, 1866-03-16


OAtdress CHICAGO TRIBUNE" cnesso. +
FRIDAY, MARCH 1o, 1856,
low TO RAISE REvENr1H yt.trs,
oUT TEAAAUSTING THE PEOpLE.
Inc present system Of internal taxatio
may be dkened to jury-mast on a vessel.
e. temporary mast erected In ship to en-.
bic her TO outride storm and arrive safely 1
port. II was devised in period OF great na
1ional peril to supply money for The suppor
o' the National credit. It was only q TEN
lornfy scheme, and felt by those who enacted
u, TO be clumsy contrivance 10 enable tn.
E'sal OF State to weather the storm and rcacl
port II has accomplished thai much, ant
may now bc laid aside for something bette,
calculated to mise revenue. The Committee
Of Ways and Means had no American prcce-
dents from which TO frame their Internal
Revenue system, and In their examination of
the British system Of taxation they seem to
have restricted their research 10 tie parlia.
mentary rag bug; to the Worn out, rcjccicd
and discarded revenue measures of that coun.
try. Our system is close enough copy to be
denounced rs plagiarism on that formerly
In use in Great Britain, but now thrown away
and discarded on account of its injurious cf:
1ects on the Industry of that country. The
principle at the bottom Of TINT system was.
10 tax everything the citizen eats, drinks.
wears, uses, does or thinks to assail him With
multitude OF vexations md inqulzItoria]
dcplctlons; TO tap him In thousand places.
sucking more or 1eas blood ont Of each. What
would be Thought OF a surgeon who, to draw
quart of blood ont Ct man. slou1d str3n
hlm naked and set ten thousand pnnts and
mosquitoes at work to extract thc
hud: The present system OF internal taxa.
tiou operates precisely in that yar.
II was modelled after Sidney Smiths
humorous description of the taxed
Englishman. But EnGlishmen are no longer
so taxed, The rerennc Of Great Britain Is all
derived from few sources; a thousand ex.
eises, whlch rex and aflict the American, the
B:iton Is freed from, and yet his Government
derives a revenue in gold Of s153, ,0oo, 900 pcr
annum from population less by some mil
lions than ours, and ,whose natural resources
are vastly inferior to those Of our people.
The Revenue Commissioners, In their report,
say that t'the dipuxtnes of the present
revenue System Of the United States Is doubt
less one Of Its greatest impcriactions, aud m.
der 1t the exemption Of any article from taxa
lion Il the exception rather t.,au the rp,a
This difuse mode of taxat,on nacees,-;1,.
causes q duplication OF taxes, which In +,na
lead to an undue enhancement of ,,r;cae.
decrease bath Of production and consum n,{on.
q restriction Of expectations mud OF foreiyn
commerce, and large increase in the rnachin.
cry and expense Of The cost Of collection,
And they might have added. IN fmrncnsa
frauds aud loss of revenue. II was the opin-
ion Of Mr. Lewis, The late Commissioner of
Internal Revenue, founded upon his larec er-
pcricuce and observation. that If the exrisc
law, a. II stands, were thorourh]v and cract1v
enforced, tie revenue fiom /. alone would
exceed five hundred millions of dollars nc-
annun, And the Reyenne Roard sta,c +tot
their own observations md inrestfc,tions
tully bear out The trnth Of Mr. Ietris, nsaer.
,ion. In other words. the frauds and eras,one
equal the sum collected. yot more tl,ac bo1f
the taxes demanded by The law are received
hr the Trccsnrv
The real cause Of this enormous loss of rev.
cnue is found in the multltudinous objects of
taxation included in our internal revenue SIS
TEN. As the assessors and collectors are re-
quised to look n1tcr Thousand different
taxes, none OF them are attended to properly.
The mass Of mankind will withhold from
Cesar all the tribute they safely can. II ia
literally impossible to collect much more
than half the excuses called for. without rs.
tablishIng system of national police sni..s
and iniot1ners, such as infest France. to peer
into every minis pantry and closet. and down
his throat to sec what he ate last. in order IN
tax It, If the number of objects of taxation
were reduced bv ufnc-tentbs. the revenue
officers would have ten fold the leisure to look
utter the remaining tenth. md make the ais
honcst contribute their tne ouo,a tn The 1nt-
Lie revenue. The internal taxes nne majnlr
paid by the honest class Of people, while the
escape. The Law may be considered
In the light Of a pcnalty on integrity and .
premium on swindling. And 1t will 60 con.
-SAN~ ~ -. AAAAA @AA~ oAo18< eestGu@o! t11AAI-1
ere1zthi4g is changed for the concentrated sys-
4cn of 3srtr,- , fS,- In. d,,. ~o,.... - -.
@~"A - 6 "" .e"&a4tis soueIa W rive