Year: 1874

cient Egypt, eating out our
substance. A poor man cannot con-
vert his little vineyard into market
able shape without having Federal
officer standing sentinel over him and
demanding Federal tithes. The to-
bacco grower must subject his manu-
factured product to Federal scrutiny
and Federal stamps; the poor man who
blocks pine timber into the simple but
useful article of matches Is watched
over, and every little package must
bear the Government stamp, or confis-
cation follows; if he indulge in an
after dinner cigar he is confronted by
a Federal stamp; if his child be sick
or teething and he buys bottle of old
mother WINsLow's soothing syrup,
the Federal stamp stares him in the
face; if he present his wife or sweet
heart with "loven of d bonnet, the
poetry of the thing is chilled by the
everlasting Federal stamps. In short,
everything is stamped, and ifs sports
man ventures to the field for recrea-
tion and health, his Joe Manton is
taxed, his caps and powder are
stamped; and if he cut scrub oak or
grubs out manZanillo root to broil the
game he is forthwith confronted by a
Federal officer, armed, or pretending to
be, with authority to arrest and drag
him before the Federal Courts on the
charge of destroying Federal timber.
1t is strange they have not appointed
another batch of officers as game-keep-
ers, and duplicate the poor fellows
punishment by finding him also guilty
of poaching upon Federal preserves.
These Federal officers are generally
duplicated by q. batch of what they
call special detectives, superintend-
ents and spies over the actions
of the tax gatherers-ostensibly
to keep them from stealing, but
really to swell the army of office
holders in the interest of the Admin
istration. There is but little wonder,
however, that these Federal officers
should be watched, since, in many in
stances, the records of criminal courts
and penitentiaries have been resorted
to to find suitable persons to do this
dirty work. But in all these matters
of Federal espionage and taxation,
there is one consolation left-we have
not yet quite reached the bedrock;
we have not yet been driven, like un-
fortunate Ireland, to burrow in holes
and caves In. the ground by the heavy
tax upon daylight. But if the present
incompetent administration continues
on its present career, that day is not
very far distant, and "blessed are they
who expect little, for they shall not be
disappointed Petitions and remon-
strances against the present internal
revenue system have repeatedly flood
ed Congress from nearly every State
in the Union, urging that it be repeal
ed; actual tabular statistics have
shown that it has entirely failed in
the purpose for which it was designed,
most of the collections going to pay
the salaries of this great army of office
holders and the moiety left put down
to the stealage account. But neither
the President or Congress would listen
to them-hardly giving them respect
full notice. A false and incompetent
Administration dare not come before
the people upon it's own merits, and
lhis great army of satraps, judiciously
distributed in every nook and corner
of the country, must be retained to
aid our CESAR and his fawning crew
to maintain power.