The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1899-05-31
SOCIALISM IN HIGH PLACES.
,rrALTHY PEOPLE GIVING VITALITY
TO CONTENTION OF SOCIALISTS.

WEALTHY PEOPLE GIVING VITALITY
TO CONTENTION OF SOCIALISTS.
The Bradley VS. rtins and william Waldorf
Astor Forswear Allegiance to the
United states and sail Away to-
Europe to Escape Taxes.
One of the saddest signs of the times
is the manner in which the wealthy peo-
ME of this country are giving vitality
tn the CONVENTIONS of socialists and by
their actions proving that this disinte~
,rafinc creed is not confined to the in~
digent masses.
Two very notable illustrations of this
assertion are found in the Instances of
the Bradley Martins of New York, and
William Waldorf Astor, who claims Lon
dom as his residence. The Bradley Mar
fins have gone to the extreme limit.
They have appeared before the tax C IN
n,ssioners of New York and fully and
formally foresworn allegiance to the
Ttited States and expressed their inten~
zion on an affidavit never to return to
the shores OF this country. They give
Is a reason for this radical desertion of
mother land that the ,ciety in which
+bov circulate in Am erica is not the
ANAL of that with which they affiliate in
ondon. A more potent cause, and one
which IS generally accepted as the true
motive is that the tax rates have been
roisad in New York, and that this family
of millonares. rather than disgOrge a
,,ortiop of its wealth, chose to fOrsake
tba land of their birth and to spend the r
fortune in a country whose laws are not
50 rioldly enforced, and where there is
oneen and gided arlstocracy to which to
toady and with whom to pass the re-
mainder of their days.
Mr.. Astor's otfense is scarcely less
grave. He has represented to the TAX
commission of New York that he is now
subject of foreign country, and as
such exempt from taxation. His rea~
sons for this course are plainly manifest.
He owns an immense amount of property
in the United States, and while he
wishes to retain the protect of the
government he desires to avoid the in
convenient and altogether unnecessary
expense of paying for this pr lection.
He came all the way from London to i'm
press the fact of his alien citizenship on
the tax commission, but the gentlemen
of the latter, who CHANGED to be sturdy
Americans, saw thrcugh the gauze in "a
moment, and told him fatty that he
must either fOrswear allegiance to the
United States or meet his tax bills and
pay forthe privilege of protection.
What are we to expect from the less
educated and less affluent of our people
when those who are supposed to typlfV
the cream of patriotism and the bull
warks of capital act in this selfish and
unreasoning manner? To put straight
question, d es not their attitude toward
the nation under whose shelterlng wing
they attained their great names and CO.
lOSSal fortunes bear truth to the asser~
tons of the socialists and furnish the
latter with fuel with which to scatter
the flames of discomfort and active mis-
chief? AMI the question that next pre-
8ents itself as hardly less serious than
its predecessor is, what effect will such a
course exert on the minds and opinions
Of our brethren ACROSS the water? Will
they not very naturally conclude that
the citizens of country who regard 1T
as a mere Ell Dorado wherein to acquire
wealth and then forsake 1T for more
pleasant climes in which to enjoy the
fruits of their own and other mems la
Dor are conscious OF deficiencies in Their
native land which must be supplied by
other countries? Worse still, will it not
give them similar impression of the
entire nation?
Nor are these radical utterances. They
are deliberate meditations on facts too
apparent 70 escape notice, and the truth
(which is we'll known TO every thinking
man. The suggestion of remedy is
another matter. The main point is to
iocate and define the disease. That it
exists, and in a erriblv malignant form,
"a sad aud sinister tact.-Atlanta Con-
stitution.