Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1866-12-17
A REDUCTION OF TANEs.

a REDUCTION OF TAAES.
Our Radical friends are awakening to the
convic,ion-that the taxes imposed upon the
country are cxho'bi,ant. They have con.
cluaed also, Notwithstanding the rccom>
incubation of the honorable Secretary Of the
Treasury that there is no necessity 70 sad
die the payment Of rhe entire National in
deb.edness upon the present gcneration.-
We rather like both these ideas, aud since
the House has passed Q resolution asserting
that 'the propositions that the var debt Of
the country should be cxtinsuishsd W the
generation that created IL 10 not sanctioned
by sound principles Of nsAtsnal economy"
and altogether disaPproves the Secretary's
idea. We rather conclude that some good VAL
come out Of Nazareth. sfsss al. The payment
Of tie national debt by the generation that
incurred IL must OF course nccessitate the
maintenance Ct the present cxhcrbissnt rates
Of taxation, which is IN ruinous opposition
TO The prosperity ofthc country. II hsmPsrs
the energies OF the people and put price
upon industry that they can i'll afford TO
pay Besides this its tends 10 deplete the
Treasury and cause falling Of from the e.
,rn1,ed receipts annually by offering pre-.
MUM to fraud. Take for instance the man.
ufscturc Of whiskcy. II is taxed two dollars
per gallon. Granted that the article is q
sup., fluffy is not the tax still an exhorbit-
ant ones Is il not an injudicious one, be-
cause it places in the manufacturers way .
temptation TO cvadc the tax and thereby in.
crease his profitsy The amount Of frauds
upon the revenue Of this item alone, a. is
shown BY recent Developments, must have
been, during the past two years, something
approaching tac enormous. II instead Of
two dollars tho rate had been fixed At .
moderate and fair price the incentive to
fraud would have been removed. the Gov.
crnmcnt would have received al,
its dues from this source, il would
have been ablo TO have done without IN
large corps of deputies and detectives, .
large amount Of legal and other expenses
would have been avoided, and in the end
the Treasury woutd have been benefited 70
. greater extent than 10 now the case. Fraud
aud increased expenses have swallowed up
the increased revenue. The same with man.
ufaoturc, from tobacco, and ell other ar il
clcs regarded a. luxurics. The system Of
cxhorbitant .axes upon any article Of com
mercc or industry is simply the killing Of
che goose that lays the golden eggs. Again
The income tax should DO amended ~
speedily a. possible in several direction. -
The tariff upon small salaries should be done
away with. No salary under g., 900 should
be taxed with the increased cost OF not on.
ly the luxurics but the ncccssaries OF life as
well, a man having an average family, If we
may be permitted the expression could no,
live as well upon a salary Of $4,000 AZ he
used before tho war TO do on hall that amount.
The decreased value Of our currency. cs,i-
mated upon its only basis, gold, and the in-
creased prices Of food, clothing and fuel, the
prime necessarics Of life, made the actual
difference in wages more than one hundred
per cent. and thereby embarrassed in a great
degree, II It did not actually impove,ish the
majority Of those who formed what is known
ms the middle class" And it is upon this
class the prosperity OF the country depends.
because they are producers ns We'll rs con-
sumers in greater degree than either Of the
other classes. II is therefore the interest Of
tho government to protect to tho fullest cx>
tent the class upon which it mist mainly
depend. The income tax should also Ia
amended in another way. For instance A
and Il are taxed under the law. the one nm.
on a salary of 81 BOO, the other upon g. 900
Now IL is no business Of A what b gets. and
rice rersa. Probably a and b Recognize
thus fact and mutually abstain, each from
prying into the others affairs, but jenkins.
who is an industrious rcportc.. ALWAYS on
the qm rirc for sensation or an item re- :
gardless OF the proprie,ies OF private liic.
PUSHES oil to the assessor and gets the sum,
upon which A and Il are taxed rcspcc,iyelv
anu forthwith the amounts are parAded in
The columns of the journal upon which Jen-
AIMS the industrious and indeiatigable is en-
gagged and the secret of A and Il is ruthless.
iy exposed TO the public. Now We suggest
that the proper way of managing this bust
ness would be to swear all the officers con-
neetcd with the levyirs and collecting o.
tins tax to sccrcsy, place seals upon their
lips and upon their books as well, and pro-
tcct A and u in their right and free them
from the danger of public invasion Of their
private life by authority Of government. '.
In England this matter is managed infinite.
" better than il 10 here. There On Enslish.
mans house. Is his castle. and his income il
one Of its secrets that is never revealed ex-
ccpt to the proper officials, and is mot per-
united to lie divulged BY them. Il should
he the same hero. The action Of the HOUSE
on Monday last VIC think may BE- taken a
an indication that reduction Of the taxes
will speedily be agitated and probably con-
summated. A careful revision Of the taxes
and proper reduction in the rates, whsns
ever the same may DO conformable y tho In
tercsts Of the government, will give great
satisfaction, and go far towards inducing
the public 10 overlo,k the short comines OF
the Congress in other directions.
IT is understood that Hon. George II.
Pendlcscn, of Ohio, has declared In fav ,r Of
impartial suffrage. and will shortly write .
letter advocating the restoration OF that car.
dlna' Democratic doctrine 10 the creed Of
the party with which he has always acted.
While men like Pendleton, Reagan and
Others. whose influence with the Southern
people is greater than that of the whole rad
zeal Congress together, are forming into line
IN favor OF impartial suffrage, the radical to-