The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1911-11-01
AS ExempIified in Present
Taxing Matter.
COMPARISON OF CONDITIONS
Which Have Caused War, With
Present Highhanded Meth
DDS Employed.
MATTER SIZED Up JUST RIGHT

Unless a miracle in human af-
fairs shall interpose, no nation ever
did or ever can retain its liberty af-
ter the loss Of the sword and the
purse"
Before the general election in
this good year. let us in all serious
ness osk eve~y taxpayer in Ken
lucky TO carefully re-read, with all
the dramatic incidents Of its stormy
passage. Patrick Henry's Fifth Res
olution on the Stamp Act-the
match that set ablaze the American
Revolution.
Among all those lion-hearted pa
triots, every one a hero, none but
Henry, then an uncouth, ungainly,
untutored figure whose exterior in
vited ridicule and disrespect, ap-
pearing at this crisis as If sent by
a destiny, had the matchless cour-
age to hurl defiance in the face Of
his king. II was a time that tried
mems souls as il by a fire. Rob-
errson. Wythe, Bland. Pendleton
and Burk sat blanched, CONCEALED
By his magnificent audacity. and
Peyton Randolph, Mortified by the
impending consequences, cried out:
MY God! I'd give 500 guineas for
4 single vote" The fainthearted
gathered courage from the counte-
nance Of this polemic gladiator, the
coward became hero when he gazed
Hpon his exploits, one lash OF whose
Ecourge was infamy. and from
whose eyes one glance Of anger was
almost death. II was when speak
ing 20 this resolution. he rose with
its climax TO his Hottest attitude,
and with the look Of a god and the
voice Of thunder, electrified man
Kind with that immortal peroration,
Cesar had his Brutus-Charles the
Second his Cromwell and George
tie Third"-Gc.
Nothing in romance or fiction,
In song or story, is half so thrilling
ard inthralling as the story Of those
momentous days when the great
mother OF republics was in travail.
This resolution. which is far more
than a mere incident of troublous
times, far more than a chapter OF
tragedy, yes, far more, for it was
an epoch. is so pertinent, so rele-
want 10 two political issues now pre-
Fented to the public, I'm sure
shall be allowed TO reproduce 1t
here:
Resolved. That the General AS
sembly OF this colony has the SOLE
RIGHT AND POWER to lay taxes
on its inhabitants; and ANY AT
TEMPT TO VEST SUCH POWER
IN ANY OTHER PERSON OR PER-
SONS WHATSOEVER. has a mani
fest tendency to destroy British as
veil as American freedom"
The most powerful instrument OF
oppression, the greatest menace to
the sacred right to the fruits OF
enes own toll, whether in the hand
Of a despot. aristocrat or the repre-
sentative Of a republic, is the Tax
ing Power. an instrument with
which the tyrant always seeks to
arm himself.
II was only with a tenacious hold
vi "a n
the English parliament could re-
strain and bring to his knees a Tu-
dor, Plantagenet or Stuart in re-
nunciation OF his divine right TO op-
press. but whenever they relaxed
that hold the despot, with the same
weapon, just as surely drove his
subjects into slavery. Almost every
page OF English history teens with
striking examples. and the blood its
safeguards has cost our race is APP
palling.
That the colonies should bear a
just measure OF the cost OF defense
against common enemy, they
neither denied nor sought 70 evade.
The demands Of their king were not
unjust in themselves: for the cost
Of defending these distant colonies
against both France and Spain was
bankrupting the mother country.
II was the dangerous precedent and
Esurpation fraught with so many
alarming possibilities. against which
they rebelled-the attempt TO vest
The Taxing Power in some other
than the legislature. This and this
alone was what fired the great heart
Of Revolution.
OF the three essential principles
Of government which. by an unre-
Ienting hold upon the purse-string.
me English parliament was able to
vring from It's kings. the right to
inquire into public abuses was In
deed momentous. but not so vital as
nat which securely lodged the tax