The Placer herald., 1867-05-11
Enormous and Ru inous Taxation.

Are laboring men aware that the enorm'
Gus taxes they are compelled to pay, are the
greatest labor cheapener with which they
have to coutendl Every cent thus paid by
them deducts just that much from their
wages. Let US examine this matter little.
For the year 1865 the expenses of the gen.
eral Government, including the interest on
the public debt, was s52O,6s3,l95. Now.
supposing that the population amounted to
IS, 100000, a tax Of nearly SIS for each
man, woman, and child in the country. had
to be paid to meet the demands of the Gov.
ernment. But it must be remembered that
this great sum was paid by about 25,000,000
of people since the Southern States, owing
to the mad and ruinous policy of Congress,
contributed very little; and Of this 25, ,ooo,-
900, a large majority were women and chill
dren who, instead Of helping TO pay the taxes,
we're a source of additional expense on the
taxpayers. The total number Of votes polIed
at the Presidential election in 1864 was
fraction over 100000. 1t will therefore
be an exceedingly liberal estimate to place
the number Of taxpayers at 100000. Of
that figure, the average amount OF taxes TO
each is $52. This is for federal taxes alone.
To this must be added State, County and
City or township assessments, which in Cali
forna are very large. But the fact is that
the vast sum raised by the federal taxation
is paid by much smaller number than we
have supposed. 1t comes almost exclusively
from the pockets Of the producing classes
We have an aristocracy of bondholders re.
presenting 50 100000, are about one
eighth Of the property Of the Country who
pay no taxes on these bonds, they being ex-
empted by law. Then we have an immense
horde of Office. holders who produce nothing
to be taxed, but fill their pockets with the
hard earnings Of the people. There are also
thousands of professional men who derive
support from the same source. Tho mer'
chants and traders do not really pay any
thing. 1t is true that the assessors and
collectors books show otherwise, but little
reflection will show that in reality they pay
nothing. 1t all comes out of the consumer
himself. If taxes are levied on them or du'
ties imposed on their goods they add to their
prices, and in that way they collect them
from their customers. 1t is system of
"robbing Peter to pay Paul" 1t must be
that the actual number Of tax payers, the
persons out Of whose pockets the taxes really
come, are greatly. less than the foregoing es.
innate, and the amount paid by each pro
portionately larger. Laborng men are the
greatest sufferers. They are taxed upon al
most every article they eat or wear, and in
addition to this, they must bear the burden
imposed on their employers; for the greater
the amount they have to pay, the less is their
ability to pay good wages and realize a liv'
ing profit. For example, if the employer
realizes Sl0O per annum from the labor Of
his employee, to whom lie pays 800 for
services, and is afterwards taxed, say $25 on
the product Of said labor, be must reduce
the wages paid by similar amount in order
to realize the same profit. Then every cent
paid on the articles consumed by himself
and family is just that much taken from bis
wages.
Nothing is more certain than that the
people are taxed beyond their ability to pay
and consequently that the country is being
rapidly impoverished. What is to be the
result Of this! Any child knows that the
Government is on the verge of bankruptcy
and ruin. 1t cannot be avoided or postpon'
ed without speedy change in the admins,
tration Of The Government Occidental and
Vanguard.
THE AIR WE "Malakoff," Paris
correspondent of the New York Times, tells
an Interesting and frgbtful story about the
quality of the air breathed in theaters and
other close houses, containing thousand or
more persons. A chemist made an analysis
Of the air breathed by such persons:
He carried into theater, at 10 o'clock at