OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2161, 25 July 1895, Page 63

OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

San Fkancisco, May 30. THE INCOME TAX flag been declared unconstitutional by the „ Supreme Court of the United States, and the must look elsewhere for the 30 million of dollars it relied upon from this ', source. The verdict was one of five to four, and \* 'among the former was one judge who changed his mind from the decision he had rendered on a'previous occasion — a change of nvnd which (and I merely mention the matter as indicative pf the low view taken of even the highest Judicial dignitaries in this strange land) has cauesd many people to have no hesitation in openly asking and guessing, How much was he. paid ? > The deoision, however, has its uses. It emphasises more clearly than all the rhetoric 61 the Socialist and revolutionist pos.-ibly could - that this country is governed solely and exclusively by the few for the direct benefit of the j few. It is nob a question of cold law, but oi the deliberate reversal of many prior decisions and the establishing a formidable incentive for all classes to deny the right of the Federal authority to raise taxes from their especial eou-ces of wealth, merely on the ground that finch levy is " sectional," and differentiates in favour of one as against another. That a* country supposedly governed by the people, and having its own House of Representatives, cannot levy taxes as its representatives shall decide is an anomaly unique in the history of a free people. Congress in its wisdom decides that every person caning over £800 a year must contribute 2 per cent, of his or her surplus earnings to the Government of the couut-y. Now, when it is remembered the entire cost of government is isupplied by the excise and customs duties, it will be apparent to "the meanest capacity" that a well-to-do maß or woman contributes far less to the maintenance and fupport of his or her country than does the worker who toils for 50Jol a month. Both pay on what they eat, drink, and wear, and, proportionately, the 50dol a month man contributes the larger share of the two ; in fact it is well known that the ■ very wealthy Americans make a trip to Europe, buy sufficient clothing to last them a year, and pass the same through the customs free of duty, because all such articles are personal effects ! It would, therefore, seem that a law so equitable and honest would have been met willingly and graciously. Not so, however. Folks who think thusly do not know the American plutocrat. The tax waa denounced by the - Eastern and Republican pres3 as socialistic, anarchistic, fit for monarchies only, inquisitorial, sectional, class legislation, and so on, whilst a few men, backed up by others, hired the best legal quibblers of the day, and determined to fight the question in the courts. The result is a matter of history. But the end is not yet. It is absurd to imagine wealth can for ever continue to dictate its terms to the 70 odd millions of people over whom it at this hour proudly lords itself. Contrast the complacent ejaculations of a few of tho bentrfioiaries by this judgment with the warnings uttered by the four disaentiag judges who formed the minority. " I tell you," exclaimed one of the attorneys for the protestants, "the courts of this land are more powerful than tho legislative and executive branches of the Government, or even the army." " The decision is a most excellent one," observed a bank president, "and it will, I hope, tend to give a quietus to class legislation." " It will show," remarked the president 'of a trust company, "that we have some authority higher than legislatures, some authority to which the people bow." Now listen to the other side. Justice Harlan, in'recordiog his dissent, said : " In my judgment, this deoision'efcrikea at the very foundation of national authority, in that it denies to the General .Government a power which is, or may t become at some time in a great emergency, inch as that of war, vital to the existence and preservation of the Union. "In its practical operations this decision withdraws from national taxation not only all incomes derived from real estate, but tho personal property of the whole country — personal property, bonds, stocks, investments of all kinds, and the income that may be derived from such property. " If this new theory of the Constitution, as I believe it to be ; if this new departure from the way marked out by the fathers is justified by the fundamental law, the American people cannot too soon amend their Constitution. " The practical, if not the direct, effect of the decision to-day is to give to certain kinds of property a position of favouritism and advantage inconsistent -with the fundamental principle of our social