The Portland daily press., 1868-07-27
ernss $500 per AMMAN, IN. adrance.

government can take taxes off of land and mt
them upon trade, and may take them off trada
and put them upon land, it may EXEMPT can
it'll and burden labor, it may relieve the rich
aud oppress the poor. The only way we have
10 prevent taxes being laid unjustly, unfairly
ana invidiously is by retaining the taxing
power In the body of voters and the represen-
'a''es constituted by them. 1t is pretty
sure safeguard We let Congress determine
how much taxes income shall contribute.
now much trade, how much inheritances,
now much lucrative profits, and bondholdeIs $
are sufficiently well represented in Congress,
most members being persons of considerable
wealth. They will be check upon each
| other against extortion and all interests will
be fairly heard in the adjustment.
Shall then the bonds be taxed, not exces-
sivsly but fairly and equally? There are va
rious modes of raising revenue by taxation
One is by duty upon specific kinds Of import
ed goods This throws the burden Of gov
ernment on consumers in the proportion of
consumption. If this were the sole mode of
taxation in vogue nobody would pretend that
creditor of the government could or ought
to be exempted, though the sum taken from
him was the whole interest or principal of
bis loan.
Another mode of taxation is upon lands,
the expense of government being borne who'll
ly by landed proprietors and their tenants.
Under this system tenant or proprietor,
who was also boLdholder, could claim no
immunity. So of a per capita tax, it could
not and should not be escaped by any indi-
vidual, because he was also creditor of the
government. The government performs to
the letter its contracts in the payment OF in
terest, and exemption from State taxation.
He must perform his obligation ami pay his
equal share of the general tax no matter If
the sum exceeds the interest he receives.
But the method of tax ton actually adopt
ed by us was one to relieve land altogether,
labor as much as possible, articles OF prime
necessity at the expense of luxuries, and to
throw the chief burdens of taxes upon the
rich and exempt the poor. The Internal
Revenue law lays heavy hand upon distil-
lers, venders of spirits, fermented liquors, and
tobacco, because these articles are unnecessa-
ry Injuries. 1t looks through the business
of the country, and seeks to find those which
have practical monopoly Of extraordinary
gains, and upon those it imposes special
taxes. Retailers, expressmen, brokers, banks,
inhertors of estates, men of more than aver
age incomes, all must contribute of the large
gains subsidy to support the States. Stand
ing right in this category are the bond-hold-
ers of the United States. Their interest is
worth to them at least II per cent They
pay no State taxes oi Town taxes. There is
nothing in the law exempting them from
national tax: the implication is exactly con-
trariwise. The liability to pay taxes upon
any just and Uniform system is older than
the loan and was contemplated in making it.
To leave them out of a category that has
been fully taxed is not only favor they had
no right to contemplate, but it is subject OF
just complaint to all others of the classes that
bear their proportion of the taxes. ......
Any moderate tax such as has been pro-
posed leaves them still in the receipt of inter-
est very considerably above what any reason
able person calculated upon in making the
loan. BONA FIDEs.