The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1906-10-19

Justice Of the peace. by the constable o
the precinct. or the Judge or the sheriff
or the United States marshal. That 4
the class Of laws that would govern
these employes--employed and dis
charged pursuant to law. each Of then
seeking to so shape AFFAIRS as to fetail
his place through the ever-changing ad
ministrarions. constituting a great po
litical factor; Mind. those men are al
voters. You take $4,000 men In the
railroad company's employ. or necessary
for the operation Of the railroads. and
they do not include women and children,
they are voters. And see what power
they would constitute in the control of
the political campaigns. and In the Sc
lection Of the officers Of the govern
'nent. Now. those OF you who are in
the service ma, say. We'll, that would
suit us all right: we would like to have
that job Of controlling those questions"
But you may not be in the service.
somebody else may be in the service,
Ind instead Of being controlling fac
tor you may be the factor that IL con-
trolled. Have you thought Of that side
Of It?
These positions may or not be under
civil service rules; you may or may not
be able to enter this service. Have you
thought Of that?
cost Of Government.
Now. l will come another step closer
home to you. You live In this beauti-
full city. in this prosperous and grow
ing state, The fixed charges of govern
ment, from the precinct up to the chief
officers, or to the whole government, are
arbitrary: they are fixed by law and by
the constitution, and they must be met.
The expenses Of educating your chill
dren must be met out Of the public
purse. under our system of government.
The expenses Of maintaining the courts
to protect you in your rights, If they
your rights if they are denied. they
must be maintained, the executive Of
fees of the state must be maintained.
because, of course. unless you are an
anarchist you are still in favor of main
tanning organized government.
Burden Of Taxes
Now. these expenses are heavy; they
are fixed by law; they are collected In
the shape Of taxes and revenue. Now.
have you Investigated the question as
to who pays these taxes7 You each pay
your little share or large check for your
taxes. as the case may be. But suppose
that one-half of the property of the
state would be exempted from taxation;
you would just double your taxes,
would you not ?--because the amount of
money necessary Is not changed, and in
order to make 1t up each Of you would |
pay twice what you pay now. If one-half |
Of the property of the state was with |
drawn from taxation. You can't tax the /
Of the government Of the United |
States, nor can you make a law under /
which you can tax it, because the gov
eminent Of the United States Is all the
people Of the United States. and one
part Of the people Of the United States
cannot be permitted to tax the other
part of the people Of the United States,
except that they participate In the levy.
Taxes must be uniform. under the con-
Of the United States, and
equally distributed. Now, any person
who knows anything about 1t will tell
YOU that you can't tax the property of
the government of the United States.
The constitution OF your state forbids
orecludes It: and It Is not competent for
either the Legislature OF the state or
he congress of the United States to at
:empt to tax the governments property.
8siiroad Taxes.
Now. suppose that the government,
lfter having paid out these thousands
If millions OF dollars to acquire the
being the owner Of them, is
from taxation. How are you
yoing to make up the revenues necessary
70 carry on your government except
hat you double the taxation Of every
Individual. or whether 1t be doubled
more or less. that you In addition to
what you pay now sum equivalent to
what the railroads pay7 Have you i'll
,estigated the subject to sec what pro-
PORTION Of your taxes the railroad COM
,anies do pay? Not long since ] had
occasion to investigate that question
throughout the state Of Idaho, and
throughout some other states. went
o the records to ascertain the facts.
n this state at that time--in this coun-
y, should say, at that time. the rail-
Dads paid more than sixty per cent Of
he taxes; in the county lying imme-
lately west Of you the railroads paid
more than sixty-fve per cent Of the
axes; in the county lying west Of that