Newspapers / The Lincoln Journal (Lincolnton, … / Feb. 27, 1903, edition 1 / Page 1
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Thf Lincoln Journal. HERE SHAIX THE TRESS THE PEOPLE'S RIGHTS MAINTAIN, TJNAW'D BV INFLUENCE AND UNBRIB'D BY GAIK. New SerVoT.(irN. 25. LINCOLNTON, N. C, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 8903. $1.00 a Year in Advance. A WHIFF FROM THF PAST. What a Sale of Old Books in Philadelphia Revealed. Des Moines Register and leader. Au Iowa man 'who happened to witness a sale of books in Philadelphia a few weeks ago yielded to the charms i the antique and bought a bundle of pamphlets that came from the garret with the dust of several generations upon them. Later investigation showed he had possessed himself of au odd col lection dating back to the 30's and 40's the period of Webster and Clay, Emerson and Beecher, Irving and Longfellow, still la mented by many as the golden age., f America. Surely the cur . rei. iblications of that day " wouM Carry the true heroic fla , vor. So thought the visitor from ' Iowa when he made his invest ment, but he has since been, as Mark Twain says, "harassed with doubts." 'First among the pamphlets was A 'Political Catechism" by a writer Vho had considerable vogue several years ago, but is now wholly forgotten. He seems to have been somewhat ahead of his time, for away back in 1833 he delivered himself thus: "What great danger besets us pervading the whole mass of society? The excessive aud rest less struggle of every one to get rich ! aud it is a matter of regret that so many have a profound reverence for nothing but money." The old write- goes on to de clare the country sinking in the year of grace 1833 into "exces sive anxiety for wealth" with the inevitable accompaniments of "luxury and private and public corruption." Another of these pamphlets shows, however, if the fare of statesmen in the Capitol was somewhat different in those brave old days they got much ' the same treatment when candi dates before the country as now. Witness the following charac terization of Henry Clay, then a candidate for the Presidential nomination: "A Christian, who has tkree or four times shown his bravery by attempting to take away the life of his fellow men in a duel. .'.'A statesman, who is for a high protective tariff in the North, for a horizontal tariff in the Middle States aud a free trade in the South. "A Christian, who fights duels and curses worse than any other man in his State. "A Philanthropist, who, if he cannot have black slaves, is de termined to turn his fellow men into wdiite ones. "A Republican, whose wife and daughter are too good to work in the kitchen." In view of all this, especially the last specification, it ought to be plainer to later generations than heretofore why Clay never got to be President. The White House Expenses. Charleston News and Courier, Some of the Democratic breth ren, three-for-a-quarter states men made quite a demonstration in the ' House the other day against the appropriation of$60. CKX) for White House expenses, instead of $25,000 as heretofore appropriated for this purpose. There were all sorts of protests against such extravagance, the Hon. John Wesley Gaines of Tennessee, declaring among other things, that the White House had been remodelled at an exnse of $600,000 so that now vws.aave a building with a tun on one side and a coal 1 . e on the other," and that dauour sovereignty expanded our entertaining also expanded. Is not that natural and proper? We cannot be a World Power without paying the price. It is utter nonsense to speak of con ducting the White House now for the amount that was neces sary tor this purpose mly, or even twenty-five, years ago, and the howlers against the appro priation asked for the other day would doubtless be the first to protest against the adoption of very cheap method at the White House. He Pays His Money and Takes His Choice. Wilminicton Star. Secretary Root is quoted as saying that he is losing $125,000 a year by staying in the cabinet. If that s so our advice to becre tary Root would be to get out of the cabinet, unless he enjoys staying in more than he docs $125,000 per an. The fifth anniversary of the destruction of the battleship Maine was celebrated bv four hundred Americans at Havana Sunday. Listing of Taxes. R.ilcigh Times. The arranging for the collec tion of taxes, the State requires the tax-payer to list his proper ty; and in a general way it may be said that all a man s property is to be given in and valued, and the rate of taxation applied to the amount, so that the taxes he is to pay will be ascertained. Inequalities in distributing the burden of taxation inevitably at tend this process. While the tax rate is uniform, one may es cape paying his fair share of the taxes either by not listiug all his propertv, or by its not being as- 1 " . ...1.