The Crime of Caste in Our Country

by Benjamin Rush Davenport

After reading the above—and presumably it is correct—let us stand in holy astonishment that Jay Gould should suddenly have acquired over $65,000,000 of personal property, according to his will, since this schedule and assessment of personal property was filed, because this late lamented Gould was the possessor of personal property only, with the exception of his residence. Therefore it is obvious, since he swore to possessing only $500,000 of personal property, that he must have acquired, in some miraculous manner, more than $65,000,000 of personal property, which he bequeathed to his children, according to his will, recently filed in the Surrogate’s office in the city of New York.

Mr. George Gould swears that he has only $10,000 in personal property. Now who believes it? Mr. Russell Sage has only $100,000 in personal property! and the Vanderbilts each have from $100,000 to $200,000 worth!

Poor men! Let the commiseration of the masses go forth. These gentlemen, who are accredited with the possession of millions, and who, when they die, find themselves suddenly possessed of the millions with which they are accredited by the public, are poor men while they live, and have to pay taxes!

Right you are, New York Sun; an income tax would lead to perjury! Of course, not upon the part of the gentlemen named—for “Brutus was an honorable man”—but we will agree with you, after reading this schedule, that an income tax would lead to perjury. But let us suggest that we, the people, have elected a man as chief executive of the nation, who represents us, the “Common People,” and will see to the execution of the laws of the nation—Grover Cleveland. To be an honest man and fulfill the expectations of the people, he will see that those who should pay the expenses of the Government by an income tax shall make honest returns concerning their possessions, and pay that sum of money to which the Government is entitled.

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.

The people have had enough, a surfeit, of this cry of immunity from the consequences of crime because the criminal happens to possess wealth. We are weary, tired of it. And the people have made up their minds that the wealthy criminals shall be brought to the bar of justice along with the poorest, pilfering thief of a penny loaf. There shall not be in our land one law for the rich and another for the poor. If these wealthy criminals perjure themselves with regard to their incomes, they must be punished, and the people will expect the punishment and penalty to be inflicted by and through the administration of Grover Cleveland.

To cry out, with the New York Sun, that “If you pass a law requiring the citizens of the American Union to swear to the truth and record their incomes, it is but offering an inducement to perjury, and, therefore, is undesirable,” is to admit that our Government is a failure, that a Republic is a failure, that the will of the majority shall not rule, that the American Constitution is a farce and a fraud, all of which the “Common People” will not believe to be the case. They demand the law! The enforcement of it rests with the Executive of the nation. The punishment rests upon the integrity and honor of the judiciary of the Federal courts. And there has been no evidence yet of a lack of honesty in the members of the Federal judiciary. The perjurers can and should be punished. If the Legislature of the nation, the Congress of the United States, will pass a graded income tax, as the people desire that they should do, the people believe that the law will be executed under the wise and honest administration of that Executive chosen by them November 8, 1892—Grover Cleveland. The people believe that, should any be accused of perjury and false return of their incomes, they will be prosecuted by the officers of the Federal courts, who will be honest, being appointed by Grover Cleveland, the representative of the people; that, when so charged, perjurers brought to trial will be prosecuted fairly and ably by the representatives of the executive department, selected by the people November last, and, when so tried, the people, by twelve of their number, the jury, will decide whether the accused be guilty or innocent, and, if guilty, the people believe that the wealth and position of the accused will not enter into the consideration of the Magistrate representing the Federal Government, but that he will sentence a guilty man, even though he be worth a million or a hundred million, in the same manner as he would the commonest counterfeiter or petty larceny thief in the land.

Believing thus, the plain people of America see no good reason or argument in the cry that an income tax will be productive of perjury and that it is a sufficient reason to prevent its passage. And, therefore, a graded income tax becomes the most desirable measure possible to introduce for the advantage of the people who elected the incoming administration, November 8, 1892.