Sunday, October 6, 2019

Gerrit Smith

As a general thing, they who in the late war fought for the salvation of our country, were poor. Included in this salvation were the estates of our rich men. It would be an expression of justice and gratitude toward the poor, and at the same time not at all oppressive to the rich, were our large estates made to pay, for a few years to come, a greater proportion than they now pay of the annual payment on our war debt. Moreover both the benevolence and patriotism of our rich men should make it a pleasure to them to pay ten per cent on incomes exceeding ten thousand dollars, and twenty per cent on incomes exceeding twenty thousand dollars.

SOURCES: Octavius Brooks Frothingham, Gerrit Smith: A Biography, p. 271-2

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