The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1864-03-07


every good citizen
WHskEy IN CoNoRsss, January 90 the
House OF Representatives passed an Internal
Revenue bill by vote Of eighty-seven to
sixty eight That bill imposed tax on whis-
key, wine, gin. rum, and other articles Of that
nature, which by temperance member were
characterized as "damnable" II also taxed
fluids sold as vino. brandy, whiskey." &C.
Whiskey was taxed sixty cents a gallon, and
adulterated liquors sold az whiskey or brandy
twenty cents additional; imported liquors,
made from grain or other substances" were
taxed forty cents per gallon. Tho tax on i'm
ported liquors was imposed on those already in
port, and the tax Of sixty cents per gallon on
whiskey was extended to the stockssQfi .whis-
key on ,hasd, in such wsy as 10 provide
that wbiskey which had already paid q
tax should only pay tho increase BY that
means no single gallon Of wkiskey would bc
taxed twice This bill, IN which therels> as
snredty net an atom OF ihjusticc 10 any class,
passed che House. as we have said, by good
vote aud went to the Senate.
In the Senate Il was rescrrcd to the Com
'nsitAee ION Fihssee' - By thisetimc the whiskey
agitation had drawn an army of whIskey hold
ers to Washington, and they "buttonholed the
committee" In due time, therefore. the bill
WAS returned to the House with important
changes. There was an increase in the tax on
future manufactures, arranged thus-The
House proposition to tax whiskey sixty cents
gallon was limited TO July L; but from
then till January next il was to be
seventy cents. and after January eighty.
But the clause that taxed whiskey on hand
was stricken out, On that the Senate would
lay no tax at all. Very oddly the House,
which bad voted 80 decidedly for the bill
az at irst drawn, now accepted all shat
was important in the Senate amendments. On
tax on whiskey on hand. agreed TO strike out
the twenty cents additional on adulterated
liquors, agreed to the amendment that
restricted the sixty cents tax to July 1, but
disagreed in relation to the increase beyond
that time. As we have said, the Senate desired
that the increase for the next six months should
be ten cents; but the House wished to make it
Eve. And the House desired also that the &C.
cond increase should be FIVE instead of ten
cents, and that there should be modification
of the same nature in the tax on imported Ii
quors. AT that time, therefore, the two bouses
did not disagree upon any point except that Of
the arrangement of the scale Of increase. Both
had approved the striking out Of the clause to
tax whiskey on hand But committee Of con-
ference could not agree upon the small point
whether the increase should be Of 6ve or ten
cents.
Accordingly the House appointed second
committee, and this committee was instructed
to insist upon tax on stocks on hand. Though
the House had already agreed to the Senate
amendment that there should be no tax on the
stock on hand it now absurdly directed it's COM
mittee to insist upon tex on such whiskey of
not less than twenty nor more than forty cents
per gallon. Consequently, when this commit
tee met that from the Senate. the latter began
to reason about the scale of increase beyond
July 1, aud the former to rail about the tax for
whiskey on hand. Tho committees talked on
altogether different subjects, aud could not
agree, Of course. Then the House named third
committee, did not give it any instructions, and
the third committee found it equally impossible
to agree with the committee from the Senate
Thus three committees from the House bad
failed to agree With the Senate committee and
that committee now urged the Senate to relin-
quish the point that it had insisted upon.
Though the House was at this time talking
about the tax on whiskey on hand, that, as our
readers will understand, was not the point of
disagreement; for the House had agreed to all
the Senate's changes except that for the tax
after July 1. Upon the recommendation of its
committee the Senate receded from its position
and passed the MANNED and mangled bill.
which does not tax stocks on hand unless they
be imported liquors, and which leaves whiskey
free Of any tax at all after July l, 1864
We have no recollection Of more miserably
lame and buogling piece Of legislation than
this.
Rrn Esr.rE Open ,rraN1 The huainazs IL,