Year: 1868

a surplus to the payment Of the debt
than reduce the taxes for the tax can
be better borne now than by and Dy,
when they viii be paid in gold. be-
iieve in so shaping taxation that II
shall, to a q certain degree, protect do
mestic industry. 1T would be unWi9e
to reduce the duties on imported goods
that can be made here. Protection
should, however, only be used as heal
thy stimulus. To diversity the Indus
try Of our people is q great motive. II
protection creates undue competition
at home it goes too far; but the doc
trine of protection is now out OfYieW--
revenue is what is before US"


FUNDING THE DEBT.


"You have had some experience
with funding bill, sir. y


ayes; the original bill as it passed
the Senate Committee of Finance was
a good measure. The bill as g passed
both Houses was q hnmbug-a bridge
to get ever the election. The attempt
to reduce interest to four per cent. in
this cOuntay will fail. A funding bill
must have more in il than a new priv
nege to the bOndhOlder. We want q
comprehensive measure, providing
for, first, funding the greenbacks;
second, the reduction Of the debt;
third, the redemption ofthe five-twen-
ty bonds when the five years are out,
by sale Of bonds bearing lower rate
of interest,"


Would you tax the bOnds2"


Taxing the bonds is impossible.
The courts have settled the question
against State taxation, and common
honesty will prevent the nation levy
ing any tax on its own bonds, save
such as it puts on other bonds, which
takes the form of an income tax"


THE RAILROADS.


"There is much discussion here in
the West about peculiar topic Of the
future-the removal Of the national
capital"


''Yes; it is q matter Of railroads.
Washington is inaccessible through
the action of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, which is a close monopoly.
1t is incOnvenient and sometimes
dangerous to get there, and unless the
arrangement that enables the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad TO make
Washington q mere suburb Of Balti-
more is broken up, the capital will be
removed within five years. My own
opinion is that Congress has power to
regulate railroad lines above all State
power. 1t is in the power given over
commerce. Congress shall have pow
-er to regulate commerce with foreign
nations and among the several. -
This is an important power, for the
railroads are to be wonderful ele-
ment in our development. Already
the value Of the railroads in the United
States is 81 500, 900, ,O00-siXtesn hun
dred milliOns-but little less than the
national debt, and their receipts are
three times the interest of the debt.
Any one Of the four leading railroads
transports property worth $50, ,0O0,0 0OG
per year. If it is doubtful whether
Congress has the power to build new
roads, its authority to regulate those
already built is clear. In taking hold
of matters like this we must move eau
tiOusly and with good precedent in
view, though the tendency of the
times is to a strong central nationality.
Unless Congress has this power there
will be trouble about it by-and-by.
Suppose, for instance, that Ohio
should do what New Jersey actually
dOes-declaFe that only one railroad
shall cross her terPitOry-she could
dissolve the Union with this power.
for all communication between the
East and the West lies across her ter.
ritory; to the South you must go TO
Kentucky, where there is a range Of
mountains that cannot be passed by q
railroad, and to the North you must
go to the lakes and take the chances Of
the water. This is too much power
for any State to possess"


UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE.


ave must, said the Senator, "have
universal suffrage as a foundation
stone over the whole country, and
Congress ought to submit an amend
ment to the States with that idea"