-1 T. .1.- sessea at us real vatue. in uie present machinery act an at tempt has been made to elimi nate ,s tar as practicable tuese possibilities. The lists contain ing a statement of the property of each individually are to be actually and solemnly sworn to. Formerly the oath Svas some what perfunctory: and in many instances it was not required at all. It is somewhat remarkable how forgetful a man can be about his property when listing it for taxation; and how prone he is to underrate it on that par ticular occasion. Men who will fight for their property will at assessment tune lorget their ownership. And so when notes and ac counts, credits, are to be listed, many are entirely forgotten. Still when the day for collecting the interest comes, the memory is amazingly refreshed. Some ' tax-payers never have any money on nana, nor any balance in bank. Some claim that all their money is in United States notes, which are not lia ble to State taxation ; and others ha've the habit of investing just efore June all their cash in bonds of a non-taxable charac ter. By such means the amount of property which should be listed is somewhat reduced. The law seeks to prevent such evasions, and it requires a iuu disclosure of all the property a tax-payer owns. And this is done in a spirit of fairness to the other, tax -payers on whose shoul ders an additional burden would be thrown if any property is'un lawfullv withheld from the lists. A still greater evil arises from the practice that is almost uni versal of not valuing property for taxation at its real value. If e 1 , 1 .. .1.1- a tarm coum unuer lavoraoie circumstances be sold for two thousand dollars, it is quite like ly that it would be assessed for taxation at something like one thousand dollars. In towns houses and lots have a more cer tain market value, and they are apt to be assessed at what they would sell for at an ordinary sale. Here then is an inequality between town and country prop erty. Besides, m the agricultu ral districts themselves, the va riations in assessments are nota ble. And this is done in regard to live stock no less than with respect to land. It is perhaps, the general rule to undervalue more residences that yield no income to the own er, while stores aud premises yielding an income have the taxes piled up on them. The law seeks to reduce to a minimum these inequalities which in practice cannot be en tirely eradicated and the abso lute market value, a value at a fair sale, is called for, under oath. If these provisions of the ma chinery act could be perfectly carried into effect, not only would there be considerably more property listed, but the aggregate of the assessed valu ation would be largely increased ; aud a lower rate of taxation would raise more revenue than the present rate does. But the machinery will not work per fectlv. There will ever be trou ble in putting the system into practical operation. Whenever the stringent provisions of the present law were sought to be enforced with reasonable strict ness. opposition was apparent. It is hard to overcome the habit of a generation. Our habit has been to have our property as sessed at less than its value, and objection is made to the change Still the effort should not be re linquished. Year after year, by systematic endeavors, we may approach still nearer to a per fect inventory of the property in the State and to a more correct assessment of its value. When that is finally accomplished, the burden of maintaining the gov ernment will be more equitably adiusted than now when so many, by one way or another, escane paying a part of their just share of the necessary taxa tiou. Subscribe to The Lincoln Journal. One dollar a year. DEATH OF DRED SCOTT'S' OWNER. Mrs. Chaffee Who Set the f anions Slave Free Die's in Springfield Massachu setts. New York Sun. Springfield. Mass., February 12 A former owner of the famous slave, Died Scott, died here yes terday. She was Mrs. Irene San lord Chaffee, widow of Dr. C. C. Chaffee. She was 88 years old and of a leading Virginia family. Her first husband. Dr. John Emerson, surgeon of the regular iriny, bought Dred Scott at the . . , . , . .. i. negro s earnest solicitation, ne- , r t 1 1 cause ins lormer master nau whipped him for gambling. Dr. Emerson owned no other' slaves, but used to employ Scott about his office in St. Louis. When Dr. Emerson died Mrs. Chaffee, who was about to move to this city, told Scott that he was prac tically free. Scott worked about St. Louis at odd jobs and found employment among other places with a young lawyer who thought he saw the opportunity ot mak ing some money out of the man. The suit for Scott's freedom was brought in 1818 on the ground that he had become free when he went to free territory north of the Missouri line, lhe lawyer loped to secure the wages of Scott for fourteen years, during