Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1865-06-29
. THE INCOME TAX UPON
CHILDREN.

We referred last week to the ru
Dored abuses in the assessment sn'
collection of the income tax, and re
quested information upon the sub
ject from our subscribers. The re
sponses received fully establish a
truth what we were then 10th to be
lieve. Not content with the mos
odious and iniquItous mode of taxa
ton, Z ? administration appears tc
tolerate the outrageous abuses in the
mode of assessing and collecting the
same. ; 1t is the policy of every civ
LIKED government under the sun
with the solitary exception of the
United States-to encourage the iu-
crease of population. 1t is under
stood that under the income tax law
Of the last Congress farmers having
families are assessed fifty dollars on
each child, as income. This is bad
enough in all conscience. The idea
ofcompelling farmer to pay a tax
Of fifty dollars per annum for the
subsistence of his children, while
upon the most of that subsistence
such as tea, coffee and sugar, &c.
he must pay a heavy tax when he
purchases it, could have been con
ceived in no other brain than that Of
New England abolitionist, at his
wits end to discover whom to cheat
But in addition to this reasonable
objection, there appears to be no
system or uniformity in collecting
the tax, the assessor fixing the rate
as his caprice, faveritism on practical
prejudice may suggest. Upon this
point our information is sufficiently
clear; In this county assessors have
listed farmers at rates varying from
forty to sixty dollars per child, as it
suited their fancy.
We extract the above from q long
! editorial in the Crisis, Democratic,
Copperhead, Secession sheet pub
lished at Columbus, Ohio, and for
merly edited by Sam Medary, well
known for his mendacious editorials,
and wilful perversion Of facts. But
Sam in his palmiest days when he
was known as the war horse of Loco
foeoism, never perpetrated any thing
so meanly false, as the above. 1t is
the very sublimity of lying, far ex-
ceeding in rich unctuous m endacity
any thing that the Richmond Enquir-
er has been able to lay before the
world.
''It is understood that the income
tax, DC" Now by whom is it so
understood. Not by any man above
the.capacity Of an Ourang Outang.
Nothing even approaching it, or that
BY Locofoeo, Democratic, Copper
head ignorance and stupidity, could
be tortured into any thing of the
kind, can this dsy be found in the
Internal Revenue law. No man who
has read that law, or knows any
thing about it, can be thua deceived.
There is not line in it, touching up
on the subject of taxing children.
Yet the Crisis, the organ Of the
great Copperhead party OF the State
of Ohio, the chief fugle man of the
debris Of the great Democratic party
OF the State, has the unblushing i'm
pudence to publish almost column,
oil such stuff as the above. backing it
up, By pretended extracts from let
ters received from various portions
Of the State, giving accounts of as
sessments actually made. We have
only room for one of these letters,
which may serve as a specimen of
alI. The first is In a letter from
Franklin Mills, Portage county:
after giving the assessor true
statement Of all income, DC, derived
from farm products, &C., he taxed
me serenity eight dollars per head for
all children over fourteen years of
age, and tytytaco dollars for all under
that age, per year, boarding, main
tanning, &c. (, Well, as / have eleven
in the family, two under forteen and
nineoyer fourteen, it makes an IN
crease my income tax eight hun
dred and sixty dollars, which makes
the nlce little sum Of forty dollars
ardthirty cents tax paid to the gov
ernmentfo the privilege Of feeding
nyzovn family. Great country this!
Wonder who pays the taxes on mig |
ser babies?- yc-o1 j. W."
Now we can conceive of case, in
which some poor ignorant Copper
head, trailing about the unconstitu=
tionslity Of the Income tax of which
he did notpay a cent, might be made
the sport Of some wag of an asses
sore1ho sf6nnd him poor in every
tlfhg ease children, and as joke
assessed ajax upon him. But that
j, aHy Assessor of Internal Revenue Sc
-11ossly 90 construed the law, is too
silly for belief ~ sssi
But how does It appear, when the
lie is published in leading paper,
in the centre of great State like