The Portland daily press., 1866-01-02

Simple VS.. Complex Systems ofTaxation.
1t is said that Great Britain now derives as
large revenue from secen articles as she used
to from two hundred. Frauds are ofrarer oc-
curance than they used to be, and the cost of
collecting the revenue is much reduced. l.1
In this country almost every article, the
product of mechanical skiu and ingenuity, is
subjected to numerous different and distinct
taxes before it reaches the consumer, each one
serving to enhance its price. Harpers Week
ly, deducting certain percentage tor contin-
gencies, estimates our taxes at fifteen dollars
per head of the whole population, heavier
amount than Is paid in any other country,
and argues in favor ofthe readjustment of our
system OF taxation, with view to relieve in
dustry from the burdens which press upon it.
The present system, it is contended, fails in
two essential particulars: ls G .sisi sa
e "That its operation is too costly; and sec
ondly, that it opens the door to too many
frauds. Both or these defects arise from the
unwise attempt of Congress to tax every arti-
Gle that is eaten, or drunk, or worn, or used
for necessity or pleasure, or manufactured, Of
consumed, or enjoyed. Under the present law
almost every object that can be named pays
not only one but many taxes. Take book,
tor instance. The author pays tax On the
product OF his copyright; the publisher pays
TOR license, pays tax on his sales, and again
an income tax on the profit on those safes
the paper used has paid manufacturers
tax, and tax on its sale; the ink pays the
same the leather used in the binding has also
paid two taxes; the binder pays his income
tax, and so also the printer; the retailer who
sells the book pays tor his license, a tax on
his sales, and an income tax SO that by the
time the book reaches the reader it has actu-
ally paid fifteen taxes to the Government
Other articeS-a coat, pair of boots, a car
riage, dwelling-house-pay in about the
same proportion. The worst of all this multi
piled ana variegated taxation is that the Gov
eminent does not get anything like the whole
amount which the public pays, and that while
honest men pay their taxes, it is impossible
to prevent rogues evading theirs. To collect
so infinite a number OF small taxes requires an
army OF paid officials. To collect them so
thoroughly as to prevent fraud would require
every second man to be detective" 1iae
1t is estimated that, for the month ending
Nov SOth, the sum drawn from the people BY
the Government, in direct and indirect taxes,
was S26S, 100000 and were these five months
an average iOr luc year, TIE annual income Of
the Government would foot up not less than
s630,OOO,0OO, This by the way, is nearly double
the whole public revenue raised in Great Brit
ain and Ireland by taxation, and our ability to
pay it shows the extent and vitality of our re-
sources as nation.
The earnestness with which the Comptrol-
Ter of the Currency urges the importance Of
simplifying the revenue system, increasing the
free list, and imposing tax upon raw cotton
and manufactured tobacco, encourages the
hope that the present session of Congress will
not close without some efficient effort made
to reduce the expenses of the Government
to the lowest practicable figure, and to restore
the currency to its normal value, which can
be done only by abolishing the legal tender
act, and making the precious metals in law as
in fact the only standard ofvalues. If the
revenue is simplified, the expenses of collection
will be reduced, so that it will not cost three or
five dollars of the peoples substance to get one
dollar into the national treasury. The salaried
officials of the Government are altogether too
numerous, as they constitute altogether too
expensive luxury. t'- sad a'a n