The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-03-17

hich on ,ers into the daily uses OF the people,
i. manufactured At the North, and cannot be
i'm pcr;e., except at An ad dvanced cost which will
DEFY ALI systems OF taxation for revenue and
which can only be encountered by those who,
discard,pg revenue to the State, and profits to
the merchant, and cheap goods 10 the people,
seek the mplishment OF a political object
at the expense OF all these interests. And SO
of leather shoes and hats, the consumption Of
which is so large in the South, there is no i'm
poriatian from abroad; but for them we are
dependent upon the North
Your petitioners hope that the day will come
when ali these ar tieles will be manufac tured
in Virginia in guam titles tosuppiy our wants.
But "A people change their habits and modes
of labor slowly Capital - necessary to the
success of such enterprises, whilst under our
past legislation our Virginia capital has been
driven from the State. Capital, too, Is timid
and cautious, and the avowal ON the part Of
our finances that neither property or profits
is The proper basis of taxation. but forty cents
in the hundred dollars on real estate and one
per cent on the gross sales OF business Is Just
and equal will scarcely tend to recall it to
the control of such a policy or principle of
taxation.
The second provision OF the biil-that ex-
emp;iug from taxation goods purchased in
Virginia from 4 person having license to
sell-if IL shall effect the antici patton of its
authors. NAV we'll cause us to pause before we
accent it, The AudItog states in his report,
that there are in the State six thousand six
hundred and thirty -four merchants; and this
Thousand and to put upon the six hundred not
only the taxes they have hitherto borne, but the
whole amounto OF taxes taken from the snoul-
tIers of the six thousand intended TO be exempt
cd by the bill This is the purpose OF the bill.
Bu; again The Auditor es Inmates the amount
of sales bv all the merchants in virginia at
Sii tJiuu0. And the bill proposes that the tax
unnn merchants shall be one per cent upon
this sum. or Sali,3i0. when shaii oe PAID by
ihe SIX hundred merchants-nearly an average
a. --uu 10 each of them. And the considera-
ZION for this enormous oppression winch the
hill prop9ses is that they may sell their
merchandise TO the six thonsamd retail deal
ers if they will buy them VIII the temp
,.,ion of exemption from tax induce the
merchants of the Northwest to prefer the
market of Wheeling to the market OF Balti-
more, or Philadelphia. or New YORK =
WIN the merchants of the South Branch, or
The Valley, up to Rockingham, prefer AleXan-
dria 10 these Northern cities III they come
from, the country west of the Little kanawha,
from the Great kanawha from Logan, and
WAYNE and Lee, 10 Richmond or petersburg,
rather Than go TO Cincinnati or New York
To ask these questions Is to answer them.
What is the one per cent. TO the retail mer-
chant in the interior OF me country Selling
without competition, he fixes the price of his
goods To suit himself and he who has heretc-
fore been selling at profit from twenty five
10 ifty per cent can have no difhculty IN add
ing one per cent. more to ms prices. AND TINS
viii n. the case not only in The parts of the
country TO which We have referred, but In all
rarts OF the interior of the State, SO that the
Inducements held out by this bill TO the retail
dealers TO purchase III lhe Htate VIII nave
very little effect
But whatever influence this provision of the
law NAV be supposed to exert, your petition
ers are well satisfied Will be much more than
counteracted by the tax upon the wholesale
merchants Your petitioners state from their
own personal experience and observation
that the great difficulty i'll building up their
trade has been to satisfy the retail merchants
in the country that they could purchase their
goods on As good terms in Richmond as in
Baltimore, Philadelphia or New York. Many
merchants from the country pass through this
city, to buy goods IN New York, simply be-
cause they will not believe that they can pur-
chase here on as good terms. Aud the effect of
this tax will be TO confirm them in their in
credulity. When they know that the lner
chan. in Richmond is required to pay one per
cent Il pom the gross amount OF his sales, aud
knowing As they do that this one per cent
will absorb all the profit which they have
been accustomed 10 make upon the large
amount of these sales, he will at least think he
knows that the tax must be- put into
the price And no doubt it would be, il the
wholesale merchant OF Richmond. or Pc
tarsburg or Norfolk, or Alexandra. was
in the condition of the country merchant
II we had TO compete only with each other for
the country trade, heins all under the same
burthen we would fix our prices accordingly.
