The Placer herald., 1864-05-28
Working Of the Projected Mining Tax.

The Stockton independent of May 5tb
remarks: A tax of five per cent. on the gross
proceeds of the mines would suspend mining
operations in this State and Washoe. 1t
costs now about $l4 an ounce to reclaim
gold in the best placer diggings; so that a
company carrying on hydraulic, tunnel or
river mining, at an outlay of say 100000
per year, can only count upon about $780,
900 in gold dust as their gross receipts at
toe end of the year. TO tax this 5 per cent,
would be equivalent to a tax of % per cent.
on the company's net earnings; and this is
so palpably unjust as to require no argument
to combat it, We have supposed that the
companys net profits on an expenditure of
$780, 900 would be $50 900, or 80 per cent,
That is about the profit a merchant realizes.
What would it look like if Government
should propose to levy a tax of % per cent
on the annual profits of all merchants? And
vet we have presented the case in much
better light for the miner than the facts war.
rant. Where there is one mining company
that realizes an annua profit of 80 per cent.
there are twenty who don't realize 12. Let
US adapt the argument to the latter condi
ton, and see how we shall come out A
company spends 500, 900 to get out Sll5,-
600 in gold dust. 1t has SIS 900 clear; but
from this it is compelled to pay the Govern
'nent S5, 750--- leaving the net earnings at
S9,25O or nine and quarter per cent. profit
on 100000; while the Government tax
amounts to nearly 40 per cent of the COM
pany's earnings. And 50 the tax becomes
more and more burdensome and unequal as
the profits of the mine run down to the
lower per cents. At a net return of 10 per
cent profit which is fully as much as is real
lied by half the mining enterprises of this
State, the Government tax would ust eat up
all the profit, and drive his 100000 Of in
vestmert out of the mines into some other
business; anything below l0 per cent. profit
would bring him in debt to the tax gatherer
ANOTHER OPIUM CAsE.--A few days ago
we alluded to the fact that the custom house
authorities had discovered pots of opium
skillfuly concealed in number Of Jars of
Chinese fish, imported by the bark PaIIas-
A still more ingenious case of opium SNUG
Cling has just been brought to light. When
the bark Ceres arrived from Uongkong
about week since, with an assorted cargo
of Chinese goods consigned to Chinese hou
ses in this city, the authorities, suspecting
that all was not right, ordered the cargo to
the appraisers store for examination. One
item proved to be an invoice of 1900 or L.
500 tubs Of eggs, the eggs being packed in
charcoal, about 100 in Il tub. In out of
"a of these tubs, so far as the examination
has proceeded, the eggs prove to be made Of
tin and filled with concentrated extract of
opium, in the form of thick liquid. The
value of the genuine 'hen-fruit' is only about
81 per hundred but the same number of tin
clad, opium filed eggs is worth not less than
$3.50. If the same proportion Of secreed
opium is found in the tubs remaining to be ex
amined, the value of this one invoice would
not be far from $75, 900. If there were "a
breed of Chinese hens that lay such eggs
regularly, they would be worth nearly as
much as the goose Of the nursery tale that
daily laid golden egg. The supicious vgi
lance of the custom house authorities seems
to be fully justified by this and previous dis
coveries.-.S. Il. Bulletin.