organisation, to invest them with power and influence that -is perilous to that portion of .the, people upon whom rests the laTger ;parb of the burileifs.of the, Government, and Who ought not to. be subjected to the ' of aggregated wealth. any' more than ; the. property of the country should be at the tn'ercyof the lawl«s."' Justice' Jackson' affirms : " "It is not and ■CMinot'be denied that under the broad and - comprehensive taxing power conferred by the Constitution, Congress h&s authority to tax incomes from whatsoever source arising, whether from real estate or personal property or otherwise." * Justice Brown was more emphatic in his opinion. . Among much that was equally nn.mi&t*kable he laid: "The decision involves -nothing lees than the surrender of the taxing power to the money class. While I have no doubt that Congress will find some meaDs of surmounting the present crisis, my fear is that in come -moment of national peril this deoision will rise up to fustrate its will and paralyse its arm. I hope it may not prove the first step towards submergence of the liberties of the people fn a sordid despotism of wealth." Justice White followed upon similar lines. After reading his opinion, he spoke of the decision as a blow struck at the American people, and said the power of levying an income v tax cow left could only be exercised with such injustice that no legislative body would dare attempt to exercise it, for such an attempt would bring forward a bleody revolution. From the above it is clear I have in no sense exaggerated the eerious phase involved in the denial, by a majority of the Supreme Court, to sanction the action of Congress in its efforts .to make a fair apportionment of the burden of necessary taxation. Of course politics enters so largely into the - utterances of the public men in this country that care has to be exercised before accepting them ss worthy of belief, but when a man like ex-President Harrison, speaking upon the income tax, said "Mr Carlisle might as well have sent out his minions to take away money from every third man," he states what he ought -to know is a deliberate falsehood. Not one man in a hundred in this land would have been liable under the income tax law, and it is the IBoat foolish of foolish bunkum to affirm

otherwise. Four thousand dollars a year salaries are, relatively, no commoner here than elsewhere, and the class of men most elated over the recent deoision give substantial proof that it is co. Meanwhile it is well to remember the French nobles, prior to the Revolution, refused to pay taxes upon their property — a rtfusal which cost, a few years after, many of them their heads as well as their property, and Ihe contemptuous disregard to the teachings of history and the dictates of common sense displayed in the United States may eventually teach the American plutocracy that the possession of wealth is not an unmixed blessing. LITBRAHT NOTSS. The Trilby craze, although not so virulent, cannot be said to have expended itself. Ths patient still manifests many symptoms characteristic of that phase of insanity which has for its chief features a general flabbiness and limpness, but at the same time, there are signs denoting reason's ultimate return to occupy the premises from which it was hysterically ejected. Chief among the latter is the, to many, CDnclusive sign that bo)k«Jlers no longer place Trilby at the head of their popular demand column, and the patient can stand a good deal so long as this significant manifestation of a return to health continues. At the libraries, however, Trilby, much to the disgust of the librarians, still canters in an easy winner. Th^e girls will insist on having their Trilby, and the "dear girl" at whose counterpart in real life they would turn up their delicate nose? is coddled and petted mo3t fulsome'y. * Then the theatrical managers— those clever masters in the art of free advertising — gave the tiresome stuff a lift. They got up a fight as to \ the dramatic rights of the book, and they took ib into court), and injunctions wore issued, and writs applied for, and charges hurled and answers made, and through it all the author of the craze and his publishers smiled knowingly. Nor is this all. As I previously mentioned I somebody claimed Trilby was an old book re- [ written, and there have been more injunctions, and more threats, and more talkee-talkee, and the great man who wrote the latest Trilby — which, by the way, resembles in name only the first Trilby — was cabled for, and is now, I believe, in America to settle these momentous questions, and to receive the adulation of the women and men who call Trilby "literature" and its author a genius. On top of this came another big '• ad." Some silly boy had taken an overdose of Trilby before going to bed, and dreamed Svengali