Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 September 1878 — MR. MAJPR'S TAX OUTRAGE. [ARTICLE]

MR. M AJPR'S TAX OUTRAGE.

L«ht week the ll< mid publi-I h eonte’.iiptihlp article from the Bun-’sclaor I’stos stating that lion. George Major refined tjupay his taxi's and tlireatcned thu collector, in IK<3. This was ;m in l.illn. ’lit '.l' (!».• i-.Hlrtiiid l.i\ w he h h.i I J»ceh voted, and at that time a 1? there seemo<l but little prosperL of the road being built the whole township in which Major lived (('arpenter township, or the one Remington is in) resisted this tax. or its collection. TJierc was no violence useil or threatened, except legal violence through the law .•—J/oaf/tv*//> .VjWfou#. Home of Mr. Major’s friends have reported (het it. wus -an .income . tax that he refused to pay ; this one siiys that it was an installment of railroad taX- What diHerenee does the nature of thp tax make, if it had been levied under the law and he attempted to resist the collection of it in violation of law? But Mr. Major’s friends only injure instead of help him by these weak explautilioiis, for they in efject admit that there is a foundation in truth for the charge, and fail of a good eommoh sense justiTieatioh of his conduct. Mr. Major had been a member of the board of .county commissioner's and was, or ought to have been, familiar with the financial condition of the county. He must have known, or might have known, that county orders were being protested by tlie treasurer for waiit of funds to pay them. Poor laboring men who took (lie orders for services done the public were compelled to discount them ten to fifteen per cent, for cash. It. was a duty, both in law and in moral*, for every citizen to pay It is taxes and as inueli as possible relieve th j county of her embarras.-ment. The years when Mr. Major's taxes were levied were

years of good crops, good prices, ar.il -nntversal prosperity. The taxes for no extraordinary jnirposc. Not a dollar of it was railroad tax. Tl’.at lie had paid the previous year. He had nn abuudanee-of property. The records show that liis assets were listed taxeOTmmnitMZlm 5257.20. Mr. Holdiidge Clark is at UTtTrTtrmrtnuwFTtvptrty-treasurer - vs .Jasper county. Hch;is been a resident of the county twenty years, and is justly regarded as one of its best citizens. Courteous, mild, aflifble, discreet, he was employed by treasurer L. C- Janes.(whose pi'esent address is Hutchinson, Kansas,) to make ctdiec.tiotis__p_f taxes from delinquents in Carpenter and some other townships. When lie asked Mr. JUajor for the amount due from him that gentleman ilatly refused to pay. When mi|/!ly expostulated With,' Mr. Major became greatly incensed and fell to abusing tiie government and public officers. Finally wb n. Mr. Clark, aft-er exh usting all persuasive arguiueiLta, suggested that as tin officer sworn to discharge his duties it would be necessary for him in case the taxes were i; "Hflit paid voluntarily to attach pioperly ami collect by forced sale, Mr. Major forgot liignity, propriety, and even pis profesions of religion. He raved like a lunatic, swore like a ■muleteer, tffld declared (hat he would shoot Mr. Clark or any other man. who-should set fool im premises for such a purpose. Thi- is no campaign falsehood, . It is a concise, statement of an episode that actually happened. It has been ; alluded tq.before by the public prints. Three weeks have passed since the friends of Air. Major Spoke to him alioiints publication. A copy of Tiie Union containing it wa* mailed to him direct from this dike. By his I continued silence he Virtually eon desses its tiutlifulness.,’. He dare it openly for there are too many people living who kimw the facts. L

When democrats talk about the u tsiuimess Of the 'd i vfsToli of the ' state into legislative districts, assure theiHmiklly but linnly ttiat lue first body elected under the pi esent ar. rd'hgeinent considered that they had ■ honored themselves by eleetiiig Hon, I Joseph E- McDonald United States i senator. Tell iheniigently but firmly j (hat they had control of the senate ■ branch at its last session. Tell them .softly bat earnestly that should they 'get an opportunity it would be in keeping with the record and tradf" lions of their party to practically disfranchise two-thirds of the republican voters'in the state, liefer them to th costate of North Carolina with her 110,000 republican votets and only onVrepublican representative in conitd.ttOO repuo'htxm voters , and not one ‘ republican representative'in congress, the Male of Virginia with l''>,Oi>o republican voters and not a republican !.representative in congress. Tell them ■ study yet positively that this is a vain ami wicked, world, unit a deceitfid generation; that you would like to i Inive the state fairly apportioned; t that you are||ardent for reform; but that the record of. the democratic purty for the past quarter of a century forbids you to hope In that direction, i and that it requires . the exercise of 1 top much y.redulity to believe that the intentions of a party are strictly hottestt.haL df'Ctsu salary-grabber to the supreme court, of the stale, that gives oil its state ticket, ami that moans to ’ r elect anoUi er sh I ary •grabber to -tt»o

One of the famotiH reformers <»f thin neck of timber in Hon. George Major who was elected (to tlio stale senate four years ago on a red hot reform ticket. He hadi much to say that campaign übcmbwe enormity of sat-ary-grfthbingin general, ami of republican congressional shinty-grabbing in particular. If the jieofile would only elect him to an office lie would show them a model of "otiieial integrity. His fees should always be moderate ami only for Services actually rendered. To lenrti how closely the dear, good old gentleman fulfilled his prornisea.tu.lqjde.wn,lli£, acuate Journal. _pl_ 1877, turn to pages 41(1 and 922, showing that lie was absent from duty at two different times. Then go to page 989 where is an exhibit of his bill, which reads thus: By mileage $41.60, by per diem regular session $36(1, by per diem special session S6O, total $467.00. Not n dollar deducted for the time he wasabsent, but the pay drawn witli a regularity that would send a thrill of joy through the system of any salary-grabber in the land. Mr. Major hears a skeleton rattle in every cupboard, and sees a spectre on every hearthstone;, lie knows that gaunt starvation stalks abroad through the land; enormous taxes and a dearth of moiiey are crushing the very life out rs tiie people; yet he does nothing to lessen their grievous burdens, and even makes them pay him for his days of recreation and idleness.

Woe unto the democracy of JusptY county, for they are badly rattled. Woe unto ‘‘our party organ at the county seat,” for its substance is wasting away. McEwen dreams in his sleep of colonized voters, mid the doctor raves about them in his waking hours. - They hear the footsteps of a republican in eygry rustling leaf, and they sbe the form of one in the shadow of every forest tree. The whole north country is full of them, and they howl for the f:\te of the flats. This is a wicked world, and its deCfittfuluesSTls past the tongue of man td tell. Leaf by leaf the roses fall, and one- by one the fiats return to the house of their father. Four hundred is the majority of the republicans in Jasper county and they’ll all vote without scratching a ticket. Good bye, little coalition, for “you is done gone played out.”