which time he said he had really- been free. These would amount to some $1,700 aud Scott had be tween $200 and $300 saved. The case went against the es tate in the local Lourt at St. Louis, previous decisions in the Missouri Courts having been that a slave was freed upon be- ng taken into a free State. It was then taken to the Supreme Court, where in 1852, the de cision of the lower court was re versed. The importance ot the point in dispute was then under stood and it was fought through the United States Circuit Court and in the Supreme Court at Washington, in both of which the decision of the State Supreme Court was upheld. The decision of the United States Supreme Court given just 1 i -i... : . x -rrt-ri. rr oeiore uie uiauguiuuun oi i iesi- ent Buchanan., in 1857, startled the North by asserting that a ne gro, free or slave, had no rights before the law, and by practical ly annulling the Missouri Com promise by the assertion that a slave owner could take his slaves into any part of the United States he pleased. Dr. Chaffee was at that time standing against slavery in Congress, and the fact that his wife owned Scott caused no end of bitter comment on his position. Mrs. Chaffee, however, though not an abolitionist, was always in sympathy with the cause of the negro. Her ownership of Scott was a pure accident, and immediately after the decision in the lower Courts had been an nounced she freed the man. John F. A. Sanford, Mrs. Chaffee's brother was executor of the estate and acted in this capacity as defendant in Scott s suit. Beauvoir as a Confederate Home. New Orleans Times-Democrat, "Beauvoir," once the home of him who was for four years Pres ident of the Confederacy, be came yesterday the property of the Sons of Confederate Veter ans of the State of Mississippi, to be dedicated by them as home for disabled, indigent or infirm ex-Confederate soldiers. The $10,000 requisite to purchase "Beauvoir has at length been raised, and the work so long car ried forward by patriotic men and patriotic women in Missis sippi and neighboring States has at last been finished. The peo ple of Mississippi have made no mistake-in purchasing this his toric building and in devoting it to the use of men who wore the gray. It is right that Mississip pi, as well as every other South ern State should provide for the Confederate soldier who may re quire assistance, and it is especi ally fitting that the old heroes should be permitted to spend their last days in what was once the home of the President of the Confederacy. We rejoice that a consunima tion so devoutly .wished has re warded the labors of the good people of Missippi who in the face of difficulty and discourage ment, have given their hands and their hearts to this noble work. The people of Louisiana congratulate the Mississippi Sons of Veterans aud the .Mississppi Daughters of the Confederacy upon the high successs that has crowned their efforts. It is grat ifying also to know that the peo ple of Mississippi have at length made ample provision for their heroes in gray. The Town Trust. St. Loui Republic. The anno i i wr.v. that the chief public utilities of Spring field, 111., are to be consolidated and operated t.y a syndicate of Eastern capitalists is full of sug gestion for the Miia'l town. The synlicite w.ll own Springfield's gas plant, electric railways, Elect.ic Light, Heat and Power Co'iipany, and Hot Water II e a 1 1 n g Company : practically ail the important utilities except waterworks. Capital is just now awaking to the fact that pjolic utilities in small towns are excellent pur- c uases, espec v wji?iv tnev may be cons and run un- der one maii Experience Ait. demonstrated that lighting ph. ts, waterworks and electric t? ways ui small towns mav bflT ted more profitably with power station, a siugucentrai y one manage several stations ' control. The mcnt, than with) under separr same ger g engines are required tyiting and rail way power and the same steam power will supply the pumping necessary to waterworks. Consolidation results in economy of power, and especial ly in saving of fuel. In many places freight or drayage upon fuel is saved, the hauling being done by the electric railways be tween the freight station and power plant. 