Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 17 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 17 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
The sum-total of this loss directly chargeable upon the Repudiators
is more than one hundred millions, already paid in taxes; and much I
fear, fellow-citizens, that, before the nation can recover from the
discredit inflicted upon it, another hundred millions will be paid in
the same way. It is hard to see this immense treasure wrung by taxation
from the toil of the people to pay these devices of a dishonest
Democracy. Do not forget that the cost of this experiment is confined
to no particular class. Wherever the tax-gatherer goes, there it is
paid. Every workman pays it in his food and clothing; every mechanic
and artisan, in his tools; every housewife, in her cooking-stove and
flat-iron; every merchant, in the stamp upon his note; every man of
salary, in the income tax; ay, every laborer, in his wood, his coal,
his potatoes, and his salt. Many of these taxes, imposed under duress
of war, will be removed soon, I trust; but still the enormous sum
of forty millions annually must be contributed by the labor of the
country, until the world is convinced, that, in spite of Democratic
menace, the Republic will maintain its plighted faith to the end.
People wish to reduce taxation. I tell you how. Let no doubt rest upon
the Public Faith. Then will the present burdensome taxation grow “fine
by degrees and beautifully less.” _It is the doubt which costs._ It is
with our country, as with an individual,--the doubt obliges the payment
of _extra interest_. To stop that extra interest we must keep faith.
* * * * *
As we look at the origin of the greenback, we shall find a new motive
for fidelity. I do not speak of that patriotic character which
commends the national debt, but of the financial principle on which
the greenback was first issued. It came from the overruling exigencies
of self-defence. The national existence depended upon money, which
could be had only through a forced loan. The greenback was the agency
by which it was collected. The disloyal party resisted the passage of
the original Act, prophesying danger and difficulty; but the safety
of the nation required the risk, and the Republican Party assumed it.
And now this same disloyal party, once against the greenback, insist
upon continuing in peace what was justified only in war,--insist upon
a forced loan, when the overruling exigencies of self-defence have
ceased, and the nation is saved. To such absurdity is this party now
driven.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account