Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-06-26
~, For the Enquirer.
THE POLICY OF TIE CONFEDERATE
TAX LAW

the law, which is very long. Again 1t is
very easy 10 pick flaws, and not SO easy to
preserve in the readers mind the just proper
ton of parts. and preYcpl these taws-un-
doubted errors-from assuming IN cxaggc-
rtcd Importance. 1t is Of the nature Of Il
rer;ec to lay stress rather upon the defects Of
a scheme than upon its mcrltS-thc latter be
ing left out of sight, and the former rendered
the prominent subjects Of thought. a review
| is apt to hc one side of a balance sheet only--a
catalogue of the debts, without the credits.
10 cain any correct view Of the tax law rs
- whole, We must consider: LIST. Its amount.
I'd. The equality of it, bearing And, I'd.
Tho mode Of raising it, whether iudciuus and
convenient or not Tor the principles may he
correct and the apparatus defective. These
are thc III. features Of the subject: the amount
Of the TAX, it, primes lies and machinery.
|. The amount of the tax This is large, as
j, shoull hes in order to furnish Il foundation.
| for public credit with IL large and increasing
debt. While the exact amount cannot hc cstl-
mated, it is conceded to lac large and pr"I'0r-
toned 10 he scale Of tie debt and cXprndi-
turc of the county. and therefore, in this re-
spcct, TO be approved.
. The principles OF the law. or modes of
making it bear equally OH different classes and
| interests
1t is To bc remarked that The tax is almost
| exclusively upon inc0me--this means adjusting
| itself to the inequalities Of the war status
This is nno,llcr great feature worthy Of alrro-
baton.
All the property and interest of the country
\ must he reached in some way. i'll order To
equality. This property consists mainly Of
| land, negroes. stock and provisions III the
| country. real estate and merchandise III towIiS
and furniture. notes md accounts. JOINT stock
| and money hcit in both. Besides those upon
propc,fy, t;xcS are levied upon the profiS OF
personal industry in tra;lrS. professions and
speculative pursuits.
ri"mrly IA Mc c"untry is reached ly the
| title upon the products Of land. Land, nc
| grors. stock and provisions are the capital
engaged in their production. Is the 1.-THE Just
prnportiun--vz: Il tcnth in kind ct cross M
come? Suppose property To yield an interest
nf per cent. thrna tax upon interest I" " -
per cent. would be- cquivalcm; 10 il tax upon
| the Jyupe,ty itself of per cent The tax he
| ing 10 per cent upon gross income Is perhaps
| intended to he about equivalent 10 II upon
| nett income or | per cent upon property alter
allowing for Sclt:support. Whether or not
this Il lust estimate can perhaps hc better t"ld
after the returns Of the present year furnish
some practical tests 1t is 10 be observed that
whether correct iii the comparison between
the planting interest and other interests "r
not it is correct in the main. as bct''crn plan
tcrs themselves For being Il tax npOn rcS"'t$
and not upon mroj,s it nd iu>tS ITSELF 10 Surrc><.
which is dependent upon scas"nS and arrI-
dental circumstances Is we'll ~ upon the
amount of property. Tho same man with the
same property cam afford to pay mere "l So"u
wear than Il lr and different men. according
to the seasons in their respective localities. can
afford to pay differently The same year
In regard 10 property in the county not
reached by the 1.-THE. it is t" be observed that
idIc MM is untaxcd. Negroes. n"t engaged
in planting pursuits. are reached by the in
come tax whether occuricd in mining nr man-
utacturing or household business. Stock. not
otherwise reached. is taxed per cent. OF lis
value. There is considerable inequality i'll
tho dclirely Of fHhe$, according to slc distance
from depot.
Of city prorcrty-rcal estate Is reached
through the income tax. whether rented or
occupied by the owner or idle VERY little Is
idle). Merchandise is reached by the tax on
income.
furniture is untaxcd. joint stock is reached by
tax upon the company itself money. and
notes, and accounts, either by tic per cent.
tax or the income tax.
Profits not from property. but from person.
al effort are reached by the tax on salaries. on
professions and trades and on sales. Salaries
are taxed nsorc lightly than income from capt.
tal. This is Just; for it is iudicous to allow
labor TO accumulate capital Us the most rap!,!
means of increase for the individual and the
country. The taxes on gross sales, in reality,
are upon consumption. and do moi fall on the
merchant. They arc added to the price or
commission, and difiiiSc themselves among
purchasers. In some cases they may fall upon
the producer or he may share them with the
consumer.
The taxes upon trades and professions, 50
far as they are SperiGr. we think wrong i'll
principle. The brichcss lawyer, the physician
without Il patient. is taxed rs much thereby
as the man in full practice. Some Of the spec
ifc taxes tend to divert men from certain pur-
suits altogether. which they might follow in an
humble way. The tax upon butchers, for cx-
ample Falls hard upon certain humble men in
the ncighborhood Of towns and villages The
hardship of such cases is Obvious. =
The tax upon speculative profits Of 1862
seems to bc Scncralyapprovcdby I'LL outsiders.
The s rcr cent. tux upon products Of lSti2. and
previous wears has been objected TO rs bear
ing uniu>tlv upon planters holding the crops
Of those years. But il those crops have gone
up in their hands. we can ,cr no inst grUund
l,r discriminating III Their favor. But the tax
operates very uucGually, nevertheless, in All
ether way. 1t is not upon thc pratt made, hut
upon the whole r0Iuc. The man who bought
at cents. and he who bought 1T II, u, -,
30 cents AL pay not on pratt. but on whole
value. Very llncqla! are the profits. yet the
tax is the same, and it is high MS upon spccu-
lation. There is iii unjust Discrimination
against planters IN our view. in not providing
compensation for haggin" and rolm used CnI the
cotton paid rs ,tho. costing 80 $50 a bale.
Compensation is provided nr material furnish
ell in other cases. Again, the paIrcr i taxed
upon corn. and then taxed again upon hogs
fattcncd with the residue "f corn. the latter
article being thus tithcd twice.
IN the exact policy as regards exemptions
| we do not concur. Instead of cxcmpting III
| come. if below S;i9J--and taxing the rhoIr in
! come if over that Suul--iL would have been
wiser. we think. to dr,iuct 500 iran, rrc,y H.
| come, and then tax the e2~csS. The operation
| of this has been misunderstood, and the latter
pan W Nv NciNlHN IT.
| much as the poor. This is erruncOus--tnc truth
is precisely the reverse, for il relieves the very
| ponr entirely: and the relatively poor more
then the relatively rich. rs the aggregate sum
taxed would he less, the per cent, in order to
raise the same amount. would have 10 hn some
what increased.
The effect u tho law. as it stands. is ~ fol-
lows: On an income Of $3.50 no tax is paid (;
| on an income Of 5000. the tax is $50
As we propose. the tax on $3.50 would still
| be nothing: on 5000, it would hc estimated
only upon Sl00. the excess over $500. If the
per cent. WAS s.. or &: the tax would be $3.50
or 81. The wealthy would pay more,
the moderately crcumstanccd, lcss-thc poor
the same.
oL:.,,t:,,.- .l,a 10