'I'hese companies have sometime-f'fouiid it profi table to build and operate ice plants in connection with the central power station. That Eastern capital is seek ing investment i'l these consoli dated utilities should be a power ful argument ia favor of local ownership, preferably municipal ownership, in the small town. Nothing could better illustrate the evils of control by foreign capital than the conditions which might ejfiue in a town w hose publidr utilities were owned and opewgd by a remote syndicate havif.yfor its sole object the earnim'of large divi dends. I ,hese utili.it adapt them sei v'thfte' rrntt J 'iT consolidation.' The towns thtfnselves should perceive the advantage and the necessity of co'.I'Vlidation where the conditions J'rmit, and thus guard against , foreign capital and, perhaps inferior service. What is good for an Eastern trust is good fori he town or for its own citizens. Illicit Distilling. New York Press. The poor mountaineers of the South (and the'illicit distiller of Brooklyn and the Bronx) learned the trade from the bonny High lander. Scotch whiskey of the best quality and flavor has been distilled for ages by men with their apparatus at the side of a burn, changing weekly from fear of discovery, malting on the open heath far up the hills, and hurrying on the whole process to avoid detection ; yet with all these disadvantages they receive the highest price for their pro duct. Several of these men have been employed by way of expe riment in a licensed distillery, with directions to proceed in their own way, only to be regu lated by the law under control of an officer, yet 5vith the advan tage of the beic utensils, the nurest water, an the best fuel they produced a Whiskey far in ferior in quality rand flavor to that which they vfade under the shelter of a rocll or in a den, and it sustained neither the same trice nor cTTa.actr in the market 1 Tobacco FarmiJ gin Carolina Winston Tobacco Jourjj And now they l ave discovered a district comprising several thousand acres in South Caroli na that will produce a good arti cle of cigar tobacco. The soil has been analyzed, and we pre sume all other conditions thor oughly investigated, and the on ly thing now to do is for the planters to go to work and raise the fragrant weed. If it is true that the soil and conditions in the district above referred to are favorable the same conditions will apply to certain sections in eastern North Carolina. It looks now as if Virginia, North Caro lina and South Carolina were go ing to be the great tobacco pro ducing states in the union, in quality and variety. Homer's One Good Point, at Least Chicago Record Herald. "I see that Andrew Carnegie thinks Homer didn't amount to much after all." "That's queer. Surely Homer must have had one good point in Andy's estimation. He didn't die rich. PRESIDENT STANDS BY CRUM. Declines to Withdraw the Nomination Upon the Ad vice of Senators. Wai'.nniit'in Post, 17th. The President will not with draw the nomination of Dr. Cm ui, the colored man he selec ted for collector of customs at Charleston, S. C, notwithstand ing the adverse report of the Senate Committee on Fiuanae. A number of Senators called on the President yesterday and ad vised the withdrawal of the nom ination, on the ground that it would hurt the prestige of the administration to have the Sen ate vote for rejection. The President responded that he had made the nomination be cause he believed it right, and as no one had yet Islbcnvn him any reason to change that opinion he should stand by it. The Sen ators warned him that if he de clined to withdraw the nomina tion, the Senate might refuse to vote on it, aud leave it "hung up" at the close of the session. The President's answer was that he had a right to expect the Sen ate to vote on the nomination, and thus share his responsibility and that if it led the session die without voting either confirma tion or rejection, his present pur pose was to make Dr. Crum a recess appointee. Upward and OnwarJ. Chicago News. Watches which cost at whole sale from $3 to $7 each and which can be purchased at retail as low as $30 or $40 go up won derfully in value when a burglar takes them away, frequently being listed then all the way from $75 to $300. The Greensboro Telegram will become a morning paper. Mr. Jacob Perkins has sold his. inter est to his partner, Mr. Hawood. Strike the Truth Occasionally. Greenville Reflector. Some of the .Congressmen at Wasliington are telling the truth again calling each other liars. A Senator With Delirium Tremens. Greenville Reflector, 13th. The legislature should not want any stronger argument for enacting a law against whiskey than the condition of one of its members the past week. A sena tor from a western district a man of splendid appearance, and of brilliant intellect when his mind is not dulled by the demon of drink moving about in the hotel lobby as if he was dodging from snakes or some hobgoblin. In other words he had a well de veloped case of the "monkeys." Of course there were those who could look on and laugh at the antics of the man in the grasp of drunken delirium, but to others it was a spectacle to almost make the heart sick. Daily Newspaper Published on Ship Crossing Atlantic. St. I.ouis Republic. New York. Feb. 10 The possibility of maintaining by wireless telegraphy a daily pa per at sea has been proved. The Atlantic Transport Com pany's steamer Minneapolis, which left here a week ago last Saturday and arrived at