The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-02-05
The Moral Awakening.
CONTINUED from Page One.)

less than he should, and yet when an
income tax was proposed for the pur-
pose of equalizing the burdens. we
We're Warned that it would defeat the
party that favored il. and it did array
against the party a large num-
Der of those who now ESCAPE
q considerable part Of their share of
the federal burdens. II was even
urged against the income tax that rich
men would perjure themselves to es-
cape it and that they ought not to be
driven to this extremity.
Two Prices in the Tax Office.
1t is not an thing for the
railroads to set forth the market value
OF their stocks and bonds as the basis
Of value when rates are under con-
observation-disclosures the market value
OF the stocks INC bonds rests upon
exorbitant rates-and then present the
cost of reproducing the o as the
basis Of taxation,
In municipal taxation the corpora
tons holding municipal franchises
franchises of great value ard often
given to the corporations by corrupt
councils-are often taxed on a lower
basis than the property of citizens,
and huge business block are not in
frequently taxed on a lower basis than
the small homes.
While allowance must be mad for
differences of opinion rs to the best
systems of taxation and the best meth
ads of administration, there can be no
difference Of opinion as to the deSir-
ability of equal and exact justice in
the, collection of taxes, and no one
whose vote affects the subject can eX-
cuse himself if he negiects carefully
and conscientiously to investigate the
various systems proposed. AS indif-
ference to the truth is scarcely to be
cicti n o,1ichal from Wi1fn1 npruarcinn Of
the truth, so Indifference to the char
acter of laws enacted is scarcely less
than deliberate support
of systems known to be unjust. Every
quick ening of the individual con-
science, therefore, must show itself
in better government, and there is no
better test of good government than
embodied the laws relating to
There has already been an outcry
against what is known as graft, a
form of money making in which the
O~fficehOlder enriches himself at the
expense of the public. Graft appears
in q multitude of forms, but it has its
root in the betrayal of public trust.
1t is the easiest form of injustice to
correct, however, because no one de-
the CRATER when he is once ex-
posed. The legislator who sells legis-
latlon, the purchasing agent who col
lectS a commission from those from
whom he Guys and the executive who
puts a price upon humanity-all these
their friends as soon as their mis-
conduct is made public. But the big
WhO remain in h shadow,
and make ~rtune by the corruption
of less prominent men-these are the
greater criminals, and their wrong
doing is more harmful to society.
Their punishment, too, is more diff
cult, for they not only stand high
themselves, but have influential
friends. SO great has been the injus-
tice done to the public by the grant
OF perpetual or long time fran
chlses that the more recent constitu-
tons and statutes forbi the granting
of a franchise except by a referendum
vote. A moral uplift is even now
itself in the effort both
TO punish the offenders and to protect