The Crime of Caste in Our CountryDavenport, Benjamin Rush
History
The Crime of Caste in Our Country
Davenport, Benjamin Rush
Social problems; United States -- Social conditions -- 1865-1918
If he do not so, he is faithless, and the people will hold him
accountable. The power of the Government will be in his hands--both
branches of the Legislature. And should the National Legislature,
selected by the people, deem it wise to furnish revenue for the
Government, and pass an income tax graded according to the incomes
received, then it will devolve upon Grover Cleveland, as trustee of
the nation, to see that the will of the Legislature is executed. He
has the power to appoint such officers as may be necessary to properly
execute the laws of the Federal Union, and we, the “Common People,”
will expect a ratification of all the promises made by him to the
people of the Union. The people of the nation, trusting and relying
upon his honesty and integrity, selected him for the high office of
Chief Magistrate of the GREATEST NATION ON EARTH. We have placed in
his hands the power of the majority, and we shall expect the execution
of such laws as the will of the majority may dictate; _the foremost of
which will be an income tax_, whereby may be eradicated many of the
evils of which the masses, the “plain people,” complain.
Should perjury be committed--and it would not be astonishing, because
the “plain people” of America are not apt to be astonished at anything
vile that may be done by the sham aristocracy and worshipers of “caste”
in our country--then let Grover Cleveland, as Executive of the nation,
having the power of the people behind him, supported by the mighty
voice of the broad democracy of our land, prosecute, by means of the
officers of the Federal Government (paid by the people to punish crimes
of the character indicated by the New York _Sun_, such as perjury),
and, upon conviction, let the glorious sight be afforded to us plain
“Common People,” of a millionaire working in a shoe shop at Sing-Sing;
let us see the stripes of the criminal adorning the backs of some
of these good, my lords, the barons, who swear to lies and perjure
themselves about their incomes; grab a dozen of them; convict them
of perjury; make them appear before the people as criminals, as the
people believe they are. One batch of a dozen going to Sing-Sing and
Auburn--one batch of a dozen would-be Patricians breaking rock for the
good of the public, would be a sight that would delight the very souls
of the “Common People.”
The people make the laws! Now, you millionaires, obey the laws; and a
transgression against those laws, though you be worth $100,000,000,
will not be excused. The people believe that an income tax can be
collected in spite of the perjury predicted by the New York _Sun_,
because of the PUNISHMENT that the PEOPLE WILL INFLICT upon the
perjurers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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