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The Commoner.
Vol. a, No. 7
12 'H'
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TliVHomo Rule Idea.
Tlio domoqrnts of Johnstown declare
for local option In taxation. They thus
put thomsolvcs In lino with the most
enlightened thought of tho day on this
important quostion. They hollevo In
homo rulo, They hold that tho peoplo
)t Johnstown aro fully competont to
regulate tholr own affairs and thoy
'jollovo this city should bo loft as free
'.o adopt now and advnnced Ideas in
taxation as It Is to adopt new Ideas
in paving or sowerago or lighting.
Johnstown would Instantly resent
dictation from Harrlohurg on the sub
ject of adopting a now Idea in paving.
Our peoplo believe themselves capablo
of deciding for themselves In such
mattors. And If thoy aro capablo of
deciding questions relating to paving
and tho like, why aro thoy not oqually
capablo of dealing with tho question
of raising rovonuo? If thoy prefer to
tax thomsolvos In a certain way rather
than In somo other way which hap
pens to suit Altoona or Reading or
Scranton, whoso business is it but their
own?
Thoro aro plenty of arguments In
favor of homo rulo in taxation. It ac
cords with tho gonoral principles of
solf-govomment. It opons tho way for
oxporlinonts along fiscal lines which
aro lmposslblo under tho existing
Procustean system. There is no bettor
roason why tho state at largo should
interfere in matters of local taxation
than that it should Interfere in saying
whothor wo should uso gas or elec
tricity or gasollno or tallow dips in
lighting our streets. Tho state Is con
corned only in getting tho revenue be
longing to it from the city. It should
inako no dlfforonce to the state how
tho city raises tho rovonuo whether
by taxing all forms of property, as
now, or by taxing only certain forms,
as many bollovo desirable.
Tho peoplo of Johnstown would be
glad to promote a diversification of in
dustry. "We now have all our eggs in
ono basket. If wo could exempt manu
factories from taxation, ns is done in
certain states, this would becomo a
most inviting field for industrial en
terprise. But wo are dented homo rule
in such matters. We can make no ex
emptions, oxcopt such as tho assessors
illegally grant in pure favoritism to
tho vacant lot Industry.
At tho stato commerce convention
held at Syracuse, N. Y., where there
gathorod a distinguished body of rep
resentative mon from tho various com
mercial organizations of the state, it
was
"Resolved, That the best way to re
form the systom of local taxation is to
grant local option to the cities and
countlos of tho state."
This resolution has been formally
indorsed by tho Now York chamber of
commerce, tho most powerful body of
its kind in the United States. It is
composed of tho leading men of the
American metropolis "and it has issued
a formal appeal to the people of the
Empire stato for legislation conferr
ing homo rule in taxation upon the lo
cal taxing authorities. It iinrna thio
reform with strenuous arguments and
tho legislature of New York is prac
tically certain at no distant day to
glvo a favorable response.
That tho homo rulo idea Is not vi
sionary and that it has tho approval
of accredited authority is shown by
Vl04?l!?winB from the lato Prof. David
A. Wells, the noted specialist in taxa
tion. Ho says:
"I am greatly in favor of the local
option principle. It is, in fact, a novel
method, practically educating the poo-
! Si reT.ct ?. th0 B00d and nd
mothods of taxation, and not merely
- M I
Dr. Miles' Anti-Pain Pills.
A quick, nato, and 8nro relief for sink or
Neuralgia, Norvousnoss, "Irr tnbilitv qif ii Ji1'
tho local taxpayers of Now York, but
of tho whole country. As it is, tho
taxpayer is bound down to a system to
which no elasticity can bo given except
by knavery and perjury, which is con
trary to the world's experience and tho
best judgment of those who have care
fully studied tho subject, and ho has
no incontlvo to reason for himsolf with
a view to obtaining anything better,
because he feels ho can't got tho leg
islature to pay any attention to his
conclusions. With permission , to ex
periment in a small sphere, as granted
by tho proposed bill, the taxpayer will
take an interest in the subject, and. re
sults will certainly bo achieved to
which a legislature will give attention
because the argument of mere theory
can no longor be urged in opposi
tion." It Is worth noting, that this home
rule idea prevails In New Zealand and
in sovcral of the Australian states
and that in those countries great and
most happy progress toward economic
freedom is being made. Johnstown
(Pa.) Democrat.
riagnificent Revenge.
While Robert Stewart was governor
of Missouri a steamboat man was
brought in from the penitentiary as an
applicant for a pardon. Ho was a
largo, powerful fellow, and when the
governor looked at him he seemed
strangely affected. He scrutinized him
long and closely. Finally he signed
tho document that restored tho pris
oner to liberty. Before he handed it
to him ho said: "You will commit
some other crime and be in the peni
tentiary again, I fear."
The man solemnly promised that he
would not. Tho governor looked
doubtful, mused a few rdihiltes and
said:
"You will go back on the river and
be a mate again, I suppose?"
The man replied that he would.
