59 WALL STREET, NEW YORK. 211 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, 66 State Street, Boston. Issue Commercial Credits, make Cable Transfers of money between this Country and England, and Draw Bills of Exchange on Great Britain and Ireland. They also issue against cash deposited or satisfactory guarantee of repayment, Circular Credits for Travelers, in DOLLARS, for use in the United States and adjacent countries, and in POUNDS STERLING for use in any part of the world. WILLIAM S. WHITLOCK & CO., SHIP CHANDLERS AND PATENT ROPE MAKERS, Cordage, Manilla Rope, Wire Rope, Bolt Rope, Bale Rope, Tow Line, McKesson & Robbins, The New Century. THE NEW REVOLUTION. With this month of July, 1876, the country is a hundred years old, and America enters upon her new century. It has taken nearly the hundred years to make the Declaration of Independence gocd, as regards personal liberty; to-day no Americans are slaves, all men are so far free and equal. But the Declaration of Independence is not yet wholly made good; that right of free exchange which in "the pursuit of happiness" is second only to life itself, is yet denied to Americans. In the rights of property, there are still slaves and task-masters; the old world trammels are still upon us, and the mother country, from which we revolted to obtain freedom, is freer than our own. To achieve this freedom of exchange, by a bloodless revolution, is the great work before the present generation, at this opening of the new century. Until it is achieved, the Declaration is not yet true, and America is not yet safe. So long as we rest content with imperfect freedom, so long we expose our country to these dangers of rotting corruption which are more threatening than any foreign foe. Many had hoped that the campaign of the centennial year would be the scene of this final struggle for freedom. The desire for so glorious a consummation of the closing era has not been fulfilled. There has been a re-awakening of the people, and the politicians have been restrained by it into putting forward as Presidential candidates men whose personal records make either worthy to fill the office. But the fact remains that the people have not yet had time to make their full intention felt; and reformers, whether in finance, trade, or the civil service, (and all are one,). cannot yet place confidence in either existing party. Neither has set itself more practically than by words against the crying evils of mal-administration and corruption, and the conscience vote is still in doubt which of two excellent men will be least subject to the despotism of party evils. The Republican party, entrenched in the Custom House ditches, declares in its platform for duties upon importations "so adjusted as to promote the interests of American labor and advance the prosperity of the whole country"—a self-contradiction as flat as its endorsement of the present civil service and its cry for civil service reform. The whole country can never be prosperous while legislation is for a class; that delusion. we gave up with slavery. The Democratic party, in its arraignment of the "ins," vigorously denounces the present tariff and demands that all Custom House taxation shall be only for revenue; but this declaration of principles comes with less force from a party whose double-faced platform and nominations, in the matter of currency, seem to show that it has no principles but policy, and whose own record, in the civil service of the House, compels many who believe in honest deeds above fair words to fear to cast their votes for the proved reformer and veteran free-trader at the head of the Democratic ticket. The party of free-trade must be first of all a party of honesty. There is no party existing on which free-traders can rely. In this state of things, we cannot counsel free-traders, as such, in favor of either Presidential candidate. Other questions, of opinion or character, must determine their individual votes. We advise them rather to put their full effort as free-traders into the canvass for legislative offices. They will thus throw out their outposts for the fight. This for the immediate future; beyond that the way is clear. No time is to be lost now in preparing for the great opportunity open to us at the close of the presidential campaign. The Alliance has already made a careful canvass of the field, and the returns from its correspondents, who are in more than twenty States, give full proof that the present is the time for action, and that only education and organization are needed to make free-trade vs. "protective" despotism the issues of an early campaign. We must at once enter upon four years of steadfast work, that will make free-trade, in 1880, the honest platform of one of the existing parties, or give opportunity for such a conscience vote as shall prepare the way for a successful free-trade party four years thereafter. To that work, the Alliance now devotes itself as the one patriotic duty before the American people. The true method for the friends of free-trade is plain before them. It is as far removed as possible from the present method of the politicians. We have absolute faith that the voice of the American people, once the people are informed, will be in this issue, as in all issues before, firmly for liberty. To inform the public is the first step; to organize them into a force is the second. In a word, education through organizations, modest in their origin, but planned to finally embrace all who may join the