Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-10-08
OHASO MORNINGS

by the Auditor of State that about -one
hundred million, dollars are held in the
State of Ohio. What is the result? This
vast amount of property has been with
drawn from the duplicate. 1t was former
! iy invested in real estate. loaned on bond
or mortgage, or employed In business; and
1 in each case 1t bore its share of taxation
and at the same time contributed to swell
| the productive capital OF the country
Now it is converted into bonds and exempt
| from taxation. On what do the burdens
| 1t used to bear fall ? On your property and
| mine-on all the remaining property of the
/ country.
Let us look for moment at the practical
| operation of this thing. A farmer has a
farm, worth say ten thousand dollars; his
taxes will be in round numbers, not far
| from two hundred dollars year, according
| to the rate OF local taxation. You know
the rate of taxation varies in different
| townships and localities. / was looking
the other day in the Treasurer's Office of
Champaign county, at the statement which
1 the treasurer will shortly publish. as he
tion in each township and city in the coun-
ity. In one township it was 50 55 on every
800 90 of property, or over 21s- per cent;
in another it was about pa per cent. sup
pose the rates of taxation will not be very
different in this county from what they are
| In Champaign. The taxes then on the farm
worth $4,000, will not be far from 5000 90
year, and this the farmer will have to
pay. sHisneighbor who has the same amount
invested in bonds, rides over the same
roads, sends his children to the same school,
receives the same protection and advan-
tages from the Government, and on his ten
thousand dollars pays no taxes at all.
Take the case of a merchant, mechanic
or professional man living In town who
owns the store, shop or Office in which he
carries on business and the house in which
he lives. He must pay taxes on them to
the State, and also to the town or city, for
the expenses of police, the fire depart
ment, the lighting of the streets. and other
similar purposes. But the law exempts
bonds from all State, county, and munich
pal taxes, and enables their owner to enjoy
these advantages free of charge. This in
equality manifestS itself in all conditions
of society Suppose a lady of limited
means has five thousand dollars-the
amount, perhaps, of q life insurance policy
every body can't hold Government bonds.
The income from it at six. per cent.
(which is all she can legally collect) will
be $500 per year in paper, and of this she
will have to pay annually for taxes to the
State from $50 to $3.50, depending on the
rate of taxation in the locality where she
lives. But her neighbor, whose invest
amount of her estate and draw six per
cent. interest in gold--equal to eight or
nine per cent. in paper-and pay no taxes
at all.
Again: suppose the guardian of orphan
children has their property invested--say
before the war-on a long loan at legal in
terest. From one-fourth to one-half of the
amount according to the rate of local
taxation) intended for their support and
education must be paid yearly to the State
And this is matter in which we are all
Interested. The poor mans shouse-how-
ever poor, Is taxed his horse, his COW, his
furniture, his tools, and impliments, the
means of his own and children's livelihood
-if they exceed $50 in value, all are taxed.
How much they are taxed, depends on the
amount of the local taxation of the place of
bis residence-it varies, as have said, in
different places and at different times.
The rate varies from one per cent.
or little less, which is the mini
mum, TO 315 per cent. and some times
more. The average rate will not vary
much from two per cent; that is, for every
500 worth of property you have you
must pay an average of 50. If you have
a horse worth 500, the taxes ON him, for
instance. would be about 50 year. But
the bondholder, SO far as his bonds are con-
cerned, is altogether independent of the
difference to him whether the taxes are one
per cent. or three per cent. His bonds are
exempt by law from State or municipal
taxation.
| Butt anticipate the answer of my Re-
publican friend. He will say that the law
under which the bonds were issued pro-
vided, that they should be exempt from
taxation, and that to tax them now would
be breach of faith. But this is mistake.
The law never provided that they should
| be exempt from taxation. What the law
did provide was, that they should be ex-
/ empt from State and municipal taxation.
| And they could rot have been so taxed if
cannot tax the bonds of the United States,
becans if they could they might tax them
| to such an extent as to impair their value
aud destroy the constitutional power of the
United States to borrow money. The SUI
preme Court of the United States has deci-
ded this point, and the provision of the law
was merely cumulative; merely affirmed
what had been established by judicial de-
! cision. But the law nowhere provides that
the bonds shall not be taxed by Congress !;
and Congress has twice exercised the pow
| er of taxing them: First, in levying an
income tax of 3 per cent. on the income
derived from interest on United States Sc
curities (when income from all other
i sources bore tax of per cent?, and Sec
! cent, in common with other incomes, or to
10 per cent. if the income exceeds ten
| thousand dollars a year. The only diff
Guilty is, that Congress, legislating in
the interest of the bondholders, has
| laid upon the. bonds (where they are taxed
at all) tax so trifiing in amount as to make
| the taxation grossly unequal and unjust
/ Let me explain. The rate of State and mu-
nicipal taxation will average,as remarked,
about I1s to 3 per cent. on the capital or
| principal of a persons property. clf you
| hold the note of a private individual for
$1,000, the interest you will receive on it at
the legal rate of 6 per cent. will be $50 90
| year, and of this you will have to pay
| for taxes SIS to $50 year, which is ~ to
per cent. on the amount of the note. One
| third or one-fourth of your income then, or
/ % to 80 per cent. goes for tax. But the
holder of United States bonds pays no
| taxes upon them at all. unless the interest
| from them amounts to $1,000 a year, or forms
| part.of an income of $1,000 a year, and
even then he only pays tax of 5 per cent.
/ of the income, while your securities, subject
to State taxation, pay % to 33 per cent.-
! While you pay one-third or one fourth of
your income from such sources for taxes,
the bondholder if he pays any at alD pays
/ Ione-twentieth of his, if his income is less
than $4,000 a year, and if it is more than
| that he only pays 10 per cent, or One-tenth
of his income, while you, though your ln-
come may not exceed seooa year; pay one
| third of yours. H-rE rT.EF,lf Z ~
Is this equality before the law? Yet
this is the system you are asked to sustain
in voting the Republican ticket The posi-
ton of the two parties on this subject is
substantially this: The Republican party
propose that one class of the people shall
/ hold the securities and draw the interest,
/ while another class pays the interest and
the taxes. The Democratic party propose
4 that all men shall be taxed alike on what
they own. sThe very head and front of
our offending" in demanding equal taxa
/ tion for which we are so fiercely denounced,
I..hath this extent; no more"