The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1862-03-28
THE TAX BILL.

The lax BILL.
Considering the amount Of war news, and
the interest and excitement which it engen-
ders, it would be supposed that all other
matters would receive little attention by the
public. There is one matter, however, and
that quite intimately connected with the sup
preston of this rebellion, which is now agi-
tating the public mind considerably. We re-
fer to the national tax bill! now before Con-
gress, and almost daily under discussion
Notwithstanding the apparent necessity of
passing some kind of bill that will at once
help us to a revenue, we trust the bills now
under discussion will be considered calmly.
and no law enacted in indecent haste, for "a
thing we'll done is twice done, you know"
There is one feature about the discussion
in the House, quite prominent, and that is
the pertinacity with which the committee who
reported the tax bill, of which Thaddeus Ste
yens of Pennsylvania is chairman, resist eve
ry effort to amend the original, just as though
the bill offered by them could not be better
ed. Almost every one sees Objectionable fea-
lures in the proposed bill and it would be
very strange if it could not be made more
effective with less obnoxious features. Pro-
minent among the objections apparent to ev-
cry one is the provision for special collectors,
by which a vast army of political leeches and
drones will get fat offices, and eat up good
per cent. of the tax in collecting it. What
is maaifestly the best way to collect this ma
tional tax is to have the town collectors of
the several states do it when THEY do the
same work in their own districts. AS vet all
efforts to commit this work to them has fail
ed. We hope the friends of this amendment
will be successful before the bill passes.
In carefully prepared and sensible article
in the Boston Journal Of Monday. we extract
the following paragraphs:
"Direct taxes are always odouS, and es-
pecially such as carry with them inqnisIoroi
po~ers they should therefore be avoided
when not absolutely necessary. A man will
pay FIVE dollars Indirectly on bag of coffee
without giving it thought; but if an officer
walks into his house and demands the weight
of silver spoons he has in use, although the
duty may not amount to half as much. it Stirs
up his bile, makes him FESTIVE and bitter.
perhaps, and after time disconnected with
the government that causes the ANNOYANCE
We do not believe that any tax. creating at
the same time an inquisition and right of
search, is worth meddlng with
The true science of taxation is to keep the
power out of sight. A direct tax on real es-
tate is not SO Objectionable in some respects,
but inasmuch as it is pretty heavily used for
state and local purposes, an additional levy
by the general government will always be
unpopular. Besides, it bears hard upon
those who have the least surplus Of money
the farmers.
Nor do We approve the policy OF taxing ev-
erything and taxing lightly; it is far better,
as we believe, to select such articles and in
,erests as may be made to yield large rev
enue on 4 small base. We have shown here
tofore how this may be done in part by What
appears to be heavy excise on spirits. beer,
tobacco. &C.. though it is heavy in appear
ance only. Thus an excise of twenty-five
cents on distilled spirits is heavy as compared
with the cost, but light enough to the con-
sumner: so of beer and tobacco. 1t NAV be
said that such taxes are unequal, inasmuch
as many persons are not consumers of such
articles. The answer is. that being mere az
tices of luxury, SO far as they enter into hu
man consumption, they are the most lcgiii
mate. as they may be made the most prolific
source of revenue, without any reasonabl,
cause of complaint. The committee propos.
to raise on these articles >2iOO0,000: VT
NAV Just as well have SJjO00,000.
Another article of higher grade in poin
of use. but which is mainly consumed BY tn,
wealthy, is refined sugar. The committe,
propose charge Of two mills pound, anl
estimate the duty at Sj0O,0OO. 1t seems t.
US that cent will be very light tax, with ;
result of two and half millions. The pro
posed tax on railroad travel, estimated bv tn,
committee at S6000000. may be doubled
without being seriously felt. SO of the STAN,
duty. estimated at S6,O0O.000. and Of the du
ty on patent medicines, estimated at $1,000.
600, and of the legacy duty estimated at 81,
600 1000. In brief, We believe that a tax lev
led as indicated in the following table will b,
much more satisfactory to the people, NOR
easily collected, and moro certain in its re
suits, than that proposed by the commit
tee:
Distilled spirits. % cents gallon 5000. OO
Beer and ale. Ii cents a gallon $1,000. 90
Tobacco--leaf 3 cents, manufactured
~ cents II 00o, G6
Refined sugar $500 0G
Railroads II OOO, O0
Stamp duties $1,000. 90
Patent medicines 1900, 90
LegacleS 2000. 90
Oil 900. 90
Licenses double committee rates. 1000. 00
Banks and savings institutions S.D00.G0
Salt. - cents bushel 1000. 90
Tl01 600, 00
, tbr