The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1910-10-13

Times, while he does not go to the ex-
IRENE of absurdity which charaeterizes
| the articles of the Monroe man, uses
some arguments in advocacy of the
amendment which are equally futile and
| Illogical. For instance, in one article he
says that the exposition If held in New
Orleans would, in some manner which
| he does not explain probably because it
| is unexplainable, cause the wealth and
population of the State to double within
| the following decade, which he says
would lessen the burdens of government
lin like ratio. Where he gets such an
Idea | am at loss to conjecture. Not
from history, / am sure, for 1t there is
a rule without an exception in the an
lnalssof governmental affairs it is that
| the cost of administering governments
| increases at a greater rate than does
leither wealth or population. As an ex-
Iample, take Caddo parish. It's wealth,
according to the assessment rolls, has
more than trebled in the past fifteen
wears, yet the rate of taxation for par
Iish purposes has not been reduced |
do not know just what the rate of in
crease of the wealth of the State has
been for the last decade, but it has I'M
Idoubtedly been great. Yet the tax rate
lis still up to the constitutional limit, and
E"Chevis" and the rest of the gang are,
like Oliver Twist, calling for more.
In the face of these palpable facts, are
the people not justified in taking the
great predictions of the advocates of the
tax with several grains of salt?
One of the specious arguments used
by the advocates of the tax is that it is
SO very small that it can be paid by the
ordinary citizen without any appreciable
addition to the tax burden that he al
ready has to bear. Now if the proposed
tax is such an insignifcantly small a
thing. why are the advocates of the
amendment so eager to secure il? Why
Ibid Jared Y. Sanders decline seat in
1.-THE United States Senate and leave the
State government 20 the care of his pri-
yate secretary and stenographers and
Irush over the State pleading with. the
dear people to vote for this tax, which
The says is so small that the taxpayer
Icouid pay it and never miss it. Yet they
tell us that this infinitesina1 trife, so
Iimpotent in the hands of him who
earned it by the sweat of his brow, can
Ibe made to work wonders and produce
miracles if it can be transferred from
1.-THE hands of the toiler to the tax col
Hector and from him to the board OF
exposition directors, or managers, OF
wahtever they may be called, in their
hands it will cause hundreds of thous-
lands of people and millions of dollars
Iof capital to come TO Louisiana, give the
State good roads, rural mail routes,
school houses, churches and other bless
tings ad infinitunn Now if this tax
amendment is adopted / firmly believe
THAT all promises and predictions made
by its advocates will be kept and veri-
fled just exactly like Jared Y. Sanders
Ipaid the State debt-with hot air.
The street car lines, hotels, festau-
rants, lodging houses and the retail
dealers generally of New Orleans would
Ireap rich harvest from the exposition
So would the board of directors who
would handle the millions that they pro
pose to wiring from the people BY taxa
Ifion. The railroads leading to the city
would also do thriving business while
1.-THE show lasted, and that portion of the
State contiguous to New Orleans would
be incidentally benefited to some extent,
but so far as the extreme northern part
Iof the State is concerned, no benefit
whatever would be derived from it,
whatever the advocates of the tax may
say to the contrary notwithstanding.
Much more could be said against this
infamous amendment. but i have prob
Iably passed the limit for such a com
munication, so will have TO close.
S. W. VARDEMAN.
1