New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-10-10
Opinion Of the Attorney General In regard
Ito the Collection of the Cotton Tax,
WASHINGTON. Oct. 4. ls6G.

Joseph Deneere Secretary, New Orleans, La
Dear Si--We have at last brought our mission
to an end but by no means satisfactory one to
ourselves or those we represent, as will appear
from the inclosed decision of the attorney general
of the United States, which we beg leave to hand
you forp publication; to which we have nothing to
add. except that the President and heads of de-
partments, with whom we had free intercourse
previous to our memorial being submitted to the
attorney general, seemed sincerely to regret their
legal inability to grant the relief we petitioned
for. G. FELLoWEs
VIM. p. PINCKARD.
ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE,
Sept 18th, 1866 J
Hon Hugh NcCuloch Secretary Of the Treasury:
Sir am in receipt of your letter Of the 9th,
requesting my opinion on the following point:
&" Whether the laws imposing tax on cotton and
providing for its collection, so restrict the execu-
tive authorities as to forbid the arranging OF the
cotton States into single cotton district, for the
purpose Of collecting the tax on cotton, having
reference TO the cotton tax only, and without ne
Cessarily involving any change Of district which
may be most convenient for the collection Of other
taxes,n
am clearly of opinion that such consoida-
ton of the cotton growing States, as is described
by the terms of the foregoing inquiry, into single
collection district for the purpose of levying and
collecting the duties imposed by the internal
revenue laws upon cotton, cannot lawfully be
effected by executive authority under the existing
provisions of these laws. The authority conferred
upon the President by the act Of June 30, 1864,
section T, to alter the respective collection dis
tricts, as the public interests may require y
enables him only to modify, from time to time,
as may be required, existing arrangements of the
several districts designated by him for the levying
and collection of all the duties and taxes pre-
sCribed and imposed by the acts Of Congress re.
lating to internal revenue By the original act Of
July IL. 1862, the President was empowered sim
dly to divide, respectively, the States and terri.
tories Of the United States and the District Of
Columbia into convenient collection districts.
Soon after the passage Of this act, question
arose as to the authority fthe President to alter
the arrangement of the collection districts made
and established in pursuance Of this provision Of
law That question was carefully considered by
my predecessor, Attorney General Bates, who
gave his opinion that the President, when he made
the original division of the States into collection
districts, exhausted his power in the premises.
This was held on the general principle that, when
an act Of Congress establishing a general system,
COnfers on the President the authority to do q
specified act for the purpose Of perfecting the
means by which the system shall be carried into
effect, the act of the President when performed
according to the terms Of she statute has all the
validity and authority of the Senate itself. 20. S.
opin. Bates, AtG., p. 384.)
This view Of the law having been adopted by
the treasury department, Congress was applied tC
for additional legislation, comforting the authority
which was not contained III the original act. The
18th section of the act of June Both, 1864 was, &C
cor6ingly, enacted TO remedy the particular defeG
which was found to exist in the statute of 1862.
1t is too clear to admit of doubt, that cotlec
ton districts" within the meaning Of the act are
those districts, respectively, in which the interna
duties and taxes imposed by law upon all the sub
jects OF taxation are collected in the manner ant
by the officers designated in the statute. These
districts cannot be established or arranged will
reference to the duties imposed on particularsub
jects. This is not the plan upon which the inter
nal revenue laws proceed. Such anarrangemen
as is proposed in the memorials which you hayt
submitted to me, could not be carried into effec
with the machinery Of existing law, for the colleC
tion Of internal duties. The President has n,
power to appoint a special collector for the ia!
imposed on the particular article Of cotton, No
could he designate any one of the district collect
ors as the officer who should proceed Throughout
the entire cotton territory and collect the tax o.
that article, whenever found.
The mischief Of the present system complaine
of by the chambers of commerce of Mobile an
New Orleans, can only be remedied by Congress
The act Of July 3, 1866, to which reference
made by the memorialists, contains all the exceI
tional provisions as to the tax on cotton, whie
Congress then deemed to be necessary; and thos
provisions, instead Of giving authority to max
the additional exception, now requested, seem I
me wholly inconsistent with it. have the homo
to be- etc.
tsgned HENRY sTANBERY, Attorney General.