged. Men have
pulled the halter under no stronger cir
cumstancial proof of guilt The aver
age American is taking like view of
the blowing up of the Maine. The the
DRY of accidental cause in the one case
is as tenable as that of suicide in the
other-ne more; and the circumstantial
evidence is as conclusive in one case
as in the other-so conclusive as to
justify suspicion against which Spanish
protestation of innocence is of little
avail. If, however, Spaniards are
guilty, the Spanish government should
not be charged with completely 10 the
crime. That is very different thing.
SENATOR PROCTOR is a practical
man, and is practical in his statesman
ship. With him sit is best not think;
it is best to know" So he takes his
grip and goes to Havana, as the hour
for decisive action on the Cuban ques-
ton approaches, and informs his judy
ment by sight and contact with the
vital phases of the situation. Drawing
sanitary dangers he has visited the
camps of the wretched reconcentrados
and has found the published tales of
death and suffering there "paling their
Intellectual fires" in the presence of the
awful reality. He his h5en with Miss
Clara Barton, agent OF me Red Cross
Society, in her mission Of mercy, ad-
ministering Americas charity, and
praises her administration of her hui
name trust and her heroic devotion to
a work from which the bravest heart
might shrink ,lappalled by the element
of personal danger and by sights of
human misery that human eye and
plying heart cannot willingly endure.
Senator Proctor will have some idea,
evolved from personal experience, of
the animus of the local Spanish Off
cials and citizenship, and he will I'M
doubtedly have his individual opinion
as to the primary cause of the disaster
to the battleship Maine. If he speaks
after his return, what he has to say
and what he may leave unsaid-in pub
lie will catch the ear of the Senate and
ho Nation NJ 1o,oo
The age-herald., 1898-03-29
The Siege of Havana.

Tn 1762 England and Spain were at war. and an English fleet was gathered at Mar unique for an attack upon Havana, then as now the chief city of the West Indies. The governor of Havana had 4,6O0 men with whom to defend the city; the English force consisted of II 0OO men, besides 1COo negroes from the Leeward islands, and 1,500 from Jamaica. The defense was stub born, and endorsements were summoned from New York and Massachusetts. Among them came, says Bancroft, Putnam, "the brave ranger of Connecticut"
 The seize lasted from June to Aug. Il, when the Spanish flag was hauled down, and Havana in English-American hands. Moro Castle was taken by storm, Nine ships of the line and four frigates were captured in the harbor, and the booty was estimated at $10,000, 900.
 Bancroft dwels upon the nature of the sege, conducted as it was in midsummer in tropical clmaet. The heaviest la- bors of constructing batteries from fascines held together with earth from the rocky surroundings, fell upon the negroes, and yet he adds:
 More fell victims to a putrid fever, of which the malignity left but three or four hours between robust health and death. Some wasted away with loathsome disease. "Over the graves the carrion-crows hoy cred and often scratched away the scanty earth which rather hid than buried the dead. Hundreds of carcasses foated on the ocean. And yet such was the enthus- iasm of the English, such the resolute zeal of the sailors and soldiers, such the unity of action between the fleet and the army, that the vertical sun of June and July the heavy rains of August. raging fever and strong and well-defended fortresses all the obstacles of nature and art, were sur mounted and the most decisive victory of the war was gained"
 In the subsequent settlement of the war Cuba was restored to Spain, and a century and a half of misrule has followed If that long period of misrule is to be ended by force, the contest over 1t should not occur in the rainy season; for the tropical cli- mate is then deadly to unacclimated troops. Some medical man out of the blizzards of the northwest has said that the boiling of the water and the cooking of all food will render all men immune in Havana; but this is a mistake. The unacclimated will in the wet season die, if they are e2 posed to severe labors in the wet season, which lasts from June until November. The insurgents, who are accustomed to the cli- mate, may, however. aided by the Amer Jean fleet, be equal to the task; but if they are not, operations upon land in and around Havana must be postponed until the ending of the rainy season.
The age-herald., 1898-03-29
IT MUST BE DONE NOW

Frocn the New York Independent.
 Senator Prooaor's description of the sit uaition in Cuba, which he studied on the ground with no htt1e care to get at the truth, SCOUTS to us conclusive. He is not a ju1ge bug a man of cool clear Judgment wclo does not allctw the ferver of sentiment to bec,oud tfle ground of fact, and who has borne the responsibility of office as s1cIasary of wi9r His deliberate judgment as to the condition of things an Cuba comes with convincing force to the country. The suffering is appalling The spectacle wfdch most moved him was that "of million a1ld a half of people, the entire native popu1a- ticn of Cuba, struggling for freedom and daMverance from the worst mhsgoVernment of which I ever had knowledge"
 We say the time is at hand for the fnter- vertton cf the United States wd!ich MT. Cleveland contemplated. In May the ra5ny season will set in. Tae prolongation of the conflict through another summer means the prcrongatton of the fndegcribable misery Of the starving, dying reccpceutrados, whose sufferings appeal irresdsttbly to our hu- nIanity.
The age-herald., 1898-03-29
The Louisiana Suffrage Plan.

