The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-12-10
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1868.
Internal Revenue.

AhtcEuuI heVthuFs
THE annual report of the Commissioner o
Internal Revenue furnishes q striking Illus
tratien OF the extent to which taxation ha'
been reduced by recent legislation. In 1856
the internal revenue Receipts reached the
enormous sum of S3l0 90j 9S4, aud since
June Of that year Congress has passed i've
statutes sweeping away taxes which, according
to the estimates of the Department. would
have yielded annually Sl73 600, 600. Ths
full fleet of all the reductions WAS
not felt in the fiscal ysar 1868, wheu
the receipts were Sl9l lS0 jG4 bat the Com
missioner estimates that i'll tue fiscal year Of
1869, when they will ali bs ia force, the inter.
nal revenue will amount to Sl4j 0o0, 000 This
sum, in addition to tho import duties, should
lie sufficient, under an economical admiui4-
tr ton, to meet ali necessary expenses; aud
Notwithstanding the faults aud deficiencies OF
the system, it is fortunate tina, ths wants OF
the Government eau be suppled with SO little
comparative pressure upon the industrial in
terests of the country. Those who still
disposed to complain should remember that
many temporary burdens have already beea
taxation have been greatly reduced. Tne
appeals with which Democratic orators regaled
their hearers during the late campaign,
alleging that the people we're taxed for every
article of clothing, food, furniture, and
shelter, were based on fiction rather than on
.tact, and they had no real foundation 10 the
laws which are now in force. The Rspubli-
can party, obliged to suddenly provide au
enormous revenue, may have committed some
mistakes at the outset, but 1t has certainly
shown great promptness in correcting ILs errors
as soon as they became apparent, aud it has
evinced an earnest desire 10 impos9 taxation
where 1t would be least oppressive.
It is to be hoped that as tue machinery for
the collection of taxes is improved the bur
dens of the people will be diminished. con-
siderable portion of the report is devoted to
a consideration of this subject, and Mr.. Rollins
recommends various changes which he thinks
will insure more honest aud efficient colec-
ton of the internal revenue. Hs dwells at
length upon the mischiefs which have arisen
from the appointment Of dishonest aud cor-
rupt subordinate officers, alleging that "a dis
honest gauger or assistant assessor, in many
localities, may, undetected, do more wrong to
the Government than lies within the power
of an assistant treasurer or foreign
minister; yet these Offices, through the ski(tuI
management of the applicants aud their ssso-
ciates, are often devoved upon men of SIN ,ll
ability and less integrity, in the very tolls
corrupt distillers." Ii, casts that ous O.
the best remedies for this evil ia to b. fouul
In the application of the prucples OF ths pro.
posed Civil Service bill aud the appointmsu,
of competent and hou-st persons during COOL
behavior. He is evidently fully convinosi
that the real execution of the laws must rest,
after all, with the minor Officers; and hs an
nounces this opinion in the declaration tha'
"the corruption of storekeepsrs, gaugers, aui
assistant assessors, even when assessors aud
collectors are above suspicion, will AL ways
open sources OF ruin to honest taxpayers
and loss to the Treasury, which neither the
wisest legislation nor the most stringent regu-
lations of the department can close" Toe
Commissioner also recommends the trausfor
nation of the Internal Revenue Bureau into
an independent department, or, rather, hs
suggests that a new department should bs
created, which should supervise the collection
of all the national revenues except those de-
rived from lands. The Treasury Department
proper would be relieved Of all imm ediats
control Of the collection of customs, as we'll as
Of internal revenue, by this measure.
Among the minor recommendations, one O.
local interest is the proposition to consolidate
the collection districts of the large Cities Phi
ladelphis included, provided authority is
granted for the employment Of grade of Off
GERS between the assessor and present assist
ant assessors.