But our competition is not with each other,
but with Baltimore, with Philadelphia, with
New York: cities having many other advan-
tages over us, and all of them tostered and en- l.
couraged by the legislation of their States
none of them paying more take. upon their
capital employ ed in business than is paid on
other property; and the prices III Richmond
and Petersburg must be hxed with reference
to the prices in those cities.
Your petitioners therefore believe that
whilst this provision of the bill, il connected
with Il moderate tax upon the wholesale mer-
chants, might be beneficial in drawing our
fs ~ IN ~
their purchases yet connec ted as it is with tax
so oppressive, its effect will be to drive away
and not to attract our own country dealers,
and will still more efectualiy destroy our
commerce with North Carolina and Tennessee
a commerce which we have been exerting our
selves for years 10 build up, and which, at the
present time, gives the promise of great exten'
sion and benenG
As illustrating the effects Of tax and of its
repeal your petitioners would respectfully
call the attention of the Senate to the coffee
trade OF this city. For many years prior t
1886, our Richmond niilers have supplied I'M
South AmeIic lean markets win nour, anu M
return cargoes of the ships carrying out thI
flour were principally coffee and hides. Blu
there being a tax upon sales, though mucl
more moderate than that imposed by the law
of $50. the amount of coffee imported int
Richmond for the year ending July ]. 1856
WAS as stated by the Auditor, fVe thousant
nine hundred and sixty bags. The act OF le3'
exempted foreign goods from THIS TAX on safes
and the conSeQ Quence has been, as again stated
by the Auditor, that for the year ending July
|. l>,9 the quantity of coffee imported lntt
Richmond was thirty-siA thousand sly
hundred and fifty three bags. Inc Iact II
significant to show that u tax may pre-
vent "A commerce which is called tor. Bu
there Is another. fact lying along SIDE OF THIS
which should have prevented the nasty con
clusion of the Auditor, that, by suitable legis
lation we shall soon see nearly all the 1orelgi
goods We consume brought to our seapor
towns directly. The fact is, that though tn
tax was taken of the sale OF hlueS imported
by the same law, no hides have been brough
in to our port. Hides are to be manufactured
and We have no man nufactorles OF shoes o.
leather and SO, If the goods we want are no
manufactured abroad, but only in the North
no legislation can bring them INTO our Poru
from foreign countries.
Your petitioners would repeat a truism which
every man admits, that, to be independent
the North, We must have commerce. auo man
ufactures But no man in his senses believe
that commerce and manu- iactuTaS can be sus
tanned at permanent loss. II they cahho
be cond ucted here upon terms as favorable .
they can be carried on elsewhere, tney mus
fail in the end. Ours are not people wh
will continue 10 prosecute losing business
If the business of merchant In virginia
! 10 be burdened in any way 50 thal IL shali pe
come unprofi table, the business OF mercnah
in Virginia will cease 10 te Gaining III 1T
gnia. Some who are engaged IN IL may no
be able to get out Of it for a time but no per
son will engage in il. If it Is rendered ul
profitable by your legislation, The time VIII
soon come when men of integrity viii ceas
| TO pursue il, and it Wi fall INTO tue hahos
| those who " III treat the paths which you pre-
| scribe as custom- house oaths are treated o
| such persons; and they will render their busl
| ness profitable by evading your laws. The mo
raj influences Of your legislation is, or shoui
be- the first consideration Of Il statesman.
In conclusion We would ask, with al
soiamuity. is it wise at this day, when IL is c
| 30 much importance to the State that W
should all be- Of one heart ana one nina,
arrav The cities against the country to brin
| them tn the humiliating conviction that, IN