London today, reports being in wireless communication either with Cornwall in Englau I or Sias consett in America all the way across. The officers of the ship pub lished a newspaper every day containing the news of the world as sent by wireless teleg raphy. A Woman's Ideas, New York Herald. A man never seems to realize that it is the woman who wears a No. 3A who cannot keep her shoe laces tied. The man who will allow a woman to do the courting will allow her to do the supporting. Ambition should be called the yeast of life, and every child taught how to use the correct amount to obtain the desired effect. It is the engaged man who feels free to tell every girl that woman's proper sphere is mar riage. Men avoid the fashionable summer resorts because it costs so much to take chaperons about. What a shock it would be to some men if their offers of mar riage were accepted. A man will l.mgh at a senti mental woman, yet sleep with her handkerchief under his pillow. The Color Line on Roosevelt. Uictimo-vl New9-I,ranef Dome oi our rsortiiern con temporaries show au unhappy disposition to criticize the position of the Richmond News Leader toward Mr. Roosevelt and the color line and our ad vice to the Southern people in that connection. We are de scribed as "extreme'' and "violent." The fact is the News Leader has been a warm friend and admirer of the President. We never have withheld the praise we felt to be due to him as a patriotic, brave and intense American citizen with definite ideas of right and wrong and the courage to express them and to accept the consequences of them. Our contention was that in .this color line matter he be left to accept those consequences as far as the people of the South .are concerned. We have the most profound respect aud, many of us, the most sincere affection for indi viduals of the negro race. At the same time, they understand as we understand, that in social relations there is a well defined line and that they must stay on their side of that line while we hold ours. Mr. Roosevelt is said to believe and teach that there should be no social difference between the races, that the divergences in color and some other matters are mere accidents of birth no more to be considered than the differ ences in color of hair alid shape of nose between persons of the same race, that a colored person is in all respects exactly the equal of a white person of the corresponding grade of social position, education and cultiva tion. This description of his opinions and sentiments was confirmed by his entertainment of Booker Washington and by his reported purpose to have as his guest at the White House a colored man from Boston named Lewis, whom he had appointed assistant United States district attorney. This report was printed in the newspapers throughout, the country, n:. after time and day after day unchallenged ; and, so far as we know, never has been contra dicted officially. v Considering these tilings, our position was not viojtiut. It was paiuf ally but politely logical. In the South persous of the white race who choose persons of the colored race as their associates, guests and hosts are left to the as sociation of that race exclusively. The Southern position is that between the races there must be no social connecting links, no recognition of equality such as would be involved by the in discriminate association of the same persons witli both. Every white citizen has the right to choose between the two races according to his taste or fancy or sense of duty, but he must choose one or the other. He cannot consort with both. If Mr. Roosevelt holds the opinion he is reported to hold of the equality of the races and intends to illustrate them in his personal and official conduct he is impossible as a social associ ate of Southern white people. That is the short and long of it, and there is nothing vicious, violent or intentionally offensive in the declaration. If Mr. Roose velt teels tnat tne negro is socially as good as the white aud should be recognized as an equal he has no right to be of fended aud no occasion to be mortified if we take him at his own valuation and consider and treat him precisely as if he was a colored man of equal education and cultivation that is, respect his character and admire his abilities, but see that he keeps well to his side of the social line while we remain on our side. Between us is a great gulf fixed. The Southern people do not exaggerate their own impor tance. They know that Mr. Roosevelt by reason of many things is unlikely to suffer for association aud recognition, and that he will not pine for their companionship. Thev do not care about that, and have no wish to hurt his feelings if they could. Their purpose is to hold in their own quiet way to their own traditions and beliefs and ideas of what is necessary and proper for them. Other people