The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-07-22


ths Virginia Bar Association. which he'o
its session at Old Point last week. ar.
waits said in part:
There are two things that must stiiAe
the thoughtful reader of history: ffst'
the generally commonplace and sor-
Gid motives underlying great Te0eiut' .s
End secondly, the saneness ana want VI
originality in the experiments IN ait ages
and by all peoples in the art OF govern
snent.
AS TO the first proposition, all Oh US are
prone to view q great reVoiutioii
moral earthquake. The struggle OF
people TO emerge from the abyss OIL 1shoi-
sffcs and oppression into the light o. no
erty and intelligence, as the thfopoiiis
pr the heart of the people against the oars
Of its prison house and to look upon iesto-
.srs OF great revolutions as sears anu l,io,
shets, risking their life and freedom ana
happiness for the upbuiidins OF ,het
peoples. Yet when we look cioseis' we
ind that, in the great majority OF Casts
revolutions are simply questions OF DOL
bars and cents" that it is the pocket
nerve that has been touched: that the as
:piration ds the gioriticatiof. of the doilar
and not of freedom; that money IS INC
reality. and liberty, the. incident
There are men of patriotism and OF
Intelligence, with hearts that hled Tor
Ahe oppression OF the people in the time
lof ak,aiis XIV, such as Marshal Fauban.
but their warnings and protests were
unheeded, and the Dloodiest revolution
known TO history followed
Go back still further. The disruption Of
.he Jewish monarchy and the secession of
the ten tribes was due to the refusal of
the successor of Solomon TO accede to the
demands that be should abate The tax
axact!ons Of the preceding reign. The
misrepresentation of the taxes OF the Greek
Confederacy marked the beginning Of the
decline of Athens and of the Greeks and
the loss to the world of one of the most
marvellous ciyiliza tons that has ever
been built UP by the genius of people
Nor need We go so far s:-field for examples
of this proposition. The "Two-panny
Act" resulting in the Parsons case, aud
The eloGuence of Patrick Henry was the
beginning in Virginia, and the Stamp
Act and the Duty on Tea the immediate
cause OF the great revolution which dis
fupted the Ansio-Saxol race, while Wat
Tyler. the leader OF Il revolution, MAS
driven 10 it by a personal indignity offered
TO his daughter by tax assessor. And it
is another indisputable fact that in most
cases where these revolutions have taken
place, the immediate cause of the revolu-
ton, the relief from the burden of taxa
ton. has not been achieved, hut in almost
every case they have worked for liberty
and for freedom.
THE SECOND PROPOSITION.
My second proposition, as to the same
mess of experiments, IS equally founded
anon history Whether it be despo.iSm
or a democracy. a monarchy or repuh-
atc, we find that in the essentials which
go 10 make up the daily life of the people
me experiences are much the same AS
EAR back as history goes we find the peo-
pies Of the world looking upon taxation
az burden to be eraded and escaped. and
Fne governments of the world endeavor!ng
70 lind new sources of taxation and new
methods of collection
me general property tax, which now
prevails practically over the whole Of the
Gniied States. and the assessment and col
lection of which gives more concern TO the
government than any other one question,
was tried in all of its different phases by
Rome. and she experienced precisely the
same difficulties that we. in Virginia. are
experiencing to-day. although the punish
ment for false returns and the evasion of
taxation was death: her experience show
ing that in the very shadow of death men
will evade. hide and escape taxation, If it
be possible 10 do so. and human ingenuity
has been exeriedto this more largely, per-
tlaps. than to any other.
her some of the sama questions that we, in
These United States, are meeting to-day;
her statesmen appreciated. as we do, that
the accumulation Of enormous fortunes l. a
menace to a republican form of govern
msnt and one of their methods OF meet
ing this question is curious. as an effort
Of one of The first republics 10 preserve
republican Institutions
Another instance of this sameness has
hEa Tha nf "a ri,1p sls3nh pi
widowers. In the ancient governments this
was a common tax. and only in the last
few years Illinois and one or two other
States have attempted 20 inaugurate
similar tax. Mediaerai England added TO
this a tax on marriage. This tax was paid
at the time of marriage.
One of the most curious taxes that has
prevailed in some governments, notably
Russia. is on boards; the tax being re-
tined after few years in some cases, so
as 10 be proportionate to the length and
shape of the beard. Another thing where
we find al, absolute similarity in all gov
erments is the dislike of the people to the
tax Gatherer.-whe,her he is called pub
lican in the Bible, Farmer General IN
France. or Treasurer in Virginia, he is a
gentleman whose visits are never de-
sired, and whose work is never appre-
ciated.
TANATIoN'S HISTORY
A history of taxation is one of the most
curious. one of the most absorbing oil
subjects. and one of which the average
man Is most ignorant
The Barons at Runnyinead in l2l5 re-
ceived from King John The great charter,
and laid the foundation of tho liberty OF
tho AnSio-SaXon race. and the preserSa-
ton aid guarantee of these liberties was
in a clause of that charter 1t
Is also noteworthy I'M this connection that
when labor disputes are settled by ar
in England, the labor organize
tons choose as their representatives al
most invariably, member OF the nobil-
ity; that although the aristocracy and
wealthy are the governing class IN En-
gland. the tendency has been in re-
cent years to more and more remove the
burden of taxation from the poor ana
to place It upon tie shoulders of the rich;
that the laws for the protection of labor
Ii England and her colonies are the broad
est and most liberal OF any nation, ana
that the methods of taxation in England
and her colonies are the most advanced
and least burdensome to the farmer and
ahoring man of any system in the world.
The provisions of Magma Charta pro-
rided that there shall be no taxation
without representation,' and this has been
The cause of bloody wars and revolutions