The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-04-04
The Manufacturing Tax as n ROVenue
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The course of Congress in cutting down
the revenue without diminishing the
expenses of the Government is discussed
at length by the Cincinnati Commercial
of yesterday. We give its article in
full.
"By the sweeping provisions of the
new bill removing taxation from all do
nestle manufactures except four or FIVE
articles. the revenue is likely to lose at
least a huudred millions of dollars per
annum. Toe show this, we need only cite
the fact that, out of some SleO, ,OOO, 900
raised by the internal revenue laws
from manufactured articles, in 1867,
less than S6O, 100000 came from the arti-
cles which are now alone retained on
the tax lists. These articles are liquors,
distilled aud fermented, manufactured
tobacco, gas, and the various products
of petroleum. On the last named man
ufacture, the tax is reduced Oue-h8lf.
while on the three others, including
whisky, il remains untouched.
The tax on sales is fixed at two dol
lars on the Thousand, (or One-ffth of one
per cent? on all amounts over $4,000 pei
zGuum, and is to,be collected monthly
The taxes Oh gross receipts, the license
tax, the income tax, aud the stamp du'
ties all remain unchanged. The only
interests exempted are the manufactu'
ring ones, and these srs favored in SC
signal and unlocked for q manner, as to
suggest the query whether Congress is
not operating with view to the widest
popularity, 50 Us to tide over the i'm
pending electionsi Perhaps the re-
moval of a fyr per cent. tax on the ma
jor portion of our domestic manufac-
lures will be present benefit to con-
sumers, a. we'll as to the mapufactures
themselves. We are no friends, ss ouI
readers know, to u complicated and bur
densome system of taxation; and 1t is
chiefly because We see the Inequalities
and injustice likely to be perpetrated
by retaining all other taxes undimln
ished, and especially the enormous i'm
port duties now levied on most articles
of popular use and necessity, imported
from abroad, that we doubt the wisdom
of this partial legislation. To take OF
absolutely the internal duties on every
thing, aud refuse to modify the tariff
which taxes not only manufactures, but
the raw material which produces them,
at an average of 45i per cent. in gold,
is highly questionable policy.
Let us first look at the case as ques-
tion of the public revenue. An appre,
hended deficit of revenue, to meet ex,
penditure is the skeleton in the closet
of all finance ministers who have the
care Of the treasures of nations. Since
the close of the war, we have been for
stunste enough to escape this evil, ow'
ing to the unexampled energy of oul
people under a weight and multiplied
ty Of taxes almost unparalleled in tht
experience Of any government. Bu
the flush times' of the expanded pa
per money era could not last forever
and we are now beginning seriously II
feel the national and individual burdeI
OF that debt which no amount of sophis
try can convert into national bless
ing. Hence diminished receipts in th'
Treasury, both from internal revenu,
and foreign customs impOrtations. Th'
Commissioner of Internal Revenue, vh'