was after him and going to do all kinds of things to him ; so he took poison and died, which was very kind of him. But before dying he wrote a latter saying he should meet Trilby and Silly Billy in heaven ! — which last we sincerely hope he will not, for it is bad enough ever, to have had them on earth. Altogether, the Trilby craze will be chronicled by the future chronicler of our social life aa the most extraordinary outbreak in literary history. I do not koow whether tbe panic extended to England and her colonies (from what I can gather it did not do much damage in Ei gland), but your readers can hardly gather its extent hero. It is Trilby, Trilby, Trilby everywhere. Press, pulpit, politician, artist, clothier, jeweller, hbsier, hitter, dressmaker, have all caught the fever, aud it requirf s an extra dese of Srott, Dickens, Thackeray, Eliot, Weyman, Doyle, or Stevenson to keep some of us from catebing it. Of the monetary woith of this epidemic to the Harpers and Dv Maarier it is difficult to speak with accuracy ; but the fact that £3000— not dollars — were paid for the dramatic right 3 for the summer season in the city of Boston alone of the work will give an inkling aa to what it must be ; and the cry is still they come — i.e., the dollars. Miss Beatrice Harraden was on the platform at the opening of the Woman's Congress. She says her little book which made her reputation hat, so far, only yielded her some £300. Contrasted with Trilby's figures the price is miserable, especially as "Ships That Pass in the Night" strikes a deeper, truer, higher note than does tho soiled beauty of the Latin Qaartier. The Examiner has made an excellent departure in connection with its Sunday edition. In place of printing its -short stories among the ordinary matter it issues a fiction supplement of 16 pages, size about 12in by Sin, with three columns to the pago and several illustrations to each story. The latter are by the beat authors. For example that of the 19th inst contained a story each by Weyman, Oaida, Daudei, lan Maclaren, and a bit of rhyme by Kipling. The cost, although shared by other papers in other cities, must ba large ; but I presume it pays, as I have never yet encountered a piper run solely for the benefit of the human raca. THEATRICAL CHATTEH. Ysaye, the Belgian violinist, ia the only name I of note during the past month or two. He appeared foar times at tho Baldwin Theatre, and has been greeted by ths critic?, as he ha 3 been greeted throughout the country,, as title greatest man.of his clasa." Originally engaged to appear for 60 conceits only, at 50Odol r » concert, in, the .Eastern States his success was so immediate that the 50 nights became 80, and the territory largely extended. In this oity, however, there were not sufficient people to fill the Baldwin at 4s, 6s, Bs, and 10s a seat. Such prices may ' be obtained for a few nights in Boston, .New York, and Philadelphia, but not in San Francisco, and it would have been better policy to halve the figures and double or treble the attendance. The members of the Bohemian Club— an organisation containing a few artists and literati and 90 per cent, of business men — welcomed Ysaye as they have welcomed everyone with a name who has ever appeared in the city. There is a certain element of meanness in this welcoming, however, and which generally takes the form of anticipating something for nothing — i.e., the invited artist will, as a rule, pay for his., hospitality with a free entertainment. In Ysaye's caie the club overdid the business. It issued invitations to members, and friends, and wives, and sisters, and others, stating on the invitation there would be music and giving Ysaye's* name in large letters. Some 500 responses were the result. Yaaye bowed in pleasure to the warm welcome hs received. Bowed — but no more. Not a note did he play. The silly man actnally thought it was, Ysaye, and not Ysaye's violin, who was invited I Of course he was not directly asked to play ;. but" then, why come, and why ask us, if he didn't? It must have been amusing to have seen those 500 deadheads glide down the staircase after the reception w*s over, although it ia somewhat more than amusing to - read the club intends to boycott the Baldwin management for its action. It seems Ysaye, or his managers, made a simple oalculition to the effect that as most people would be content to hear the violinisb once a free entertainment at the club would mean the loss of, perhaps, lOOOdol, and as the club members ought to expect no such gift the player and his directors naturally viewed the invitation as to the man and nob to the fiddle. Were they right, or were they wroDg? And what do you think of the club ? Sullivan's "Pinafore," Offenbaoh's "Brigands," and Lecocq'a "La Fiile de Madame Angot " have filled file Tivoli of late. Tbe first

