Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1864-06-28
The Logic" of Taxing the Mines.

In the Senate OF the Iulted States on
the 30th of May, during the discussion of
the bill taxing the mines, Mr.. Howe, Of
Wisconsin, said:
As the yeas and nays have been called on
this question, desire to say just two things.
| shall vote against the tax of one per cent.
because prefer q tax OF one half Of one per
cent. If there is to be any; but | shall vote
against the tax Of one half Of one per cent.
because am opposed to any taxation upon
this product. l believe, rs the Senator from
Indiana said short time ago, that il there
is no other product i'll the country, this Is
one which it is the interest Of the Govern
mcnt to encourage and not 10 discourage
This is unlike any other tax 20 be found in
this bill everything else, every other pro-
duct that you impose a tax upon, you impose
it with direct reference to its being paid, not
By the producer. but by the consumer. II is
50 with iron; Il is So with copper it is so
with cloth; it is so with raw cotton but
with regard TO gold and silver, it must be
paid By the producer, and cannot be paid by
ANYBODY else, because the statute which YOU
have yourselver enacted says that it is worth
so much. and It never can be sold for any
more than that. II is therefore unlike any
other tax; and the most burdensome, the
most diScouraging tax that YOU impose upon
any product, YOU impose upon that product
which is the sterneSt necessity OF the country
AZ this time. object to it.
Il has been said in the course of this de-
bate tina; you are the proprietors OF all this
wealth, and that YOU impose this tax by way
Of gathering some slight compensation for
the use Of your property. Sir, wish to re-
mark here that in truth you are not the own
ers OF this wealth; you do not own these
mines. Why: You may own the soil in
which they are imbedded, you may own the
mountains in which are buried this gold
and this silver but after all the Government
does not possess thsm. You do nothing 10
develop them YOU do nothing to ascertain
the fact. What if OmnisCience can under
stand that there is buried underneath us to-
day untold wealth in gold and silver and dia-
mOnds: You know nothing about it; YOU
are not the possessOrs of 1t. In every block
OF marble lying outside in this yard there IS,
I statue of almost incalculable value imbed-
dcd. Canova or somebody else might de-
velop it; but until it is developed who shall
say who is the owner of it Is it the man
who owns the block: Can ne say that in
truth he owns statue; You do not own these
mines. You know nothing about them.
Mr.. eSSenIel-1 ask my ElCHu, u carry
out his argument, whether, if own a piece
Of marble, and man who has the power 10
make statue of it comes along, has he not
4 right to take it and use it without paying
me anything:
Mr.. Howe. No, sir.
Mr.. FesSenden. OF course; because he
can develop it and cannot.
Mr.. Howe. No, sir.
Mr.. Fessenden. Certainly; that is the
logic of the whole argument.
Mr.. Howe. l own my own logic and l
propose to use that, as consent the Senator
shall use his own marble, just as we please
respectively. Laughter My logic does
not go to any such extent. l do not insist
on the right of these miners 10 go and take
this gold at all. fyou deem that the public
interest will warrant you in saying SO, say
to them, "You shall not take it." II you
prefer that it shall lie in the mines than that
it shall be dug out OF the mines, say so; but
you do not say so; do not say so. say it
is the first interest of the public-and l am
legislating not for the miaer, but for the
public-to have this wealth developed and
brought into the use of man, and therefore
do not vote for law to prohibit mining; | do
not vote for any enactment that shall discou-
rage the development of this wealth.