The Ocala banner., 1922-05-12

lafures of the various states. such bill
would never be reported from the COM
mittee
Taxing a Class
Who would ever have thought tnat,
under such government as our lote
fathers founded. we would have con
stitutional amendment adopted whereby
legislation would be passed so that only .
per cent of the people of the tniteo
States should pay federal income taxes
And when the first income tax Dill was
passed subsequent 10 the adoption OF the
constitutional amendment. only one-hail oL
/ per cent of the people OF the Umted
States were subject TO the payment Oh
these taxes II Is provided IN our coh-
stitution as originally framed. that all
laws should be equal and OF uniform ot-
Grafton throughout the United States. ana
that taxes should be equal and that every
man should pay his just share OF the eN-
uenses of this government. our lore
fathers were wise enough 20 know that
if man in the legislature of any state,
if a man in the congress of the onlteo
States knew that a bill which ne was
talking about. or bill which he proposed
to vote for. became law II would aIlec'
him the same as it would every other
man. law would be enacted upon the
merits of that particular situation. Iney
knew that and so they provided IN the
constitution thai laws should be equaii
should bear rpon all people alike And
who would ever have thought. with tne
views held by our forefathers ana the
thoughts expressed in the constitution.
that graduated income tax law should be
passed: / am taking dangerous ground,
but am willing to do il. want to do IT,
If il is permissible If II Is moral. IL II
is right that man who has an income OF
$4,000 a year should pay certain per-
centage of that income TO the United
States government to carry on its affairs.
and that a man with $4,000 year
should pay higher percentage. that a
man with $4,000 a year should pay a
higher percentage. and that man with
$4,000 year should pay a still higher
percentage. and on. then 1 say. MT
Chairman, that il is moral and right Tor
any state to pass law providing tnat
man who has $4,000 worth OF real es-
tate shall be assessed upon basis of ten
mills and man who has $4,000 worth
of real estate shall be assessed upon
basis of twenty mills and a man who has
$4,000 worth of real estate shall be as
sessed upon basis of forty mills. and
so forth and so on. If one is defensibie,
the other is defensible. If one is right,
the other is right And neither is right.
You will never have happiness. content
ment and satisfaction in this country I'M
til each citizens carries his share of the
load.
1 am going TO get to optimism by and
by. 1 want to argue the pessimistic rea-
sons before l do. / have reason Tor
doing it.
BY this constitutional amendment that
has been adopted and by the adoption of
the primary system. the people of the
United States have placed in the hands OF
congress the power. without the power OF
any court to interfere. to absolutely de-
stroy the right of private ownership of
property III this country.
Iacaulay's Warning
You know some fifteen years ago. I
read some observations on the government
of this country by MaeauIay the famous
English historian. He gave them in 1850.
He said that in a country where half OF
the people and one more could make the
law construe the law. and execute the
law, and where. as in this country, less
than half of the people owned the prop
erty of it, he feared for the perpetuity
of the republic and the stability of prop
erty. / laughed when I read it. Knowing
the constitution of this country as l did.
I thought it was absurd But nearly ev-
erything that that man predicted 'sas
come true And the only thing that viii
save this country from those things that
he prophesled is the wonderful common
sense of the American people.
Who would have thought with the won
derful fight with pen ana sword that the
American people made years ago for the
preservation of their rights and the alb
horrence that those people then had of
sumptuary legislation that we should have
had national prohibition amendment |
do not care whether man is in favor of
prohibition or against prohibition. That
is beside the question. / contend that.
according to our theories of government
it is absolutely indefensible. in view of the
rights secured to the individual and the
respective states of this nation. that the
people OF one state should have the power
to impose upon the people of another
state. against their WILL question of
purely local regulation.
And so with the woman suffrage
amendment. / do not care whether man
believes in woman suffrage or not. That
is beside the question. II is contrary to
the spirit of our institutions. contrary to
the very principles upon which our con-
stitution was based. that the people of
Illinois should have the right. against the
will of the majority of the people of Geor-
gia. to impose upon them some law that
is entirely within the province of the
state and of its individuals. Yet. we have
done that
I was quite amused several years ago
when the child labor bill was under dis
cussiOn In congress. 10 note how eloquent
ly these southern representatives and SEN
atorS argued for the preservation OF state 5
rights. and that the people of the North
had no right to impose upon the people of
the South some rule contrary to the
wishes of the people of those states. The
same argument that the people of the
North used when the people of the South
were talking about prohibition.
sMost Governed and the Worst Governed
So. now. by reason of the adoption of
these various amendments to the con-
stitution. every one of them animated.
whether you agree with me or not. by
views and principles contrary to the views
that animated our forefathers when they
founded the constitution. we now have the
most governed and the worst governed CIV
ilized nation on this earth. except Russia.
There is more dissatisfaction existing today
in the United States. more discomfort.
more criticism. than in any nation in this
world-civilized nation-exGpt Russia.
Sit in the smoking compartment of Pull
man car and hear the people talk Sit
in the lobby of a hotel and hear the people
talk Walk up to crowd of five or six
people on the street corner and hear what
they have to say. Witness the conyersa-
tioB of six or seven people when they are
gathered in your home. Northing but
complaint. criticism and dissatisfaction.
We have now TOO. 900 federal office
holders. Added to that the city office
holders. the county offceholders. the townt
ship. and the state officeholders. and we
now have one official to every forty peo-
pie in the United States.
A friend of mine in the United States
senate some several weeks ago sent me
COPY Of bill that had Just been intro
wrote to him and said / should like to
F.~