The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-07-15


obligations to protect the business man who
pays taxes from the ruinous competition of /
the one who does not. That this cannot be |
done by a reduction of the taxes is pain.
Having learned how to do 1t, the dishonest |
taxpayer and corrupt official will continue |
to divide so long as the tax is worth dividing. |
Nothing but an entire removal of the tax
will answer.
Take the article of whisky as an ilustra- |
tion-An ordinary distillery will manufacture |
from 1000 TO 1000 gallons of spirits every
twenty -four hours. AT 5000 gallons per day
it would pay the Government at the present
tax $4,000 daily, or about $4,000 900 per
annum. Reduce the tax to 81 per gallon and
the distiller who, by oolluding with the
officers, can evade paying of the tax, would
have as the result of a years operation in
business in which not over $4,000 is
invested, a million dollars to divide;
reduce the tax to fifty cents and he still
has 100000; and if you go still lower
and fix it at twenty-five cents, there still re-
mains the very respectable sum of quarter
of million. Now, if we, remember that in
order to secure absolute immunity, it is only
necessary for the taxpayer to collude at most
with three officers in district, it will be seen
that two or three distillers combining would
be able, even with a tax of twenty-five cents
per gallon, to offer inducements not likely to
be disregarded by officers who have become
familiar with the rules of division by practising
on larger figures, especially when we remem-
Der that most the men who fill these offices
could not command, out of them, salaries of
three thousand per year. With three distil-
leries in district each distiller could pick his
men and divide, even at 25 cents per gallon,
$4,000 per month. This is no insignificant
sum even in these times of paper money. To
remedy the evil by destroying the inducement
to corruption we must entirely remove the
tax. Nothing less will answer and we must
not only remove the tax on whisky and tobacco
and oil, but on every other article where the
amount of the tax is equal to fair profit on
the business. Thus will the Government be
compelled to surrender one after another of
its sources Of revenue, until it is forced to
choose between repudiation or the levying of
a direct tax upon real estate, and limiting its
Internal Revenue to those very few branches
of business where cOlusiOn between the tax
payer and the officials will be impossible, or at
least will be unavailing to avoid payment.
1t is evident, therefore, that the remedy for
the evil under which the country now suffers
is not to be found in reduction of the tax on
whisky. What is needed is that the law shall
be enforced. No one doubts the integrity of the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue or the
Secretary of the Treasury. Neither do we
doubt their earnest desire to enforce the reve-
nue. law, and to compel all to bear their Just
and equal share of the national burdens. We
nave repeatedly 6A pEeSSeu OuI vi
the financial skill of the Secretary, and of the
great wisdom with which he has managed the
affairs of the nation. But matter of fact,
the administration of this particular branch of
his department has thus far proved failure.
Corrupt, faithless, incompetent men have
secured control of its machinery, and they
haye run it for their own profit and not for
the good of the country. The very first step
towards reform must consist in removing all
such men from office, and putting faithful,
competent, and determined men in their
places. 1t is not enough that they are
honest-they must also be capable and vigi-
liant. Honesty is but one of the requisite
qualifications for Office. The officer who is
only honest but half discharges his duties to
the country. He is under equal obligations
to be UigiLant. To warrant his removal it
should be enough that he fails to collect the
taxes which Congress has levied. Until this
rule is adopted and sternly adhered to, the
revenues win never be collected and it Is little
! less than madness to require proof of fraud
! sufficient to send man to the State Prison,
! as the only condition of his removal. If an
officer of revenue fails to get the revenue
! fails to collect the tax imposed by law, and to
return it to the Government-that fact alone
not only justifes but demands his removal.
So long as the Assessors sell the places under
them, and for price appoint as their Assist
ant Assessors to have charge OF dlstller1es OF
large districts, men who have been large and
successful distillers of fraudulent spirits, how
can we expect taxes will be collected And
yet, unless rumor does greater injustice than
usual, such are the facts existing in at least
one Of the districts included within the Metro
politan Revenue District. Certain it is, that
prominent distiller--one who has probably
distilled more spirits and paid less taxes than
any man in the ward in which he lives, and
who could not have carried on his business
and avoided the payment of taxes on the
spirits produced by him without having COM
mitted Ofenses punishable in the State Prison,
has recently been appointed Assistant Asses
sor and assigned to charge of distileries in
division having more distilleres probably than
any other division in the two cities And
this officer, thus commissioned, signalzed his
advent in Office by declaring to the distillers
of his district that he was 'willing to Live and
let iiUe."
The retention of unfaithful men in Office is
but one of the evils to be remedied. There
are other abuses which have grown up, and
are rapidly orystalizing under the skilful ma
nipulations of the corruptionists, which must
be stricken down before they have become so
completely formed and firmly established as to
defy attack. We dwelt at some length on one
of them few days ago. The bonded system
is a source of infinite frauds. 1t tempts di-
rectly to the commission of fraud for which 1t
offers such unequalled facilities. When whisky,
after being manufactured, can be transported
all about the country without paying the
tax, carried into a dozen different districts,
stored in hundred different warehouses, and
subject to the manipulations of a score OF oin-
ciaIs apv tbraa of WI cat1 aoraan IL from the