Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1906-02-02
EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW.
Personal and Relative Rights - Their Distinc
ton and Difference.
YELM, Wash, Jan. 90, 1906.

Personal and Relative Rights - Their Dstinc-
tion and Difference.
YELM, Wash, Jan. 90, 1906.
ED. STANDARD:
AS | have little spare time, | wish
you would lay before your readers the
meaning of the motto of the Demo.
cratic and Populist parties, Equal
Rights to All and Special Privileges to
Nome" The definition is not wholly
original with me, but has been CLEANED
from the general literature of the day.
1t simply means that the laws, the
officials of the government, in its con-
duct of public affairs, should treat all
alike. The government should have
no favorites. When there are burdens
to be borne no class should be exempt.
When there are taxes to be raised, no
class should be relieved Of paying its
share. The government is the agent
of all, and should deal fairly by all.
No one man or class of men should be
able to secure advantages over other
men or classes
The word rights must be taken as
having reference to our present system
OF government. The absolute rights
OF citizen under our system are Cd
The right of personal security; (2) OF
personal liberty and (3) OF the ac-
quirement and enjoyment of property.
The relative rights of a citizen are
those which belong to him in his re-
lations to the State and to other citi-
zens. Now the motto of Equal Rights
TO All simply means that there should
be equality among all citizens in the
enjoyment OF those absolute rights
which belong to them as single indi-
viduals and OF those relative rights
which belong to them as members OF
society.
By Special Privileges to None, we
mean that the government shall not
give, either in legislation or admins
tration, an advantage to one citizen or
one class, which is not enjoyed by all
citizens and all classes. Whenever
the government grants a special privi.
lege it is done at the expense of some
one. You cannot give more than an
equal share to one child, for instance,
without leaving to the other less than
an equal share. The moment you ex-
empt some citizen or class Of citizens
from taxation, you have made an un-
equal division OF the common property.
The sum total of taxes for one year,
we say, is $5OO,OOO,OOO. Suppose you
exempt certain classes of citizens
whose just share of that tax would be
$780, 100000. The result is that you
have given them that much more
than an equal share. And from whom
do you take what you give them?
From those who were not exempt, and
who had to make good the $3.50, ,00O,-
600. The Government got its $780,
O0O, 900 all right enough, but got it
out of the non'exempt. This exemp-
ton from taxation is q special privi-
lege and should be condemned. As
examples of the classes that pay no
Federal tax, we point out the insur.
ance companies, the express compan.
les, the manufacturing corporations,
the national bondholders, the railroads
and the telegraph and telephone COM
panies. Suppose you give to one class
of citizens the right to issue promis-
sorry notes as money, national banks
for instance. Suppose you pass laws
which give to that class monopoly Of
the market for their products; sup.
pose you give to another class the
right to tax the people as they pass
along the public highway; in each case
there is q special privilege and it
should be condemned. 1 contend that
all the people, acting through the
Government, should issue the money,
and that to allow only one class to do
it, is a tremendous advantage to the
national banks and a tremendous dis.
advantage to all other classes. con.
tend that all the people should stand
on an equal footing in the markets
and that protective laws should not be
passed to enrich the manufacturer at
the expense of the farmer and me.
chanic. I contend that the public
roads should be owned and controlled d
by all the people and that every citi.
zen, high or low, rich or poor, should
have equal rights on these public
roads and all other public utilities.
When say public utilities, mean
such things as telegraphs, telephones,
the postofice, the street railroads, side.
walks, navigable rivers, bays, harbors'
etc., as distinguished from private util-
tiles, for instance the town pump is a
public utility; the cistern in your
backyard is . private utility. The
street lights are public utility; the
lamp in your bedroom is a private util-
ity. The street car is public utility /;
while your carriage, or buggy, or bicy.
Gle is private utility.
]. G. CONNIE.
An Adase ExempIified.
"There is none 80 blind as they that