use for. So I believe in cumulative taxation in regard to any kind
of wealth. Let a man worth ten million dollars pay a greater per
cent. than one worth one hundred thousand, because he is able to
pay it. The other day a man was talking to me about having the
dead pay the expenses of the Government; that whenever a man died
worth say five million dollars, one million should go to the
Government; that if he died worth ten million dollars, three millions
should go to the Government; if he died worth twenty million dollars,
eight million should go to the Government, and so on. He said that
in this way the expenses of the Government could be borne by the
dead. I should be in favor of cumulative taxation upon legacies--
the greater the legacy, the greater the per cent. of taxation.

But, of course, I am not foolish enough to suppose that I understand
these questions. I am giving you a few guesses. My only desire
is to guess right. I want to see the people of this world live
for this world, and I hope the time will come when a civilized man
will understand that he cannot be perfectly happy while anybody
else is miserable; that a perfectly civilized man could not enjoy
a dinner knowing that others were starving; that he could not enjoy
the richest robes if he knew that some of his fellow-men in rags
and tatters were shivering in the blast. In other words, I want
to carry out the idea there that I have so frequently uttered with
regard to the other world; that is, that no gentleman angel could
be perfectly happy knowing that somebody else was in hell.

_Question_. What are the chances for the Republican party in 1888?

_Answer_. If it will sympathize with the toilers, as it did with
the slaves; if it will side with the needy; if it will only take
the right side it will elect the next President. The poor should
not resort to violence; the rich should appeal to the intelligence
of the working people. These questions cannot be settled by envy
and scorn. The motto of both parties should be: "Come, let us
reason together." The Republican party was the grandest organization
that ever existed. It was brave, intelligent and just. It sincerely
loved the right. A certificate of membership was a patent of
nobility. If it will only stand by the right again, its victorious
banner will float over all the intelligent sons of toil.

--_The Times_, Chicago, Illinois, November 4, 1886.

REPLY TO THE REV. B. F. MORSE.*