in other parts of the country may mix the races as much as they like, may break down the barriers and encourage inter marriage with special bounties if they like. We intend to have none of it here and to check tht very shortest first steps toward it so far as our territory and so cial circles are concerned. We will be content to stay on the w hite side of the line and have Mr. Roosevelt to go on the other side at his will; but it is a line lie cannot straddle or roam on both sides ot so far as Southern white people have any say. Ambassadorial Toggery. Richmond News-I.eader. Shades of Jefferson and manes of Marcy, if ye are not beyond the hearing of the agonizing cry of a tortured and humiliated American press, mate r i al i z e , come forth and rebuke such ca pers as Ambassadors McCormick and Tower are cutting with the assistance of foreign tailors and which are enough to make the angel of Republican simplicity dissolve in tears. Ambassador McCormick has. appeared at the court of the car ,.ui, .li fcvKg,. a vuu inner of experts would iiaye rxm puz zled in deciding whethttj4"',t the regulation rig for a lakes' or the ring master of a circus, and Ambassador Tower he t-f the given name suggestive of the most halcyon days of mediaeval imperialism-has made obeisance to the German kasier, in a' uni form before which would have paled in utter insignificance the most gorgeous ever donned by an ante-bellum American militia general at a spring muster. At such exhibitions the journalistic gorge of this country has risen and the wall has gone up invok ing the spirits of Jefferson and Marcy to revisit this part of this mundane sphere and assume the solid flesh long enough for the corporal entity of the rmc to lead us back to first principles and the pen of the other to indite a fac simile of his " black coat circular" in which, some of our represen tatives abroad had f disported themselves at the courts of effete monarchies bedecked and be dizened like drum majors, he or dered that they should do the undertaker act as to habiliment. We of course sympathize with contemporaries in their distress over the violation of the Marcy circular and the insult to the memory of Jefferson of which Embassadors McCormick and Tower have been guilty. Their defiance of thcrardinal doctrines of Republ lean sun plicity is shoe! both should be severely renri- manded, if not recalled. Other considerations apart they have, on tne occasions ot their discard ing the prescribed funeral garb, failed to give this country the cons pic nous ness as a "world power" our recent strenu- osity entitles us to. For what could be more conspicuous though, mayhaps ridiculously conspicuous than a crow in an array of birds of resplendantand vari-colored plumage. Nothing we know of except a chief mar shal dressed in his Sunday-go-to meeting suit, leading a military parade, and wedged in between a main body and a band, whose raiment would put to blush Jo seph's coat. Yes, American indignation naturally, justifiably and patrioti cally surges up at the thought of our Ambassadors at St. Peters burg and Berlin contributing to chromatic harmony and brillian cy of court receptions, when, they could have effected, a startling contrast and infusd into the scene the suggestiofllof woe and mourning. At the sSiue tiiiie it is much to be feared tliaf . the chorus of conjuration of the shades of Jefferson and the manes of Marcy, to the contrary notwithstanding, mingled with the average American's indigna tion, is a feeling that something is nibbling at his risib-les, as he ccuiteinplates what a'i-iy". at a. i. : i j j cuiui uiucuou auiouu must b the American representative who adheres strictly to the man date in the Marcy circular. Lev ity apart however, a most absurd rumpus is being kicked up about this whole business, and seeing that no compromise of principle is involved in our representatives not doing violence to good taste in their obeying dictates simi lar to dictates society imposes here criticism and ridicule of Ambassadors McCormick and Tower comes with very poor grace from our papers and peo ple, especially in a view of the fact that in one way no people run more to "fuss and feathers." Venomous Liquors. Newton Enterprise. 13th. Senator Reinhardt's associates had a good joke on him the other day when one of his local prohibition bills was read. It prohibited the manufacture and sale of spiritous, "venomous" and malt liquors. The type writer mistook the word vinous for venomous. We also get it straight from Raleigh that Senator Reinhardt is one of the most popular men in the Legisla ture and that he is generally- picked as the Democratic candi date next year for State .Treasurer.
The Lincoln Journal (Lincolnton, N.C.)
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Feb. 27, 1903, edition 1
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