Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 October 1890 — What the Supreme Court Thinks of Protection. [ARTICLE]

What the Supreme Court Thinks of Protection.

The “principle of protection” was some :years ago passed upon by the United .States Supreme Court. The decision was rendered by Justice Miller, who was -appointed by Lincoln. It is as follows: “To lay with one hand the power of the Government on the property of the ■citizen, and with the other to bestow it upon favored individuals to aid private enterprises and build up private fortunes, is none the loss a robbery because *tt is done under the forms of law and is

called a taxation. This is not legislation, It is a decree under legislative forms. Nor is it taxation. A *tax.’ says Webster’s Dictionary, ‘is a rate or sum of money assessed on the person or property of a citizen by the Government for the use of the nation or State.’ Taxes are burdens or charges imposed by the legislature upon persons of property to raise money for public purposes. “We have established, we think beyond cavil, that there can be no lawful tax which is not laid for a public purpose. “If it be said that a benefit results to the local public of a town by establishing manufactures, the same may be said of any other business or pursuit which employs capital or labor. The merchant, the mechanic, the innkeeper, the banker, the builder, the steamboat owner, are equally promoters of the public good, and equally deserving the aid of the citizens by forced contributions. No line can be drawn in favor of the manufacturer which would not open the coffers of the public treasury to the importunities of two-thirds of the business men of the city or town. ” Lawyers will find this in 20 Wall., 657.'