The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-08-12

and. TO a certain extent. IL is used as a pro-
lection for the corporations. and the great
danger To our institutions Is that these
great aggregatiOnS of wealth may e~ndeaNor
to control legislation and do things that
smaller bodies could not attempt.
After all, this danger must be met. az al
dangers in the Republic must be. and must
be overcome by the virtue of the people
We must. so far as possible, protect our
small landholders. In their hands il the
future Of the Republic. If YOU VIII read
the history OF the empires and republics
that have persisted YOU Will find that their
failure dates from the time when the lands
drifted into large holdings and were Guilt
waited by tenants OF slaves. SO far. there
fore. as IL can be done by legislation our
small property holders should be encour-
aged and they should be protected. their
burden should be made as light as possible.
and capital should be made 10 ply its lair
share of the burdens OF the state. Large
and prevented.
FAVORS INCOME TAN.
Our system OF taxation is the crudest on
the civilized earth. with possibly the eXcep-
ton of Turkey and some OF the Oriental
countries. The laws OF every State arc
different. and. by means of this. large
aggregations of capital avoid paying their
share of the cost Of government. We are
just learning hat a franchise tax is the
easiest collected of any. and probably one
of the fairiest ways OF raising revenue. OF
course, those who manage corporations viii
object. as everybody does. to paying taxes.
but nevertheless it is right and proper.
Those that have the protection Of the state
should bear their share of its burdens.
| have always believed in an income tax,
and have thought that the decision of our
Supreme Court against the constitutional
iy OF such a tax was one OF the most
unfortunate occurrences OF the age. We
should have a tax on all incomes. large or
small, eXempting a moderate amount as
most of the States exempt a certain
amount of property from execution and
levy. This country is so rich that. with a
fair system of taxation and economy IN
expenditure. the tax rate Will be so low
that it will not be oppressive. and thus you
will encourage and protect your small
property holders.
The real defense of the Republic. TO my
mind. is its home governments-your
States. your cities. your towns. Do not be
led away by the glGmor of your wealth and
success and the talk of your greatness and
neglect your home affairs.
Though vast the token OF our future
Though tongue of man hath told not such
"A story.
Surprising Plato's dream. Moore phantasy.
still we
Have no new principles TO keep US free:
AS nature works with changeless grain on
grain
The truths the fathers taught we need
Still must we keep in every stroke and vote
Inc law OF conscience that the l1lgrimS
write:
Our seal their secret, liberty can be
TIL state is freedom if the town is free"
STATE RIGHTS.
The doctrine of State rights is not a popu-
lar one. but | sincerely believe tina We must
come back to il IL we would preserve our
government. Our fathers were wise I'm their
day, and they provided a system OF checks
i'm order to preserve the liberties of the
people, and they also reserved to the peo-
pie all rights not expressly granted. The
conflict to determine whether this country
should be all slave or all free nearly de-
stroyed these checks. 1t made the doctrine
Of State rights unpopular. and for a quarter
OF a century we have been drifting towards
a strong government at Washington. Our
people rush from State legislatures TO Con-
gress, from state courts TO United States
courts. Under one pretext or another the
right of the State is broken down. and the
cry Is always for a strong government, for
getting that the more you condense and
corruption and wrong. Change this and
keep as much at home as you can. so YOU
can watch what is done. Then, indeed. shall
We transmit to our children this fair herit-
age that we received from our fathers.
1t is the last hope of man. and If IL fails
here then there is no more chance for free
government for centuries. The seeds of
liberty that were sown on the shores of the
stormy North sea and transmitted here by
our fathers. planted by them. nourished and
to us must not be lost. If we do our duty
as citizens they will be preserved to our
selves and our children for this twentieth
and succeeding centuries.