Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1909-05-29

posed to have been made In the
English parliament upon the subject
, of taxation. do not remember who
made It. or was supposed to have
made it, nor do / remember its eX-
act wording, but it wound up some
thing like this:
"The schoolboy whips his taxed
top with taxed string, the beardless
youth manages his taxed horse, with
a taxed bride, on taxed road; and
the dying Englishman takes his med
icine, on which he has paid 2S per
cent, out of a spoon on which he
mas paid 32 per cent, drops back on
his bed on which he has paid al per
cent, makes his will on an eight
pound stamp, and expires In the arms
of an apothecary who has paid a
| license of an hundred pounds for the
privilege of putting him TO death.
Large sums are paid into the chan
cellor's court for the privilege of
| leaving an estate. He Is wrapped
I'm taxed shroud and buried In a
taxed coffin; his virtues are handed
down to posterity on taxed marble,
and he is gathered to the home OF
his fathers, to be taxed no more"
/ Inlh HOuUQtu uuhloIOup III AhOoN
days, but somehow the fun seems TO
have all leaked out OF II, since the
same conditions now confront us
Americans. The same conditions, did
| say? Far from IT, but so much
worse that the Englishman OF those
days would ,hink he was living un-
der absolute free trade then, IL alive
now. But that is not what | started
out TO say. IL was not something
about the tariff. congress viii see to
that but about the measly taxation
that comes In the shape OF licenses.
A dirty, contemplate system OF petty
graft on the part OF the state, coun-
ties and cities.
We are all prone to damn the rail-
roads for their system of charges,
which we condemn as being based
upon what the traffic will bear Is
the license system anything else than
this? IL is a system that has grown
steadily ever since Il first found root
on American soli and II Is yet Tar
from ripe. A few years ago you
could count the various things that
required license, and the conse-
quent passing over OF coin, on your
fingers. Now you must have more
hair than the writer II YOU would
number them by the nairs OF your
head. To sell liquors you must pay
a license both To the general govern
ment and your local community.
Why? Because the traffic will stand
it
To own n pet dog you must pun
gle to the county clerk or city re-
corder, and II the pet IL a female,
nearly twice as much, though the
Lord and the city dads only know
why the distinction Is made, and
neither OF them will tell Indeed, II
is one OF the most senseless OF dis
tinctions. for. well. anyway, Il isn't
the female dog that makes the gro
GERS keen their green goods above the
sidewalk. Then n YOU want TO ped
die shoe strings. clocks or any old
thing, dig" says the license collect
or You are entitled TO bear arms
and own a gun, says the constitution,
but you must put up your sesterces
before YOU can fire II, says the law.
No longer can you catch the slip
perry, long-horned catfish or the
lpouting-mouthed and bony sucker
without having paid into the county
treasury a big round dollar, unless
You are under i5 years OF age or a
perfect lady. by the end of the next
legislature Il will require a license
before YOU can even dig bait, or go
down and look at the river, with a
fish hook, or the price, In your
pocket.
IL you want 20 run a woodsaw
Won must nav for the privilege. Just
think of your bOyhoods days and
imagine paying for the privilege OF
saving wood!
Il is a great thing to improve the
stock OF a country, yet II you invest
your money In fine blooded animal
aud pay taxes up 10 It's full value,
too. YOU must pay a license before
you can improve the value or breed
OF the country's animals,
To keen a pool or billiard table
\ you must go down In your jeans and
/ dig out your old weas | skin, or sock
or whatever you carry your wealth
In. and pay for the privilege.
To run Johnny-hand-me-dsown
printing press costs you IS, aud cot
fee mills. washing machines. chnrns
any old thing. are possible source
OF future licensing by the law-mak'
ers.
II you would sell a man medicine
for his ills yon must get permission
and a license, for which YOU mus
pay. II you would benefit human
lty by pulling an aching tooth OF
filling a decayed grinder, Il Is Sab
down and e1,50 year afterwards
forever.
should you shave man for his
comfort OF TO make him presentablt
LOO his fellow man or woman, the
bogey man OF the barber commission
will be after you for a FLYER, and
then you must not shave or skin hin
either. after o'clock p. m, though
the commission doesn't care which
you do. II you put up the price.
II you wonld insure a mans life