ranks, is the key to the work before us. The friends of free-trade should begin at once to organize local and state organizations, that will be ready to commence active work as soon as the Presidential excitement is over and the new question may have a hearing in the press and directly before the people. The plan of organizing State associations, of which each local club shall be a part, presents an excellent system, but each locality should choose the method of organization best fitted to it. There is no room for red tape or the jealousies of system; it is the work, and not how it is done, that will count. By November these organizations should enter on their work, but the various methods from which to choose or which may be combined effectually we may better discuss in a future number. The important thing now, we repeat, is to organize, and if in any place there are but two or three active free-traders, this is enough for a skeleton organization to be recruited in the future. Friends of free-trade, organize now; by the time you are ready for the work, the work will plan itself for you. DIRECT AND INDIRECT TAXATION. [The following paper was read before the Boston Free Trade Club, at its May meeting, by Mr. Crawford S. Griffin. We give it to our readers, not as indorsing all its portions, but because it presents compactly many of the important points.-ED.] This is a subject of vital importance to the people, yet one to which they give but little attention. It costs about $310,000,000 to support the United States Government, which is raised almost entirely by customs and other indirect taxation. All the States, with all their internal expenses of counties, cities and towns, schools, courts, prisons, streets, lights, police, &c., are supported by direct tax, levied directly upon the people and their real and personal property. And it appears that the expense of the United States Government, supported by indirect tax, is about equal to the combined expenses of all the States, supported by direct tax. We have heard a great deal about the beauties of indirect taxation. The whole beauty is in the fact that it is so indirect that no man knows how much he pays, or what proportion he pays compared with his neighbors. This is a beauty only so far as ignorance is bliss, and I object to it because this is its single beauty. Also because it breeds indifference to government affairs, and suffers loose extravagance on the part of officers. Direct tax brings the conduct of government to every man's immediate attention by drawing directly from his purse; and individual attention must be had, at any cost, in order to maintain a republican form of government. Secondly, I favor direct taxation because the customs system makes the machinery of government too cumbersome. It seems needless to maintain two systems of taxation when one class of tax-gatherers might as well collect the whole tax. As each State has a perfect system of taxation, why not require each State when assessing and collecting, to assess and collect its just proportions of the United States tax, and thus do away wholly with the United States collecting system? It is claimed that we need the customs tax to get gold for government use, but this question can best be answered by asking another. How do States, cities, railroads and mining corporations get gold to pay their foreign bonds? Every one knows that when gold is needed they take currency and buy it. Why cannot this government do the same, and thus avoid hoarding it up by the million year after year and preventing its circulation? Gold can always be had when in the country and the custom-house cannot get it unless it is here to get; so what is the advantage of custom tax in this direction? Is it not a positive disadvantage by keeping so much gold out of circulation ? I object to the present revenue system, because the custom houses produce a corrupt combination, important in making and continuing corrupt officers? besides being a dangerous instrument in the hands of a bad president, [and also a power beyond the control of a good one.-ED.] I object to the present revenue system, because it is unequal in taxation. Under the direct tax system each man pays according to his means, and no town or city is charged a revenue on her paupers. I object to the present revenue system because it assesses the tax at the wrong end. It makes a vast difference whether a man pays his taxes before eating and earning or afterwards, as is well shown by the fact that revenue is now assessed upon the goods in the hands of the wholesale dealer, who must have his per cent. upon this money advanced, as must the retail dealer also. Allowing them each ten per cent., the $310,000,000 that the government gets makes the consumers $385,000,000 out of pocket, a difference of $75,000,000, between direct and indirect taxation. The duty acts upon prices as a sort of leaven, because it affects the first cost of living, which also affects the cost of labor, which labor and living, acting and reacting upon each other, materially increase all prices. We are thus put at a disadvantage with all other nations, in the cost of manufactured articles and produce. I object to the present revenue system, because it demands the exportation of everything but gold; and demands the importation of gold only, in this manner striking a deadly blow at commerce. By the tariff stopping imports, and high prices stopping exports, it takes but a very few years to put our entire shipping into the docks. |