The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1910-09-25
THIRTY SEVEN AND A HALF
CENTS.

er or not one should be willing to pay
81 I-2 cents tax on $1,000 assessment IN
order to finance an enterprise that Will
double the, wealth of the State within
less than a decade, that will furnish a
steady demand for all that the farmer
will be able to produce, that will people
our waste lands with thrifty farmers,
that will bring opportunities to Our sons
and daughters and prosperity to all-the
question appeals directly to every clt1-
zen and is becoming the paramount IS
SUE It is one issue to which every
voter in Louisiana may consc1ent1ously
give his most enthusiastic support
Monroe News-Star.
The great picture of wonderful pros
perity which is to come, presented in all
the enticing words of gifted tongue and
pen, is alluring but there are hundreds
of thousands of Louisianians who are
hesitating in their support of the pro-
posed tax for the Panama Exposition.
1t is not the thirty-seven and half
cents tax on a thousand dollars which!
is the reason for the restraint but the
advantages the politicians will derive
from such an enterprise.
1t would appear that the Panama Ex-
position has been drifted into politics,
which may be denied strenuously, but
there are straws, and there are links,
and there are connections which would
indicate, like smoke, the presence of
fire, of something burning, and there
fore the country people, are suspl-
cious and will keep on their guard.
What "the country" is reckoning over
at this time is the plain propositions
what will the State derive, excepting
New Orleans, from the Panama Expo
sition?"
We have been told that New Orleans
will be crowded with visitors who will
have to be fed from the supplies which
must be furnished from the country.
This is enticing, but how much will or
can the State of Louisiana contribute
towards the feeding and what will be
the aggregate return in dollars and
cents?
We are told that from the exposition
there viii follow a swarming of millions
of people into the country to invest in
homes and in farms and III plantations,
and that the country people will have
money to throw at birds, and yet with
the studied and systematic presentation
of all these allurements the country
people" are not enthusiastic, in fact
they will not enthuse, and at this time
view with indifference the Panama Ex-
pisition and all its g1ittering generalities.
Possibly New Orleans may force the
issue, but it is safe to say that thescoun
try, will not BE- caught asleep nor in
active.
As heretofore said and here reiterated
the proposed Panama Exposition is in
greater danger of failure from the eff
fects of direct and indirect political in
huences than from the levy of thirty
seven and half cents tax in the thous-
and dillars.
And there is another feature in which
the country people are concerned.
By whom is the tax, if voted, to be
handled?
By a company chartered under the
laws of the State?
If by such company, then the Pan
anna Exposition is not to be operated by
the State but by company of individ-
ua1s who are to make use of the money
collected from the taxpayers by the
State.
Can this be strictly constitutional?
And who is to be responsible to the
State and the people for any shortconi-
ings of this company?
And can the State obligate itself to
such a contract, even through the pro-
posed Constitutional amendment, by
which it is being attempted to fegalize
an act which is unconstitutional, equally
as unconstitutional as was declared to
be the proposal of Shreveport to levy a
tax in aid of industrial enterprises.
Perhaps there may be some distinc-
ton in the constitution of the operation
of the Constitution. It may be legal
to enact an illegal act when applied to
SO great an enterprise as the proposed
Panama Exposition, but all small fries
must stand aside as being without the
pale of the law.