ran for 14 nights, and although it has been played again and again in this city, it went with all the vim of a new piece. Stockwe'l'i Theatre, opened some two and a-half years ago with Ada Reh&n in Tennyson's "Robin Hood," and, shortly after, with young Dion Boucicault, and Jewetfc, of Dunedin, as leading man, has had a mixed career. Admirably situated, and, without doubt:, the psettieit place of amusement in the city, it has not paid for many months. It has tried variety, melodrama, society, leg-kicking, and spectacular, but without getting " the ghost to walk." Now it h3s changed hands and name. It berosie3 the Columbia, and starts under fair promise of snecess. An admirable stock company has saen engaged, and go id plays aro b--- ; n< prebented in a creditable manner and wi fa jxcellcnt scenery and mountings. Tha housa has been overhauled throughout. The walle, ceiling, balconies, and boxes are all decorated ia white and gold and pink. Electric lights are in every nook and corner. Curtains of silk and velvet pile carpels shade the doorways and cover the floora and staircases. Daintly furnished retiring rooms, whose walls are covered with paintings and whose soft sofas and lounges and settees invite to rest, are generously provided. In brief, as pretty a house as one need wish for. Pinero's play " Sweet Lavender " opened the season, and Chambers's " Captain Swift " succeeded. NOTES AND COMMENTS. From log cabin to White House is a favourite theme with public speakers, but tho reverse of the picture is as common. On the 18th inst. the grandson of President Tyler, who was born in the Whits House 52 years ago, died in the veriest poverty within a mile of the palatial place of his birth. His life was one of the hardest luck, and not in any way a dissipated one. Had ho been the grandson of a monarch instead of the grandson of the President of the freest and greatest nation on earth, how different the ending would have been. There are 25,000 men and women in San Francisco who use the bicjcle. The price for a machine is lower now than it was some two years since, but 85dol is still aaked and, evidently, obtained. The A.P.A's , in full council assembled at Milwaukee, unanimously decided to extend the order to all tho couatiies of the world ; so look ont. A missionary from the Gilbert Islands told his Christian brethren in San Francisco he would be ashamed to bring his converts here. He said tbe practical exposition of Christianity as exemplified in this city would cause the "heathen" to turn and rend him aa a false prophet. A Miss Bertha Ross died recently at Clermont, Florida. She belonged to a club the chief feature of which was that no member should ask a man to do anything for tier. So the women ran her funeral. They prepared the body, acted as pallbearers, conducted the services, lowered the coffin, and filled the gravo. The hearse-driver was the only male present. By the way, at the late Womeals Congress no fewer than seven spinsters read papsrs on the training of children, and one fashionable lady who lives in a boarding house read one on " How to Make Home Beautiful." And still the masculine brute grins ! A gentleman cut a lady's throat in Chicago las'} winter, and has thus early been brought up for trial. His attorney moved for a dismissal because in. the indictment the word " peace " was spelt with an " a " ! The rapid transformation of the fastidious Wilde into the clo3ely-shaven convict No. — has astonished tho Americau press. This latter chuckled with delight and drew awful comparisons when it was rumoured Wilde was to be permitted to "ikip," &c, &c. There are no comments now — there seldom are in the last resort in all questions touching British doings,— but it is permissible to assart that in this country Wilde would have been still fighting the courts three years from now. Johann Tranquilici, who drove Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria to his fatal rendtzvoas at Meyprlin? on June 30, 1889, died in the hospital of New York's City Asylum for the Insane on the 22nd insb. Says the Examiner :—": — " It is full time that the absurd policy of coddling murderers waa reversed. The evil fruits it has borne are registered in every coroner's book in the land. It has made the United States the bloodiest of nations and reduced the value of human life to a lower point than can be found outside the savage races of the globe. The policy haß been dictated by a fake humanitari*nism that shrinks from the application of the death penalty. The result has been to multiply the number of deaths by violence many times over." Which reminds one that the press is of the opinion that the man charged with the Emmanuel Church atrocities may be brought before a jury by October, but mora probably December, next !