Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1864-03-15

lOOa will be used, however, in purchasing
bonds tar tGx purposes: 40 that OF sos. 20s ant
l0' there will be fewer Withdrawn for tina
purpose. Again: There may be some Of tb
money funded rather than pay the 33s pc
ccnt, tax. Suppose tl;o funGirg to he az fol
lows:
Sl0O bills :. 20O,0OO,0 0Ot
sos, EOS, 10. converted into four
per cents 50 600, ,oOl
| Do. IL avoid Sag per cent. tax so 100000
So to avoid 33f lux 25,000,00t
Total Withdrawn from cirenleticn 325 100000
Leaving subject to tax of 33t 375,000,00(
oTgina, circulation. zoe. .ooo,ooe
The treasury, in exchange fer these
| $375 200 900, viii issue $3.50 GOO 600 of the
new notes, paying them to holders of the old
| notes.
twill have as resour2es tho right to Issue
! two-thirds Of the amount Withdrawn from cir
| culstion-ssy s2lG, 900 600.
And also tho tax. (oYer the ,ithe tag, paid
in 1864 in money.
Aa'; iur Ill other expenses, it would depend
on loans derived from tho six yer cent. bonds,
ami tho agreements Of contractors to accept
six per cent. certificates.
1t would De an Interesting proLlem to en-
deavor to ascertain the proba5la amount Of
the curreLcy outstanding at several dates
through tho year ls6l -say lst Of a ?ril, May,
Jane. July, October. and. ..Jsruary |, 1868.
1t will touch bottom April |. when only s.
bills, ct 500 000, 900, together with !hc old
currency 10: fundei-passing st the ratio OF
for S-say $50 900, 900 mora, will Constitute
currency. However, the isa::e CT new notes
in txchunge for the ,ll will then be very
rapid. By June !, tho new notes will largely
have taken the piaro ot tue cid. making circu-
la.ion say $500, ,uU0 ,0O0 but then rcdu cticn
will be made by taxation. Voc be to him who
has not provided fur per cent bonds to pay
taxes withal, for currency will lie scarce-rel-
atively, aad taxation based On the suppoaition
it is superabunlant. 1t will DO hard to get
money in May.
In July. the s. will have disappeared large
ly. People will then act more ndvisedly on the
decision Of the question whether it is wiser to
fund or to pay the 35i per cent. tax. Soon
two-thi.d6 of the So issued will reappcar iii
new currency.
We may expect very litt!s funding, how
ever, after the dates fixed f0r the 333 tax.-
The election will have been made bciure thut
time, and, if not taken st par, the bonds will
hardly lie taken at what is virtually o0 per
cent. premium-i. e., $50 Of old currency foT
SlG0 bond.
In October and tho fall. the tiiheJ will bs
coming in. In January, 1865, o large batch Of
taxes fall due.
The fluctuations Of currency, perhaps, will
not be altogether 30 great as might, st first
sight, be supposed. The greatest abundance
o! currency would b. outstanding at the time
contracts duo at the close Of the year were to
be discharged, perhaps the best time for ca
largcment.
Taeforego:ng gives q gsueral view Of the
Currency scheme actually adopted. ltis in
gcnious aud has numerous good points. 1t is
: to be remarked, however. that the effect upon
existing obligations CONTRACTED before the
act, to be discharged after April |, lSGl, or
even before,) is disastrons to the debtor-aay'
| for EXAMPLE. upon rents, hire sud the like con-
tracts.
As an illustration of its effects upon soeie-
", it may be observed a,at it has rendered
necessary an extra session of the Georgia
| Legislature, to adapt taxation To tho new state
of tie currency. Similar iahusnca mast it ex'
ert on the manifold engagements Of all classes
of n on with each other.
The tax falls with undue severity upon
b, Hers OF Joint stock Of every sort. Doubt
less Congress aimed this tax at spectators
but the blow glances ard strikes with terrible
severity upon most iunoccns and dettocoies'
| clrss OF society. What proportion of stocks is
bsld BY speculu.ora? Very little, as compared
with that which has not changed hands since
tho war began, but il how, Us it was then, the
investment Of prudent men left I" their widowT
and orphans u s. meana OF livelihood.
Its effect upon many canno; DO character
lied iu any other way than as monssrous' n
man happens to hold stock as trustee or agent
| for several !einalcs-we know instances where
one of these females, whose income is prlncl-
pal,v derived from stock, received last year
1924 for her e,ock; this year the tax upon IT
is $G75, actually bringing her largely in debit
In another case, last years income was S348,
and the tax upon it this year S72S. In yet
another the income Was Sl,5l2 and the tax
will be $3.50. All these parties held their
stock at tho beginning Of the war, and their
only crime was in not specializing in it. We
know another man, Of large means, who has
invested literally in Confederate bonds, and
whose tag on stocks will exceed the income
derived from them last year by $4,000.
Be it remembered, also, that banks (which
means tho stockholders of banks} and rail-
roads have invested in Confederate bonds more
largely than any other persona, natural ol
artificial and the discrimination appeara ye
more ungracious.
At present valuation tho tax on many STOCK:
greatly exceeds the entire income derived
from them-requirng actual sale of part tt
pay the excess of ta1 orer dioidends. Hher
We consider that much Of the stock is hold bJ
females, widows, orphans, charities, unrepre-
seuted people, and helpless, without votes Of
the right to sit in legislative assemblies, and
therefore, the peculiar objects Of the care O
every just State, wa must express our amaze
ment ct this feature Of the tax bill-whethel
the result of Indifference to their rights o.
Ignorance of them.
The income from railroad and hank
stocks has advanced nominslly, On an aver
age, about two-fold to thrce-fold, by nier'