The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1864-01-24

The Biuadsr3ng % Ooagrssss 0overnmcn
Omciais enc 0evsrAmeae .aewspaper
I On the Subject - aaternal Eaxaelso.
The House Of Representative at Washing
ton has passed the act TO increase the intsrna
revenue with so much haste Is 10 warrant To-
presumption that the measure has not been full
ly digested. and that the Senate will interpos,
objections which will cause the return of thu
bill TO the House, where twill undergo another
ordeal. and probably elicit prolonged dis
cussion In the discussion thus Tar iamenta
BILE degree Of ignorance on the subject Of excise
duties has been exhibited by members; and
from this cause there is reason to apprehend 9
law may be perfected that will still fail 10 mee
the end proposed
Last year Congress passed an internsl reve
nue. act which proved aamost an utter abortion
It was calculated 10 raise one hundred snd fifsy
millions of dollars upon the plan proposed
and scarcely half that amount was reslized
This year the Commissioner Of Internal REEVE.
nue., through the6ecretary Of the Treasury. puts
IN another programme for internal taxation.
from which hs hopes 10 mako good the deficit by
imposing additional taxes upon che raw mate.
rial and articles Of homo manufacture. as we'll
as upon articles Of home consumption. in
Guiding native wines and whisksy In this last
budget Of the Commissioner what was
obscure before now becomes so the more.
What was before blind, doubtful. unequal,
onerous and unjust. is still foggy aud inexplca-
bic. In this work the Commissioned was as
I'D 49, L. H. -
gestsd by . convention OF assessors held ia
Philadelphia on November 10 and Is, 1861
and he was again enlightened or befogged, as
it may prove to be, on tho subject by sugges-
ti0ns made at a similar convention held in
Cleveland, Ohio, on last December Is. IL and
L. In the latter coavoc alton The question
mostly mooted in the open discussions was
whether It were better TO- recommend an in
creased tax on the raw material OF on the manu-
featured article. 1t was 6naitycoa cluded to
tax both, and an interminablelist IT taxable
articles was prepared and presented 10 the
Commissioner. together with a very modest
allasion to the increase of the assessors own
pay
Following In CHS line of equivocal support.
up came. to the relief or to the d6smay Of the
Commissioner. the partisan, or government
press The chief organ Of the. administration
in this city contents itself with declaring its
belief that fraudulent returns have been made
10 the assessors, and hence the. meagre amount
realized. Another organ argues in favor or
taxing primary manufactures" leaving the
amount to be collected q pcobiem to be I'm.
ravelied by experience Other administration
journals join in utteriag visionary o. superficial
views on the subject, but not one enunciates =
plain, common sense propositioo TO meet the
difficulties with which they imagine the whole
subject Of Internal taxation TO- be fraught. It
is so with Congress down, through an army OF
revenue assessors end collectors, to the pal.
triest newspaper that brays its support Of the
measures Of the Administrations. Meanwhile,
the credit Of the government suffers, the people
become restless with revolutionary tendencies,
and the whole fabric Of our political organ:za-
ton becomes weakened aud lremulous.
What should DO done 10 the midst of this
reign Of Official imbecility and laundering on
the subject Of taxation. Let us endeavor 10
show In q few words II was maxim OF
sound political economist that ri. The subjects
Of every State ought to contribute towards the
support of the government as nearly as posi-
BILE in proportion to their respective abilities
that is, ia proportion to the revenue which
they respectively enjoy under the protection Of
the State" And further, 2. The tax which
each individual is bound to pay ought to be
certain, and not arbitrary; the time Of pay
ment, the manner Of payment, and the quantity
to be paid, Ought all to be clear and plain to
the contributor and to every other person.
8. Every tax ought to be levied at the time
and in the manner in which II is most likely to
he convenient for the contributor to pay II.
a Every tax ought to be SO contrived, as
both 10 take out and keep out of the
pockets OF the people, as little as possible
over and above what IL brings into the pub
lie treasury This reaches the point, and
should teach our revenue tax muddlers what
they should do in the present emergency. 1t
tells them that they should not alarm the peo-
pie unnecessarily by multitudinous details
OF the articles 10 be taxed; that they should
not attempt TO bolster public credit by ex-
hibiting an interminable list OF small things
exciseable and leave the weightier and more
material objects Of revenue almost untouched
II tells them that they should not tax where It
would cost more to collect the amount than to
leave the article untaxed. II teaches them to
avoid pettifogging In the matter Of taxation,
and to adopt the higher and grander system for
realizing an adequate internal revenue which
che experience Of older nations presents TO their
judgment and scrutiny. In short, II tells them
to 60 to the fountain head, and assess
and collect taxes in proportion to the
revenue the taxpayer derives from the
protection Of the government under which
be is assessed. Thus, as the government IL dis
posed to exert Its power to infuse prosperity
into all branches Of trade, commerce and man
ufacturss, to prevent undue foreign competi-