Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Iowa) 1861-1864, 1862-01-23

, imposed upon all for the benefit Of all but nj.
so upon the laws which permit them to do 80
with impunity. / therefore very earnestly
1 Recommend to your attention a careful exam.
! NATION of our revenue laws for the purpose OF
! aScertaining If they can bc made more effective
In enforcing the prompt payment of taxes
The leading features Of q good revenue law
IN my Judgment are: 1st The imposition oi
such penalty tr the non payment of taxes
| when due as will make ii Enthusiastically the
interest of every taxpayer to- pay promptly
"a. 1he assurance to the purchaser of proper
ty at tax sale OF valid title at the expiration
OF u fixed time. There is in my opinion much
misaprrchension in the minds of many persons
on this subject. Some seem to think they re-
ccive no value for the money paid by them as
taxes, and that they are therefore not culpable
IN avoiding payment if they can. Others,
whilst they admit there is some kind of doubt
tui obligation upon them to pay their taxes.
II convenient, yet insist that any stringcncy in
the laws to compel payment would be unjust
and oppressive, and that no greater penalty
should be imposed for non payment than the
interest allowed by law between citizens.
These are radical errors. Every citizen is pro
tected 10y the State in life liberty, and proper
ty, in all he has and all he may acquire and
in all his honest efforts for further acquisition,
and in return, he Is bound as n good citizen to
render obedience to the laws, to pay promptly
his share OF the taxes necessary for the support
OF the government and in time of war if need
be, to defend the government with his life
If he fails to perform either of these duties of
good citizen, he is liable to punishment, and
the amount added to his taxes for failure OF
payment at the time fixed by law, is not the
interest due on debt, but a fine or penalty
for the non n-performance of duty. Nor can
any one justly complain Of this. Why should
any one of our people claim that he should
enjoy all the benefits of civil government and
be exempt from its burthens- he should
have all these advantages at the expense OF
his ncighbors, .... ....
1T may be said that some are unable to pay
their taxes. This il seems to me is erroneous.
The amount of tax each one has to pay is in
| proportion to the property he has, the greater
the tax, the greater the amount of property
from which to raise means of payment. am
well convinced that taxes are paid most
promptly by our farmers and by men of COM
paratively small means, and that there are very
few OF us who do not spend yearly for articles
OF luxury which do not promote either our
health, our prosperity or our happiness more
than the sum required from MS as taxes for the
support OF the government that protects us.
The subject vi revenue and ttAatiu,, assones :,
graver interest and importance at this time for
the reason that our State is called upon for
the first time since its admission to pay a Iii
rect tax for the support of the General Govern
ment. We may expect to be called on TO pav
during the present year Federal tax of from
| 5000, coo to 500, coo. This is rendered nee.
essary 10y the heavy expenditures incurred by
the General Government i'm preparing to put
down the Rebellion in certain States of the
Union. n resort to loans has been and must
continue to be necessary To meet these expen-
ses, and prudence and sound economy require
that the General Government shall not be
compelled.to borrow money to pay the interest
accruing upon its loans. The interest upon
loans made and to be made must be met by
actual payment, and not by incuring further
Indebtedness. The capitalists Of the country
have thus far responded nobly to the calls
made upon them by the Government, aud
have given it assistance and support as neccs-
sary as that rendered by the soldiers in the
field. Six hundred Thousand gallant men, of
whom twenty thousand are from our own
State, are in arms, giving their labor, their
health, and their lives, for the country, and
now the call comes To us who are at home and
We are asked to give little of our substance
to the same good cause.
have caused to be prepared from documents
in the office of the Auditor of State a table,
hereto appended, giving some interesting in
formation touching the taxes paid by our peo-
pie. 1t will perhaps be "A matter of surprise
State Government bear SO small a proportion
to the entire amount of taxes paid. 1t ap-
pears from this table that the whole amount
OF taxes for all purposes for 1861 was 81 700. =
600, and that of this amount only $500 900
was expended from the State Treasury for
state purposes while 81 4O0. 900 were expend-
ed from the several county Treasures for coun-
ty aud other purposes. l regard this table as
useful, for this among other reasons viz that
the people have been led 10 believe that the
great bulk of our taxes was caused by the ex-
penditures of the State Government under ap-
propriations made by the General Assembly,
and they have been taught to look to a reduc-
ton of State expenses as the means of relief
from taxation. This table shows clearly and
Conclusivcly that of every 1916 paid 10y the
people of the State as taxes, but one dollar
reaches the State Treasury or is used for State
purposes, while the other S4,66 are retained
in the counties and used for county and other
purporses. ! would not desire our people to
relax their vigilant supervision of State. ex-
penscs, but am OF opinion this information
may lead them to give as yigilant supervision
to the expenditures of their respective Coun-
ties, where equal vigilance is, in my Judgment
equally needed. 1t is evident from an INSPIRE.
ton OF the table, showing the amount of taxes
paid and the purposes for which paid, that il
it be deemed desirable to decrease our presen,
expenditures by an amount equal or approxi
mating to the amount of taxes required by the
General Government much the greater
| amount of such reduction must be made in
taxes levied for other than State purposes.
| In some particulars the expenses of the State
may he materially less for the next than tol
the last two years The appropriation oi
! SIS, 800 for the Revised Statutes was Temporal
| nv and will not be again required. The
! fol for pls indebtedness
| the Penitentiary, S3S, 500, has nearly paid
| that indebtedness, and but Il nominal sum will
| he needed for that purpose. The amount APP
! proprated for the general support of the Prison
! has been so well managed that the amount
thereof unexpended is deemed by the Warden
sufficient for the next two years, SO that the
amount of $4,000, appropriated at the last
/ regular session for that purpose need not be re-
newed in whole or in part. OF the amount OF
! S15, 900, appropriated at the last session FOL
! finishing and furnishing the Centre and East
! Wing of the Insane Asylum, about SIS .000
remain unexpended, which balance, with
| 500 900 now asked for is deemed sufficient tC
complete the whole building. So that the
appropriation needed for construction aceoun,
in that institution may be S55, 900 less than
at the last session. The Blind Asylum al
! Ninton is now under cover, and not liable e
injury from the weather, and if you should
|
ton for its present completion, $4,000 may
be deducted from the amount of the appropri
alton of the present session AS compared witt
that of the last. There has been paid during
the last two years to Agricultural Societies tn,
sum of SlS0 If you think it advisable t.
withhold any appropriation for this purpos'
for the next two years this sum may be saved
The foregoing sums amounting in the aSgre
gate to SI76 900 are the expenditures for the
objects named for two years, and II withheld
will be saving of SSS,000 per annum from
the amount of State taxes. This amount,
doubt not may be increased by a careful exam
nation of our State expenditures and suic
economy, to Sl00 900, and il u proportional
reduction of county and township expense
can be made, the entire amount OF the tax re
guired by the General Government can b
raised without increasing our present taxation
commend the matter to your most earnes
and careful examination.
In order to make the revenue of the Stat
, more certain, l recommend that the Count
} Treasurers be required by law to pay the Stat
{ Treasurer, at fixed times, certain proportion
/ OF the amount Of revenue due to the State