The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1868-03-20
WHENCE CONE OUR BURDENS.

WHENCE COME OUR BURDENSr
The cry comes to us from all quarters that our
burdens are heavy and grevous to be borne. We
do not intend, in anything we may say In this
connection, TO deny the truth Of this statement;
but on the contrary, we affirm Its correctness.
But the source OF our troubles is quite another
thing. That our burdens are heavy and oppres.
sive, there is no denying.
When one goes to market and demurs at the
high prices charged for articles Of prime neces-
sity, the dealer tells him that these articles can
not be offered at any lower rates while taxes re-
main as they are, He will tell you that this
state Of things must continue as long as our ma
tional debt Is kept at its present enormous mag.
nitudc We need not expect any reduction In
prices till the debt is wiped out or rcpudiatcd;
or some portion of at least must be rcpudiated;
that Is, we must pay the interest In grecnbacks
or at least cease to meet this demand upon the
Treasury with gold. This notion Is taken up by
those who do not reflect upon the subject as II
comes from the lips of the spouters and writers
upon finance, who are either ignorant upon the
whole subject about which they write and talk,
or knowing better promulge these views for
wicked and sinister ends. Men who mean TO do
wicked and nefarious deeds always find II con-
venient TO employ a set OF scape-g goats upon
which to cast the blame for their wrong-doings.
In the present instance, 1t happens to be popular
to charge all our sufterings to the credit OF our
national debt, and unthinkingly, men receive this
complaint the correct version of the difficulty
AID settle down under the conviction and belief
that our burdcnsome taxation Is directly trace
able TO this source.
Now nothing can be farther from the truth, as
may be readily shown; indeed, so well satisfied
are we Of this fact, that we feel sort OF reluc-
lance to state IL.
Our national debt is about two and half bill
Nj w all Hal al
per cent. interest we should require one hum
bred and fifty million dollars to meet this annual
demand upon the treasury to pay the interest on
the bonds. viii any one undertake to say that
in a country like this such demand upon the
labor and property OF the country would be
burdenl The productive industries and accu
lations ofthe nation could and would meet the
taxation incidental to such debt without the
least perplcxity and difnculty. This sum, to-
gether with the amount demanded to provide
for the current expenses OF the Government,
would become mere bagatelle. II could not
occasion a ripple upon the business interest and
prosperity of the country. The annual accumu-
lations OF this country may be set down at not
less than thirty thousand millions. Now with
such sum at our command, who believe s that
IL this tax was properly assessed and collected,
anybody would be burdened thereby The idea
is absurd.
Still, there Is burden and the people feel H.,
and will continue to feel II more and more, till
the change come, as come 1t will. The cause of
our burdens may be directly traced TO two
In the first place, to the defective laws,
and the complex and cumbersome machinery by
which our taxes are collected, and In the next
place and chiefly to frauds which are constantly
being perpetrated by corrupt officials 1t Is
within bounds to state that of the three dollars
assessed for revenue but one goes into the
Treasury. The extra two dollars go into the
pockets of swindlers and rogues. Take the
whisky rings alone and It is notorious that mil
lions upon millions go to these people that
should go into the United States Treasury. At
least 300 900 have failed to reach the proper
destination the past year. This alone, to say
nothing OF the tobacco and other frauds upon
the revenue, would put very different face upon
our financial affairs.
We can readily sec that with such system of
internal taxation as Congress should and could
devise, and with honest assessors and collectors,
what are called burdens to-day would in q few
months cease to be felt at ALL Indeed, a tax con-
lined to Injuries alone would yield an ample
revenue to the Government, and the labor and
business interests of the country would expert
cncc a complete relief
We are as well satisfied of tho truth OF our
declaration as VIC are of the corrcctIess OF the
simplest problem In mathematics, that 1t Is not
the national debt-though we are as earnest for
its carly liquidation as any one can be-that
afflcts us, nor is 1t the interest thereon that
creates the burden and causes necessarily the
high prices of all articles which the people need
ior family consumption.
a truce then, to this hue and cry against the
bondholdcrs and the demand for population in
whole or in part. Our trouble does not spring
from this source, but 1t does come directly from
the public plundcrcrs and thieves who have, to
an extent, got control OF our machinery OF taxa
tiOn. Let us, then, proceed to fund our debt at
cheap rates Of interest or even six per cent, and
so modify our internal revenue system that what
is assessed shall be collected, and the debt or the
interest thereon will trouble us no more.