The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1902-12-17
"COMMMUNISM. :"

Again the policy of the State to ad-
vance its moral and material interests
by means of a State school and State
highway tax is denounced as commun-
ism, this time by the st. Adams Mes
senger, and State Senator in the de-
bate on Wednesday on the road tax
echoed the phrase of a contempor-
airy in characterizipg these taxes as
Communism run mad. =" There is a
great deal more frenzy than truth or
reason in these characterizations. They
indicate the utter poverty of opposi-
ton to the policy of the State in re-
spect Of the matters in question.
When Charles Lamb, Londoner,
was jollying fishwoman in the mar
ket her ladyship, failing to take
in the humor of the situation
got into frenzy, as has the con-
temporary-and his fellows in his
style of opposition to the school and
road taxes. After launching upon
the wit all the terms of re-
proach in the vocabulary of her call =
ing, in climax of ecstatic fury she
denounced him as parallelopipe-
DON" SO it is quite like these surly
opponents to characterize these taxes
as communism" - sober or run
mad, and the characterization has
the same force and point as the fish
woman's lingual assault on her tor
n entor.
Communism runs all through
government, municipal, state and
national. 1t would be soulless,
heartless government if communism
or socialism were eliminated When
person is hit in his pocket or feel
ings more or less directly by the conf
munistic or socialistic acts or policies
of government he wakes up to the fact
and the worst thing he can say against
the thing that arouses his selfishness
is that it is communism or socialism.
Tariff charges are communism pure
and simple" or run mad" accord,
ing to the degree PERSONS soul OF
pocket is affected. If person is some.
what more selfish, or narrow minded,
than public spirited. and has no chill.
dren to educate, he thinks it very un-
righteous, very "communistic, that
he should have to pay school tax tc
help educate his neighbours children
The corporation taxes, all and singu
lar, are in the "communistic'' class
and so on down long list of similar
instances of the practice Of "social
ism" or communism" in govern
ment of all grades.
The Messenger is simply taking &
very contracted and unpatriotic view
of government in respect of these
taxes and it ought to be ashamed OF
itself. The contemporary is swift and
unfailing supporter of the policy o.
the State in expanding large sums fol-
the propagation of fish for the graf
ifiication of the very few who have the
time or disposition to go fishing"
really for the pleasure of very limit
ed number of the great body of taxpay
ers who pay for these "communistic'
institutions. Why kick when it il
the schools and highways, rather
than fish, that are the objects of q
"communistic" tax? The Messenger
closes its "anarchistic'' discours,
with this paragraph: Can tn,
Journal explain how compelling st
Adams to raise money to build road
in the town of Jay is more service t.
this community than leaving tn
money here to build our own streets p
Well, is st. Adams the only peb
BILE ON this political beach? Shall
no State taxes be levied ON st. AL
bans but those that are of direct ser
vice to that community? Take
glove stretcher, brother, and expan
your public spirit.