美国学生历史 第80期:政治党派的出现(5)

 　　213. The Whiskey Insurrection, 1794. 213．威士忌叛乱（1794年）

　　The increasing expenses of the government made new taxes necessary. 日益增长的政府开支使得有必要增加新的税种，

　　Among the new taxes was an internal revenue tax on whiskey. 在这些新税种中有一项是对威士忌酒的财政税，

　　It happened that this tax bore heavily on the farmers of western Carolina and western Pennsylvania. 碰巧这项税给卡罗莱纳西部及宾夕法尼亚州西部的农民带来沉重的负担。

　　The farmers of those regions could not take their grain to the seaboard because the roads were bad and the distance was great. 这些地区的农民不能将他们的谷物带到沿海地带，因为既没有好的路，而且距离沿海路途遥远。

　　So they made it into whiskey, which could be carried to the seaboard and sold at a profit. 因此，他们用谷物酿成威士忌酒，这些酒可以运到沿海地带卖个好价钱。

　　The new tax on whiskey would make it more difficult for these western farmers to earn a living and to support their families. 这项威士忌酒税将使得西部农民更加难于维持生计，更加难于供养他们的家庭。

　　They refused to pay it. They fell upon the tax collectors and drove them away. 他们拒绝缴纳威士忌酒税。这些农民攻击收税员并将他们赶走。

　　Washington sent commissioners¹ to explain matters to them. 华盛顿派出专员去对此做出解释，

　　But the farmers paid no heed² to the commissioners. 但农民们不理会这些专员。

　　The President then called out fifteen thousand militia-men and sent them to western Pennsylvania, under the command of Henry Lee, governor of Virginia. 因此，总统派弗吉尼亚州州长亨利o李为司令，带领一支五千人的军队开往宾夕法尼亚州的西部。

　　The rebellious³ farmers yielded without fighting. 叛乱的农民没有做出反抗就屈服了，

　　Two of the leaders were convicted of treason. 两个带头闹事的人被宣判为谋反罪。

　　But Washington pardoned them, and the conflict ended there. 但华盛顿赦免了他们，冲突就此结束。

　　The new government had shown its strength, and had compelled people to obey the laws. 新政府已经昭示了他的力量，并已经迫使人们服从法律，

　　That in itself was a very great thing to have done. 这本身是一件大事。

1 commissioners   

n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官

参考例句：

• The Commissioners of Inland Revenue control British national taxes. 国家税收委员管理英国全国的税收。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The SEC has five commissioners who are appointed by the president. 证券交易委员会有５名委员，是由总统任命的。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

2 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

3 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。