The national Republican., 1867-07-03
THE MEETING OF CONGRESS
TODAY.

Yesterday we announced the meeting OF
Congress, and gave some intimstions as to
what this session might do. We spoke OF
the probabilities Of the impeachment ques.
ton coming up, and that in the event It
did come up. it would protract the session.
There is another question which We re-
gard as vital TO the interests Of the coun-
try, and one which We think should demand
the first attention Of all the members Of
Congress; it Is the question Of equal taxa
ton. Our article upon this topic called
forth from the New York World the
declaration that ours was the only Radical
paper that advocated equal taxation.
While we do not disclaim the advocacy Of
equal taxation, we do deny that the Re
PUBLICAN is Radical journal. We mean
no disrespect to Radicals or Radicalism.
Our readers understand us. The REPuB.
LIcAS is, and we trust II always will be, q
paper that favors equal and exact justice,
and equal taxation. Whether it be Radi.
cal, or otherwise, It will be thus.
We know Of no question which go i'm.
peratively demands the session of Congress
as this question Of internal revenue. This
law should be, and, indeed, we may say,
must be very essentially modified, at no
distant dry. As it now stands, it is un.
equal in its operations and terribly op-
pressive upon some interests, and these
expressions and exactions do not con.
tribute to the advantage Of the Govern,
ment. The Government is really the
loser by this means
Take for illustration the tax upon
whisky. Now, nobody can well object to
large tax upon this article, because it is
a commodity that can well be dispensed
with. 1t would be benefit to mankind il
whisky and, indeed, for that matter, il all
intoxicating liquors were abolished; but is
it not the fact, and such will never be the
fact. Intoxicating liquors will probably
be drank and sold for many years to come,
and until mankind are much better than
now, these convivial habits OF the people
will remain what they now are. The Gov
ernment, therefore, must meet the question
rs it presents ITSELF and grapple with it Al
best it can. But the Government, in as
sessing a tax upon whisky, must be gov
erned by the common sense principle. Il
must not throw away its opportunity tt
accumulate from this seizure; nor, indeed
must it decide that because the manufac
ture and trade in this beverage may, in {
moral sense, be considered q disreputablt
business, that 1.-THE Government-is
therefore, at liberty to do, in the way Of
taxation, what it could not as well do in
assessing tax upon any other commodity.
The trainers Of the present internal tax
bill seem to have been influenced by this
consideration solely. How else did we get
this monstrous principle incorporated into
the internal revenue law? The law, as il
stands, defeats the very object for which
it was enacted. The object, if any, they
had in view was to put money into the
Treasury. We can see no other clear and
legitimate purpose in the enactment o
such statute. Does it do the work il
was intended to do? Not at all, but on
the contrary, this very purpose is defeated
A few simple facts will illucidate oul
meaning and place this question in a cleal
light. The law, as 1t now stands, robs the
Treasury, and it certainly demoralizes bott
the distiller and the officers OF the Gov
ernment. The country has only to lool
TO some facts which we're brought to light
in Brooklyn and New York city. 1t wai
proved, on examination, that in Brooklyn
the robbery Of the Government was shared
in by the distillers and the revenue officers
Had the tax been moderate and consis
tent, as it should have been, there woult
have been no temptation for such con
niving and fraud as is now manifest al
over the country. The manufactures o
whisky now think it is legitimate lor then
TO cheat and circumvent the Government
and they do not hesitate to purchase ant
bribe the revenue officers in every lnstanc,
in their power. Take single well attestet
fact respecting single district in the cit,
Of New York. 1t was proved that 81,
thousand barrels evaded the tax there, an,
thus the Government was defrauded out O
100000. The whole country is full of oc
currences OF this kind that are well known
tosay nothing ofwhat has not been exposed
The tax bill is full Of just such absurd
ties as this tax on whisky; and still W
hear members Of Congress say that the
cannot stop to remedy these things b'
cause IL is hot here.