"Well, I want you to promise me ono
thing," resumed the governor. "I
want you to pledge your word that
when you are mate again you will
never take a billet of wood in your
hand and drive a sick boy out of a
bunk to help you load your boat on a
stormy night."
Tho steamboat man said he would
not and inquired what the governor
meant by asking him such a question.
The governor replied: "Because
somo day that boy may become a gov
ernor, and you may want him to par
don you for a crime. One dark,
Stormy night, many years ago, you
stopped your boat on the Mississippi
rlvor to take on a load of wood. Thtro
was a boy on board who wjir wnridno'
his passage from New Orleans to St.
Louis, but lie was very sick with fover
and was lying in a bunk. You had
plenty of men to do the work, but you
went to that boy with a stick of wood
in your hand and drove him with
blows and curses out into the wretched
night and kept him tolling like a
slavo until. tho load was completed. I
Was that bOV. Hero a vnim nnnn
Never again be guilty of such brutal
ity." The man, cowering and hiding his
face, went out without a word.
What 'a noble revenge that was and
what a. lesson to a bully! Success.
Out of Harmony.
It is more than likely that these
American representatives at a corona
tion are not altogether welcome. They
are out of harmony with such a func
tion. It is to them a show, not a
solemnity. Thoy are amused at the
rn0U2U ulers ?y the srace of
Qod." Pitz-Groene Halleck's Connec
ticut farmer "would shake hands with
a King upon his throne and think it
kindness to his majesty." The Eu
ropean looks upon his monarch as a
divinely ordained ruler, to kiss whoso
hand is a distinction.
A representative of the American
government at a coronation is out of
learned most of their tricks during
and following closely after our civil
war, and with their increase of power
money they are'now the backbone
of the government. They are "it" in
the fullest sense of the word. What
may we not expect now, when this
greatest of all trusts, with their bil
lions, have the national treasury also
in their hands? If they could buy a
president, a supreme court, a senate
and a congress before what cannot
they buy now?
When the people in convention at
Chicago and Kansas City tried -man?
fully to rid themselves of that mon
ster breeder of all trusts who was it
who slunk away and did all they could
to keep the monster in power? .If-1
understand you, you would call them
democrats. All others you would call
populists. Well, I am not sure I know
what a populist is, but I do know that
the other fellows are in favor of a
money trust. If they did not vote for
tho gang they did all else they could
for them. A CHRONICLE READER.
place. He is an incongruity. He ia
about as much out df place as a repre
sentative of a Presbyterian general as
sembly would bo at the installation of
an archbishop of Canterbury or a pope
of Rome.
The excellent gentlemen who have
been selected to see King Edward
crowned will have to go. It would be
discourteous to revoke their commis
sions now. But this should be the last
affair of the kind. Tho attitude of the
United States concerning future coro
nations should be one of dignified
aloofness. It should not descend from
the heights of its republican simplic
ity to take part in the childish enter
tainments of Europe in which crowns,
scepters, and holy oil are of so much
importance. Chicago Tribune (rep.).
Power of the Trusts.
Chicago, Feb. 14. (To the Editor of
the Chicago Chronicle.) In the little
town where I live there aro thirty
eight of us who had always voted the
republican ticket prior to the nomina
tion of W. J. Bryan. We changed our
politics because we saw our tariff sys
tem could be used and was being used
for illegitimate purposes. Through it
a few had gained enough wealth that,
with its influence, they had surround
ed themselves with a gang who have
shown their willingness to rob the gov
ernment by the I'11-help-you-you-help-me
plan, until now the business and
the only business of the gang is to
find new fields for robbery and rob
them.
I will not attempt to mention more
than one thousand of ways this gang
have and are now robbing the people.
This gang I will designate as the
money trust. They are the greatest of
all trusts, in fact the foundation of all
trusts.
The former leaders of this trust
.- 1
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A Logical Conclusion.
As the people contemplate the
Schley verdict and note that it was a
captains fight off Santiago they, may
be reminded that the Long adminis
tration of the navy department has
been a clerks' administration, with
Crowninshield chief clerk. Sioux City
Tribune.
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iuk, wcdMbK DAVIS' Rfirw
This work is tho outcome of a visit, tr i m. i
Webster Davis while he w ffiit iJtllll y Mr.;
mr. mcmniey's iirst administration, and as a result of which
relations with the Republican
party and affiliated himself wX
ernmn7 ?"u& E5 U gov-
WwC; l", Transvaal war.
the author or nXhe Xff.S? I
Bonr Hid nf i onc -miu u . .esl?.d m his presentation nf n,3:
fihn wn lff. frQ u"i "IU l2r wutn could not suffer Rn i ":
spot, either by Mr. Davis or by som ToY his frioSS W2iaiLtakon on thl
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zwi uy uvor u uruLy inn.Tin!fl nnit.tnnnr, -4. i r . unuiiy iimnr,r-ntnri ;
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I TUP A ar-7 S adV0rti8emenfc wi youTorder to3' 9a"
John Bulls Crime or
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