Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1846-06-17
From the Ohio Statesman.
The Tax Paid by Banks The Question
Settled Figures cannot lie!

| pVttOu A6uAVo V0uuub NCI
By the official statement Of the Auditor
of State-which will be found in our col
umes to-day-it will be seen that the banks
have paid a semi-annual tax of IL, ,799, SO,
being at the rate of $500, ls for the whole
year, or about ONE AND A HALF PER
CENT upon the who h amount required 10
be raised by taxation, to meet the current
disbursements of the treasury. For two
whole sessions oftheG eGeneralAssembly Kel-
ley and his corrupt clique,-the plant tools
of horde of swindlers and stock jobbers,-
have left no stone unturned, to make the
capital ofthe State tributary to, and de-
pendent upon, the stockjobbing operations
at the east, by driving it into the business
Of banking under the law oflast year. And
now, after thus having swallowed up the
entire floating capital of the State, we are
permitted to see the extent of that system
Of favoritism which is unparalleled in the
annals of legislation, and which, in this
instance, fails with such crushing weight
upon the already fettered energies of the
taxpayers of Ohio.
Let us briefly compare the tax actually
paid by bank capital, with the amount It
would have paid, if taxed upon the same
principle as other capital. By the state.
ment of the Auditor, it is hoped to create
the impression that the sum of $4,O67, ,646,.
80. is the whole amount exempt from taxa.
ton. Such is not the fact. The Life and
Trust Company has, independent of this a
capital ofi,vo millions employed in even a
more profitable business than ordinary
banking, and upon which was hypothecat.
ed to the Bank, in one year, more real es,
tate than by Biddle's Bank in the same
city, in. five. This two millions is also ex-
empt, being in every respect upon the same
footing with other bank capital. Here,
then, we have a capital of &c, ,067, SAG sO.-
Were this amount otherwise invested
supposing it to be taxed only one per cent,
it would have to pay SIXTY THOUSAND
SIX HUNDRED AND-S ENTY
FIVE DOLLARS FORTY-SlX CENTS.
Admitting that the banks will pay in the
same proportion for the next half year,
and thus swell their taxes to $25, 500 le, it
will be seen that the result will be a clear
loss to the state of THIRTY-F[VE THOU.
SAND, SEVENTY-SIX DOLLARS,
TWENTY-EIGHT CENTS, being con.
siderable more than the amount actually
paid! .... ..-
But ID cannot be for moment supposed
that the bankers will, the ensuing six
months, pay even half the amount already
paid in. Unlike other citizens, they are
not compelled to swear to the amount up'
on which tax is levied, and opportunities
and even inducements, are extended then
for presenting fraudulent statements.
is by no means remarkable, if they hav,
not yet availed themselves of these advan
y tages We are upon the eve of an impor
tant election-an election in which the
bankers consider they have much at stake,
and the necessity of making a favorable
show has'been with them the governing
consideration Aside from this, they have
for the last six months, reaped more a
bundant harvest than they would be able te
do again in FIVE years, supposing them te
be in existence for so long period. Ir
addition to their various facilities for robbie
; ry and plunder, they have heretofore usurp
ed the general brokerage business, which
is now fast going into its legitimate hands
thus cutting off their main source of reve
nue., and reducing them to profit of siz
per cent, where they have generally mad
twelve. S 1898.
But, to- settle this question, beyond tn
shadow of a doubt, we will prove, in very
few words, that the banks cannot in an,
state of the case, or in any contingency
: pay as high tax under Kelley's law, a
is paid by other capital. To illustrate:-
one of our citizens has one thousand dol
lars at interest. Upon this, at the rate q
one per cent, the tax would amount to tel
dollars. Now, take the same amount in
vested In banking, which, at a dividend c
six per cent, would produce sixty dollars
F, A tax Of six per cent, upon this dividen
> would only amount to three dollars an
$ sirty cents, making difference of sir dol
r lars and forty cents upon thousand do
} lars only, between the simple citizen an
a the privileged banker.
is That bankers are not to pay as muc
: tax as other people, is question alread
determined by the General Assembly, tn
n majority in which was composed Of til
l. bankers themselves, or their pensioned Il
tainers. If they were to gain nothing
j. this odious distinction, why was it made
and what the object Of such ia complicate
8 scheme?
u But we could be spared the task Of pr
70 senting the facts and figures to the peop
a 1T is against the principle that they wa
$ they will not submit to an anti-republico
distinction, which shuts them out from ir
o,t munities enjoyed by others--a distinctie
j, which exempts the banker from the pa
y ment Of any tax whatever; unless he HI
IS been successful in fraud and robbery, b
70 which makes no exemption in behalf of Il
t, farmer, even though his crops may be C
ut off, and his honest toll left without its I
ward. They have never yet failed to spu
even insidi ious attempts to render themtri
at utary to hn odious aristocracy; and tho
is who are instrumental in this omen and II