The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-03-11


for the assessment or collection of
any tax which, under existing laws,
may accrue before the 1st of April,
1868. The Sd section is struck out
altogether.
Sohenck proceeded to explain the
bill. The Cdmmittee9 of Ways and
Means, he said, had intended to pre-
sent a complete law covering the
whole subject, and not to present a
special bill repeating the tax on man
ufactures. 1t had, However, been
urged on the committee, from men,
bers of the House and from outside
interest, as a thing exceedingly desi =
rable, that having determined to re-
lieve manufactures from the per
cent. tax, it should be done without
waiting for the general bill. Such a
suggestion had been made the other
day by the gentleman rom Pennsyl-
vania, Mr.. Myers The committee
had therefore concluded to present
this subject specially to the House.
The committee had intended to retain
the per cent. on some half dozen
manufactures, such as the manufac-
ture of billiard tables, fancy candies,
&c. These had produced, in 1867,
about million aud q half dollars,
but on further consideration, the
committee had at length con-
cluded it was hardly worth
while to keep mp the machinery
of law necessary for the collection of
that amount, but thatit was better to
wipe out the five per cent. tax on all
manufactures and put a somewhat
higher special tax on the manufac-
lures of the luxuries and their sales.
The House might be curious to know
how much the FIVE per cent. tax
on manufactures amounted to. Taken
from the full returns for 1867 ii would
be found that all the receipts from
that source amounted to SAG, ,223,6 $40.
The Committee did not propose to
remove the tax from all manufactures,
but to retain it on oils distilled from
coal, on fermented liquors, on distilled
snuff and cigars, and on illu-
minating gas, The aggregate tax
collected from these articles IN
minuation effected by this bill would
sum would be made up, however, by
the increase of certain special taxes
on different manufactures, and By
tax of 1-20 of 4 per cent. on their
sales when amountingtO over a given
sum, sayls5, 900. This would produce
about $40, 100000, so that while this
bill would remove a burden of some
SS4 4000 900, it would not cause a loss
to the Government of more than
about 500. 600, 600. In short, the effect
Of the bill was to remove the D per
cent. tax on all manufactures, leaving
70 be taxed as manufactures nothing
but distilled spirits, fermented liquors,
oil, gas. certain kiads of wine, to-
baccO, through all its manufactures.
This bill was to take effect In such a
way so that manufacturers should be
released from tax after the present
month. 3ti fa 38 as.it .r.g "a f...l.
Woodward inquired whether the
tax on whisky was to be reduced.
Schenck said there was no provis-
ion Of that kind in this bill; the ma
iority Of the Committee had, how
ever, decided to stand by the $2 tax,
and the general taxation bHl would
provide for a. 81 tax4HD stsa taia8
9 Woodward inquired further wheth-
er the. revenue of the country could
be maintained while the tax was
taken off manufactures, and the tax
on whisky retained at 81. aHad Luas8
i Schenek expressed his belief, and
the belief of the Committee, that a
much larger revenue would be de-
rived from whisky with the tax at
two dollars than with a reduced tax,
and the. Committee was preparing
stringent regulations and measures to
ibe applied toIthe collection of whisky
Wood asked SeBe1ck to let him
submit proposition to reduce the tax
on whisky TO ffty cents gallon, so
as to test the sense of the House on
the subject. but Schenck declined to
do so.
After some discussion, the bill
passed. Yeas 122; nays ?. The. nays
were Hawkins and j Johnson. -,
Banks, from the Committee on For
eign Affairs, reported back a bill con
eerning the. rights of American lciti-
zens in foreign States, and addressed
the House In advocacy Of il, refer
ring to a statement In the Chicago
papers, that the. Committee on For
eign Affairs had been Influenced by
the State Department, and that the
bill reported expressed the Judgment,
not OF the Committee, but of that
Department. he declared that that
was a most unjust view of the state
ment of the truth. The bill was the
/ Judgment Of the Committed alone, not
I influenced By anybody outside Of the
7 House. For himself, he had never
/ been counted among the disciples Of
| that department; he never was more
/ iadisposed than at present to follow
] the cnuncil Of other men. or try to