Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-01-08
NUMBER II il l,II' E Ri .l6s.I 81. !

g,.iavealpeady, y, been taxed once. and when, ov
you buy the boots the selleris taxed on the 81
profit he makes on them, which tax Is also, ~
added TO the price Of the boots, and thus on hj
the same Fair ofnboots, you have been taxriils
ed three times. which, In asdegree, explains ng
the reason for the high price you paid for, ar
them. But although In the price o. the 81
boots you paid the tax assessed on the tam, rs
ner and hO0tmaker, they also are sufferers; nj
Tor the higher the price Of boots, Of hats, or
coats. or dresses tor your wives al d b
daughters, the fewer 0fthese articles win, Z
be sold but the eUiI tcill not begreatln Jeif,do
until our currency Is reduced JrOns sevea 20 3.
three or four hundred million dollars, when a,li
dollar greenback will be redeemed by adolf Il
lar in silver-that Is, when the people feel1u
that paper dollar Is really worth dollar, Oi
they will take care of iit accordingly efd hHs
1t seems to me, citizens, and would be-
glad to learn your opinion relative to what (
am about to say--it does seem 70 me that d
taxation shouldibe equitahle5 that is, tbatsc
his means; and If / am inierrorll trust that
| may be corrected. 3 For example, where X
two persons have the same means, it apr,
pears to me thide they ought 20 bel taxed 4,
equally. But suppose that one Of them isli
worth twice as much as the other would It. !,
be just to make the pooreHman pay as high
a tax as the man whois worth two dollars A
to his one? YOU say that it would be un-, \.
just to do so; and believe that your judg- 3
ment is right, Well, then, let us suppose
that Mr.. Jones, who has no business or pro-
fession, and who lives without labor, has q
wife and family, and Is possessed Of an In
come of sixteen hundred dollars, accruing
from mortgage securities; and he has
neighbor, Mr.Smith, who owns no proper
ty, but has wife and family, and is alsoiE
possessed of an income of sixteen hundred Z
Igll II a.
these two men have the same income, and q
pay the same amount of tax to support the Oc
Federal Governments: but what is theirrel-
alive situation Jones is worth over tweIl- 9C
ty-siX thousand dollars secured by mort u
gage, which yields him, without labor. six d
teen hundred dollars year; while Smith
owns no property whatever, and his income,
which is the product of his toll. not only Z
depends upon his health, but also on his
being able to procure employment. which s
may be lost or decreased by accidents over
which he has no control. And while the,
family of Jones, in the case of his death, are
still secure in the income of sixteen hum |
dred year, the family of Smith would be
left In a state of destitution, should he die.
Can it be just, then, citizens, that Smith,
who is only worth one dollar, should pay as /.
heavy tax as Jones. who is worth twenty
six thousand dollars? And yet suciIis the
| There Is another fact connected with the
income tax, to which wish to invite your :.
attention. The tax on the income Of one
year cannot, and is not assessed till the fol-
| lowing year; for until the close of the year,
| the amount of the income is not known.--Ni
But suppose that during the income year,
the family of Smith was afflicted with
sickness, which caused him to exhaust his
entire income; and that during portion Of
In ha In IA
tax has to be paid, he is unable to obtain
employment-can You tell me, citizens,
where he Is to get money TO pay his last
tyears tax? His family must be fed, and
housed, and clothed; and he is without em-
,ployment, with only one dollar in his pock
et;, and yet the law requires him to pay as
heavy tax as Jones, Who Is worth twenty
/ six thousand times more money! Can it be
possible, my friends, that such a law can be
just? ..-
| But again, let us suppose that two other
members of the Jones and Smith families
to have equal incomes resulting from their
labor, but Jones owns a furnished house in
] which he and his family reside, worth one
thousand dollars; while Smith lives ia q
rented house, and is only worth one hum
lred dollars. These families live up 70 !
Gheir Incomes, and inasmuch as the incomes
are equal, each, by the law, is required to Y
pay the same amount of taX-say fifty dol-
lars. The moment before the tax was paid,
Jones was worth ten hundred and Smith
one hundred dollars-that Is, Jones was
worth ten times as much as Smith;; but
zach was compelled to use fifty dollars Of
MS property to pay his tax, thus reducing
the wealth of Jones to nine hundred and
fifty, and of Smith to fifty dollars. That
is, Jones paid his tax with one-twentieth Of +.
what he was worth, while it required
smith to pay One-half of all he owned. Be-
fore the tax was paid, Jones was worth ten
,i Zines as much as Smith, but the moment
after the tax was paid he was worth nine
teen times as much--that is, after the tax !
was paid Jones was worth nine hundred
md hfty, While Smith was reduced TO fifty,
lollars. lt .,f..,.-- -...-E-,t -
fear, citizens, that will weary your pa
ence; but as the subject is an Important
lne, indulge me in one further illustration,
j will again take my examples from those
D large aud worthy families of Jones and,
. smith, The two gentlemen have each q 4
Z capital of forty thousand dollars in money!.
! Jones invests his money in State stocks, az
rides fancy horse, smokes good cigars, and d
I without risk or labor, has an income Of )
1 twenty-iour hundred dollars, On the
other hand, Smith, who Is q public spirited
man, full of energy and industry, a suues
the risks OF trade, and establishes a foundry
or factory, and the reward Of his enter
prise and toll is an income Of forty-eight
hundred dollars, although. his capital was,
only equal TO that Of Jones; and yet the
law requires him, to pay double the amount
Of tax paid by JONES' That Is, the law im-
poses a penal upon industry and enter,
prise, and bestows q. reward upon idleneee.
Is this either wise cs lust? lust? - n ~ -, Il
/ TWO eovERNMENys TO SUPPORT. .'ioi
i From the very nature Of our insttt6ti6ns.t
citizens, we are taxed to support two Gov
ernmepts at the same time, and both afeia =
debt. it Is true, as you all remember, that
prior to 1851, the affairs of the Federal Cow
ernment were SO economically admlnistef-
ed, that the people id those happy. pf0sll
pperous and peaceful days, only felt the Z sd- U
berai Government, ins the blessings 1t b., !. .
slowed upon them. They knew that there !.
| was an army aud a navy, but no one felt I
that dollar was taken from hisp0eket tO i
pay for either, Cherish the memory Of
those bye gone days, citizens, for never
again will you see them return, Nevefs !
thelesa we have a duty to perform. sdd II y
Iwlll ", be becoming ana decent % lischatge Y |;
THf1SiiI o. saes bnA b81salaa g7gw Sisii
THE BoND-owNER, AND THE BoND-Mkfgs 10
l. But citizens, what wilI y6assy ofalaw
(which 'exempts one man from taxation. y
IiwhO Is worth one hundred thousand while
kit taxes another man, who Is only worthoo
one hundfCd dollafsf The act Of Congress-