St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1900-09-05
Those Open Letters to Circuit.
A David Fighting at GrOut Goliath

David Fighting at GrOut Goliath.
Neighbor French felt like a big fgur
in the Dillingham; cohorts last week, AM
there were plenty among the organs ant
managers to assure him that he was tn
David who had in his "open letter
hurled the pebble that had felled tn
! Grout Goliath. And it made him vail
ant to 90 into the field and smte som
more. And he went and straightwa,
took rather ridiculous tumble befor,
intelligent people. 1t was with thi!
second open letter" telling Grout of hi.
"unpardonable ignorarc e" of constitu
tional law, of court decisions, etc.
Grout may not be the biggest of law
yers, it is true. But on that question he
was plainly right and stated only what
all men of average information about
public affairs know to be true and have
known for at least a dozen years. The
discussion, which in every phase of it
has been about the siliest ever inflicted
on the public in order to earn pay for
extra editions" OF papers ordered by
candidatcs-the product OF what Bis
marck used to call his Reptile Fund
began over the socalled Parker oleo-
margarine bill in the legislature of 1854,
imposing tax of 10 cents pound on
the manufacture of oleomargarine and
requiring licences OF from $100Cto $4,000
for its sale. Mr.. Dillingham; very pro.
perlv voted against this preposterous
measure, and when he was charged in
having done so with showing himself
Opposed to the farming interests of the
state" his extra-edition organs, instead
OF meeting the issue manfulIy on its
merits, claimed that he voted so only be-
cause the bill was unconstitutional and
for that reason would amount to no.
thing. Whether Dillingham; himself gave
any such reason at the time we some
what doubt, but even ii he did, it was
before the court decisions had made so
lear as they are now the extent of state
bowers OF taxation. At any rate, in the
present light the defense was a foolish
)ne, and made all the more so by the as
'erton that the New York courts had
decided similar bills unconstitutional.
But this is just the contention with
which the valiant David now comes for
ward TO convict Grout of "unpardona-
Die ignorance. The Grout organs after
The excuse was made challenged the eta
ion OF single decision, on a law of New
York or any other state, that held a
measure OF taxation Of oleomargarine.
however excessive, to be unconstitu.
-ional. The Dillingham; extra edition
elbows were dumb, for the simple reason
hat there were no such decisions, and
hey have kept dumb under the constant
teration and reiteration of the cha-
enge; rather than impair the "whoop-
er'up' quality of their extra edition
sales they have carefully omitted, one
and all, to correct their error. Grout in
his reply to the first "open letter" of Go
or our Goliath-killer, mutually twitted
lm OF "studiously concealing" the truth
IT the matter. And this was what
brought the absurd break about "un-
1ardonable ignorance" in reply. Some
awyer prepared for the Col ath killer a
ligest OF some decisions showing that
n New York statute absolutely pro-
llbltlng the manufacture or sale of oleo-
margarine has been held unconstitu-
ional, while in Missouri and Pennsyl-
7ania similar statutes had been upheld
~ state courts as within the exercise of
he police powers of the states but the
ederal supreme court had held them un.
constitutional so far as they operate
against interstate commerce because
oleomargarlne has been made by con-
5ress a legitimate article of commerce.
The admitted purpose of the Parker
bill was to make the tax so high as to
prevent the traffic in oleomargarine.
In this sense it was admittedly prohibi-
tive, and SO our latest constitutional ex-
FOUNDER tells Grout of his "unpal don.
able ignorance" in not knowing that,
had the bill been enacted law, it would
have been held unconstitutional" But
Grout is not so ignoraHt-and so are few
OF the men capable Of reading and think.
ing at alias not to know that the
courts make sharp distinction between
bills that are prohibitive in terms and
those that seek the same end under the
guise OF taxation, taking the ground
that as a coordinate branch of the
government they will not question the
good faith of the legislative branch
when its laws purport to be revenue
measures. A familiar instance OF this
doctrne-tamiliar at least to people of
average information, to say nothing of
those who look down on objectionable
lgnorance'-was the law taxing state
banks out of existence by putting a tax
of 10 per cent on their circulation, and
which the supreme court sustained pre-
cisely on this ground. So it has been
with repeated cases under the tariff law.
plainly designed to prohibit importa-
tons, but regarding which the court
would not inquire beyond the terms,
which were those OF revenue and tax
alton. NumberIess cases have gone up
under state tax laws with the same re-
suit. So that it has come to be pretty
true that there is no limit upon state
powers OF taxation, except that it shall
be on level as regards the classes of OBJ
jects taxed.
The objectionable ignorance" about
this matter, therefore, does not lie with
Grout. There are more things in heaven
and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of
in your philosophy. - Brattleboro Re
former.
Thirty United States Senators went
out OF office on March 4, 1899; 80 more