, 1865-03-07
Ihe Ae21lasore and the Ncwspapers,
[from the F1gtn 9azstte.] :.

We we're s1rprised 70 mad in the last nun
ber Of the Christian 1ines, (Chicaeo) an ali
orats critique upon the action Of onr Leeis1,
ture, which has Just CLOSED It's session ,01s a
Springfield. The editor of that journal is Gu
uall5 20 careful, discreet and charitable tha
| we were more surprised At his unqualifle
condemnation Of these State dignitarics
Perhaps this was heightened by the fact thai
but few hourt previous to reading the crit{
clsm we heard General Fuller, the Speaker o
the House, cay that whatever mistake nigh
Could baf s e%Ss
the 4ouse were noble Lard of men, sober
earnest patriots, anxious TO do the very bes
thing foT the State and country.
Our Chicago friend thinks public measure
were wholly subordinated to private bills
but We ask him to consider the followin
paragraph, which We clip from the Ilinoi
| State Journal:
"Seldorn II ever before had any aIn,ilsr bod
Desn called To- to at sa,s On 20 many important publ
hiliuet. How well Il has met these responsisIli
tdes et the sseen q ioys United States ST
prompt fstaneatton Of the antsla7ery amend
%snt ssant,oa to the National .a,s' con.atndon, h
seeRasa .a 'oaess 1ep eG1E y &. 20 edion
and 1,a1barous black laws, which hsYc 20 1nns
polluted our statute books md dissraced the Suite
| toe appropriations iof he benefit or Eick AQ(
wounded Illinois aoldler1, denied by the Copper
head Legislature Of 1861 and other laws. tell. 1
| has become the hshfon in cert1in quartets to ~
sail the legi.lasa;e Of 1865 with the mort ritupe
1 fadte and tndf1cItminate abuse. Tet II thatLeg
iA1ature had done nothing more than the acts NJ
! have Just mentioned, 1t would have performed
to II and g
1 Acts." -. "
We DO not propose to defend all the meas
ures Of this body, but where we consider the
amount Of work to be done In forty DAYS
there should be some charity IN the judgmeni
we form. We do not know why the members
from this and adjoining counties persisted In
passing the horse railroad bill over the veto
Of the Governor. They have, 50 far ..
We know, given no reason to the public. We
think they viii tind it to their advantage to
At Springfield, and IN the atate House. Il
was sufficient to laugh at the CHICAGO TR1.
BUEE, but in this section 1t does more to
! mould and direct public opinion than auY
sther, we might almost say than all other
agencies. Hence the people are weIl-nigh
unanimous in condemnation Of that bill. We
in justification Of 1t.
We only ask that justice be done the men
composing the Illinois Legislature. Let the
passion Of the hour subside, and sober 1udg-
ment be formed, taking all the good and al
the bad, all the agg1avating and all the pal
NatinE circumstances into account.
The New National Tax Law.
The following will be found to contain some
OF the most Important features Of the tax bill
as passed BY both houses Of Congress on the
report Of The Conference Committee:
The income tax Tas as follows: On all in
comes exceeding si1 hundred dollars there
shall be levied and collected tax Of five per
cent, and on all Incomes over five Thousand
dollars there shall be collected tax Of ten
per cent,
The tar on cigars Was originally fixed at
sixty cents per pound, but, as finally agreed
on, = specific ta1 is fixed at ten dollars per
one Thousand cigars, without regard to price
OF quality, instead Of 90 much per pound. On
81 tobacco manufactured purely from the leaf
1herc Is levied tax Of forty cents per pound ;.
on smoking tobacco the tax was flied at fortv
ccats, and on tobacco manufactured from
stems, ETC., there is levied tax Of thirty five
cents per pound.
On and after January, 1866, there Is levied a
tax Of ten per cent on all State bank circula-
tion, and from the first Of next NAV savings
banks are taxed one-han Of one per cent On
their deposits. :.
On petroleum, an original bill, ta1 Of
si1 cents per gallon was nailed, but the tax
was FINALLY fixed at one dollar per barrel of
thirty gallons No drawback is to be al
lowed whatever when petroleum Is ex-
ported
In the 9th section of the old revenue law
an increase.tax Of 20 cents is levied on every
ast5ele Of the schedule named therein. The
schedule includes all kinds Of manufactures,
and the old Law with this 20 per cent added
will be the new standard Of tamtion.
The stamp Law is 80 amended as to make
every written instrument void without tts
proper stamp.
The tax Of gross receipts on vessels stands,
but they are exempt when chargeable with
tonnage duties- Freishts and passengers from
one part Of the United States to another and
passing through to = foreign country Shall
pay the same as passing through other psrts
Of the United States.
The following taxes failed to become incor-
porated in the new Law, being lost by wide
disagreement Of the two houses, viz: A tar
Of e OF per cent. on sales; the tax on cot
ton was stricken out, tho Senate couferees
reinEtng to concur unless drawbacks were riy-
en- on the manufactured articles,
Both Houses have agreed to the nppoint-
ment Of Commissioners to sit during tio re-
cess, to examine into the subject Of taxa.
ton.
T4tneSu oRAA :. n4sx.xu.