The Louisiana constitutional convention has adopted an alternate intelligence and property qualification. and it has also adopted by" a vote of 95 out of 134 the famous section 5. In substance section 5 confers the suffrage, without regard to education or property. upon all male native citizens who possessed the right to vote on the first day of January, 1867. and upon all their male descendants of 21 years of age or more.
 The best that can be said for this clause is it is definite, distinct and specific. No discretion is vested in any officer to be rascally exercised. In the special registra- tion provided for there will be plain, straight forward work. free from trickery or dishonesty. Practically this clause however, lets in all. or nearly all, whites, while 1t lets in scarcely any blacks; for the reconstruction measures had not gone into operation in 1867. The fourteenth and fifteenth amendments had not been adopt ed Many good lawyers, including Senator Pettus, have said this clause would be held to be unconstitutional as a discrimi- nation against the negroes, but on it's face it reads "all male native citizens" and it may therefore be upheld.
 This question has been thoroughly dis cussed and considered, and it would seem that there should be no doubt as to the law. It is conceded by all that an educa- tional or property qualification applicable to all, does not contravene the terms of the fifteenth amendment, no matter how uneven its operations may be- It is not disci .minatory. and that is all the fifteenth amendment forbids. It is claimed there were some negro voters in Louisiana in 1S67 If so, they and their descendants will be entitledsto the suffrage under section s. The test is applied to all alike. The
The age-herald., 1898-03-29

universality that renders an educational or property qualification admissible, would seem to exsTapt section 5, with It's absurd hereditary sights. from the prohibitions of the aftsezth amendment.
 .''The right to vote." said the supreme court in the Cruikshank case, ''comes from the state: but the right of exemption from the prohibited discrimination comes from the United States"
 Aside from the question of constitution ality section is, however ethically inde- fensible. It Is not necessary in Louisiana or in other states in order to ward off negro supremacy. The educational and property qualifications do that and beyond that a state should not go, unless 1t be to grant concessions to the veterans of either army of the civil war.
The age-herald., 1898-03-29
The Cotton-MiII Question.

In all the weary waste of words over the steady but sure transfer of the cotton mills
 to the cotton fields, now and then the es-
 sence of the case appears-the cost of liv
 ing. Wages not lower in the south
 when the cost of living is taken into con-
 sideration. The operatives are better paid,
 although they receive less money The
 Age-Herald has repeatedly explained this
 feature of the problem, but the learned
 and esteemed writers have generally seen
 fit to discuss almost every other phase of
 the question A few days ago, however,
 Congressman Griggs, of Georgia, presented
 in the house of representatives some of the
 essential facts, in these exuberant words
 "Why, MT. Chairman, the average south
 erner would not feed his worst enemy on the stale bread and beans which are the staple food of the New England working men.
 .In most of the factory towns of the south-in fact, in all outside the larger cities-choice beef, mutton and pork can be bought the year round at from to 10 cents a pound, chickens at from 10 to 20 cents apiece and eggs at from to b cents a dozen. Contrast these prices with your
 beef and mutton at from 12 to 25 cents a
 pound chickens at from 30 to 40 cents
 apiece, and eggs at from 15 to 40 cents a
 dozen.
 .'Except for. a few months in the year,
 vegetables do not grow in New England, and they are luxurious then. In the south
 the gardens bloom from Christmas to Christmas, and are necessary adjuncts to every home, high and low. In them grows ! everything that can appease hunger or tickle the palate. Lower standard Of living in the south, MT. Chairman! I would not l exchange the dinner to which many of my | constituents are sitting today while ad- | dress this house for any dinner that the i skill and ingenuity of the chief of Wash | ington chefs could devise. I would not incite my friends on this side of the house to riot but must say that dinner of hog fowl and sweet Georgia collards, or bacon and tender spring turnips, or fried chicken and brown gravy, with the inseparable &C., compartment of sugar yams smoking corn pones, hot biscuit and cold buttermilk, is better than all the pork and beans, or corned beef and pickled cabbage, pumpkin
 pies stale bread and color cider than can
 be spread on every table in New England. An Mir. Chairman! gentlemen from New
 England should extend their acquaintance
 among southern people and southern gar
 dens."
 But the superiority of how jowl to can
 ned goods, of Georgia collards to state bread, is not al1-there are lower rents, smaller fuel bills. lighter expenses for wool clothing, fewer doctors bills and the like. to be taken into considerations; and in the
 end it will be seen that the abundant and ! intelligent native labor available in south
The age-herald., 1898-03-29
The Maine Was Blown Up.

