Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1868-10-03
SPEECH OF HON. y. g. BLAINE.

of last week, the Hon. james u D'aine, vi
Maine, in discussing the tax question, said
Snow. nv friends, hold in my hsnd
r,,,al, mem orandum book, and on one OF its
small pages, within tie space OF two square
inches. have set forth the various sources
from which the entire amount of internal
revenue is derived. That amount, as ! have
stated, is $17O, 100000 AS now tecapitu
late the sources from which that amount
comes, should be glad to inquire of any
one in this audience; whether Republican or
Democrat, which one it is of the different
classes of the tax that oppresses him. The
first source whic shall name is tie whiskey
tar-the generic phrase which denotes the
entire amount derived from the articles of
whisky, rum, brandy, wines, ale, beer, and
current year the large aggregate of 500, ,000,-
00O Is there any one in this audience par.
ticulatly oppressed by the whisky tax9 A
gentleman from Illinois told me the other
day that tha. was the particular tax about
Which the Democrats down in Egypt most
loudly complained; because in that locality
the members Of the party on an average as
sisted in paving II about seven or eight
times each per day, But take it that In
the sober and discreet city OF Brotherly Love
you can find no man Of any party willing to
assert or confess that he considers tho wills
ky tax an oppression upon any one under
the sun. Then we have disposed of fifty six
millions. Next comes the tobacco tax. ]
frankly admit that to those of you who
smoke and to those Of you who chew few
cents more on the pound for tobacco, and
few cents more on the hundred for segars,
form some part of the expense which Dem
ocratic rebellion entailed upon the country
But If any gentleman will tell me how
twenty millions of revenue can be more
equita5ly derived than by the imposition
of a tax upon this hurtful luxury OF tobacco,
l will esteem him a public benefactor and
tender him my personal Acknowledgements.
| No candid, fair minded man certainly will
be bold enough to assert that the tobacco
tax hinders or thwarts the development of
any enterprises in our entire country.
Well, next we come to the income tax. /
suppose it must be in this that the Democra-
cy find the evidence of such healt.rrnding
oppression upon the poor and the laboring
classes. But you will please observe that
! no man Ia called upon to pay an income tax
until he has first paid his rent, his repairs,
the expenses of his business, and all his
taxes, Federal, State, and local, and then
can show net annual gain and profit OF
more than 81 900 over and above all those
outlays. On the excess above that thousand
dollars the Government asks him to pay five
per cent. Now, l do not know the stand
ard of wealth in Philadelphia am plain
countrymen but down where / live we
don't call a man poor who has more than q
thousand dollars net annual gain and profit
, after all his rents and repairs and expenses
of business, and all forms of taxation, have
been discharged. And with us, when man
has reached that state of prosperity which
enables him to show balance sheet of more
| than thousand dollars. After these outlay:
we regard him as an ungrateful whelp if ht
is reluctant or unwilling to contribute some
thing toward the support of gOvernmen
which does so much for him. The Demo
cracy, then, cannot seriously mean that thi
tax is an oppression to the poor man or th'
laboring classes and from this source WI
get the comfortable sum of $35 900 900, eX
clusvely taken from the pockets of the rich
or those who are well to do aud prosperou
in their business; for the income tax is base(
on this equitable and fair.play principle
that if man has nothing he pays nothing
Not only that but he must have q great
deal before being called upon to pay any
thing at oil.
Well, next we come to the tax Of two
tenths of one per cent. on the sales of manu-
facturers above $4,000 year. A very enor
nous tax tro.tenthh ct ono per cent. !
takes a sharp practice in vulgar fractions t.
find out Just how much that is. Reduced
to its lowest figure, we have one five hun
trcdths and thus this opprcssirg Govern
ment goes to the large manufacturers who's
to pay the one fivchundredth part of wha
hay loriy in .,
that amount. To the small manufactures
to the enterprising beginner, to the youni
mnE just beginning with his own hand
and his little hired help to manufacture, tn
Government says: "Go free; but fron
those who have acquired large prosperity
and whose sales go up to tens and hundred
of thousands and to millions, the Govern
ment asks this small consideration of two
tenths Of one per cent Upon whom is thi
opprcssives The manufacturer pays il
freely, without protest or grumbling. TIL
people at large may have assisted in payin,
it in the enhanced prices of the articles 4
they purchased them for consumption. HOY
enormously this cost was enhanced by til
tax Is easily apparent. If you buy five dol
lars worth of cloth it actually adds to it
cost, If the tax 5e counted In, one Who'll
cent And in the manufacture of two dc
zen shirts the tax might possibly entanc
the price of the whole lot half dime. An,
yet from tax thus unseen and unfclt tn
Government will this year derive severs
millions of dollars.
We next come TO a source of taxatio
known as the stamp law, this being so muc
for stamp on bank check, so much on a
atticle of agreement, note of hand, deeds c
zeal estate, and largely on patent medicine
and nostrums of all kinds, whether viciou
or beneficial. Now, while the stamp Ia
may occasionally be source of inconveni
ence, take it that no man will pretend tina
it is ever source of oppression certainl
not an oppression to tile poor and the labol
ing classes. The rich may sometimes hay
cause to complain of it, as in the case of tn
heirs OF Mr.. Stevens, of Hoboken, the II
: Gently deceased millionaire of New Jerse,
whose will, distributing some forty or fift
millions of dollars, as admitted to probat
on the payment Of five thousand dollars
: stamps; but have never heard that the poo
and the laborng classes were particular
. affected: In short, to speak of the stamI
tax as an oppression is simply absurd. An
yet,from this source We derive the large SUI
OF seventeen millions annually for the Fed
raj Treasury. We then come 10 O source {
taxation embracing several miscellaneot
heads; the tax on the gross receipts of raj
| road and Other transportation companies