The presidents message and the report of the naval court are very dispassfonate documents, dealing with the facts, never departing from the formal tone that char acterizes official communications. In sub stance the court finds that the Maine, while ernment pilot, was blown up by sub marine mine, because her outer shell was forced up about thirty-four feet, her bot tom plating was bent into reverse V shape, her vertical keel was broken into, and her flat keel was bent into an angie similar to the angle formed from the bot Hom nlates. The break itself is to day thir- ty feet above its normal position. The court unanimously says that these injuries to the ship could have been caused only by the explosion of an external mine ar about frame IS on the port side of the ship. The court secured no evidence what ever to show who caused the mine to be placed and exploded under the ship.
 The president transmits the findings of the court without comment, but with the additional information that he has trans mitted the findings of the court, together with his views of them, to the Queen Re- gent, and awaits her reply.
 A long diplomatic tangle seems to be ahead. The president withholds his com munication to the Spanish government, and thus the country remains in suspense and in the dark. The view that the admin 1stra ton has taken of the matter remains concealed. No intimation is given of the policy that will be pursued. It is however, plain that considerable time will elapse be- fore the Maine incident is closed.
 The vessel was moored in friendly har- bor at the exact spot selected by the Span ish authorities. At that spot she is de- stroyed by powerful explosion that could have been planned and executed only by a person or persons possessing expert Knowledge of high explosives and electrics Every reasonable presumption is against the Spanish people, if not the Spanish na- ton; every reasonable presumption IS against the exercise on the part of the Spanish authorities of due diligence" in the protection of a friendly ship In a friend ly harbor. It is going beyond the reason- able to ask any impartial person to believe that the mine could have been placed and exploded without the knowledge of at least some of the Spanish authorities. It is cer- tainly the duty of the Spanish government to show non-complicity in the disaster. She owes this duty to herself and to civliza- ton. Upon the Spanish reply and upon the action of Spain in handling the prob lem of responsibility much depends; and the patience of this country will be severely tried, in all probability before conclusion is reached
The age-herald., 1898-03-29

From the New York Evening Post
 The political folly of making negro ap- poantmsuts in the south which are offen- sive to the whites is as great as its dmpro- pr.sty from the point of view of the public service These appointments not only hurt the blacks as a race, but they hurt the re- publican party as political organizatlodi' A negro of very ordinary capacity was re- cent.y mate collector of the port of Sa- varna,h, Ga., sctefy as a reward for ser vices in the St. Louis convention of 1SS6. This slng.e appointment has driven back to tire democrats hdmdr'eds of white msn III Georgia, who voted the republican ticket tn 1s9e, end might have been persuaded to continue voting 1t. The letter which we publish elsewhere from q weal-infofmed seut9lerDer shows why this must fneVi- taIbly be the effect of such appointments, and its warming should be heedeA It IS a condition. not theory, which confronts the adnir strAticn in this matter.
The age-herald., 1898-03-29
DON'T LEAVE THE FARM

Mrs Norris B. Slack in Phoenixville Mes senger.
 Come, boys, I have something to tell youi Come near, would whisper it low, You are thinking of leaving the homestead. Don't be in a hurry to go. The city has many attractions,
 But think of the vices and sins, When once in the vortex of fashions,
 How soon the course downward begins You talk of the mines of Australia,
 They are wealthy in gold, no doubt, But ah! there is gold on the farm, boys, If only you will shovel it out. The mercantile life is a hazard;
 The goods are first high and then low; Better risk the old farm a little longer, Don't be in "a hurry to go The great busy west has Inducements, And so has the busiest mart But wealth is not made 5n a day, boys Don't be i'm a hurry to start. The bankers and brokers are wealthy, They rake in their thousands or SO; Oh! think of the frauds and Receptions. Don't be in hurry to go. The farm is the safest and surest,
 The orchards are loaded today; You're as free as the air of the mountains, And monarch of all you survey: Better stay on the farm a while longer, Though profits come in rather slow, Remember you have nothing to risk. boys, Don't be in a hurry to go.