The Portland daily press., 1868-06-20
The Tax Bill Postponed.

Ano Tax Bill fOstp0ned.
WASHINGTON, ID. c., June 16, 1868.
To the Editor Of the Press: ....
The House of Representatives did a wise
thing yesterday afternoon in passing the mo-
ton OF Gen. Shanks directing the Commit
tee of Ways and Means to report without
delay separate bill for the revision of the
taxes on the manufacture and sale of distil-
ed spirits and tobacco, measure which, in
in the judgment of the House ought not to
await general revision of the internal rev
enue system. This probably throws the new
tax bill aside for the present session. and
spares Congress the labor OF enacting its
crude provisions into law in the heat of the
next six weeks or more; and what is more
important, spares the country the ANNOYANCE
and disturbance which would be caused by
putting into execution those enactments.
In its draft this bill is a slight i'm
provement upon existing laws. 1t is an at
tempt to provide congruous statute
Related sections are to some degree brought
together, and many sections encroaching up
on each other are left out, so that it might be
more nearly possible than before, for tax
payers to learn the exact extent and nature of
their obligations and liabilities. But still
very little intellectual labor had been laid out
upon it; many of the old sections had been
brought over without improvement in their
provisions the new sections wanted to make
the law complete in any of its parts are not
supplied; and the whole would not bear COM
parison as piece of drafting with the ordi-
nary legislation of the State of Maine, or SO
far as l can judge, of any other New Eng
land State.
impeachment is not blamabe at all for
this condition of the bill. The Committee of
Ways and Means laboring continuously
through the progress of the impeachment tri-
al, undisturbed by attendance upon business
sessions of the House, found more time for
their labors than would have been afforded
them in the ordinary course of Congressional
business. The difficulty lies in the fact that
the members of that committee have not made
themselves masters of the still novel subject
of internal taxation. Legislation on this
subject has not as yet found it's line, and
line upon which taxation may be laid is
as necessary as a line upon which Grant
could fight his way to Richmond.
Many of the proposed changes are not es-
sential improvements; many are OF doubtful
effect; and some at least in their first opera
ton must incommode the taxpayer and en-
barrass the revenue service. The taxes upon
sales, enlarged in their number and scope,
must be OF this class, multiplication of tax
es exactly when the country desired the
number OF taxes to be reduced. That other
Interests had been by the same Congress re-
lieved from taxes heretofore exacted, by no
means lightens these burdens substituted in
stead of those.
The time has passed when hasty, ill-digest-
ed legislation upon the subject of internal
revenue can find excuse. The statutes
snouIu aiosI carefully drawn, that they
may require amendment in the smallest DOS
sible degree, as British statutes have remain
ed for scores of years with little alterati On.
The present postponement of the general re-
vision makes such careful legislation pos
sible; and opens a chance for some real i'm
provement, much needed, in the laws relat-
ing to inland taxation.
1t may be thought that after the House
had proceeded so far with the consideration of
this subject, time could not now be saved by
laying aside the whole bill, to direct the pre-
paration OF new bill containing only some
of its parts. This might be correct, if the
House were the whole legislative body, capa-
BILE of passing the bill to the President for his
signature, instead of passing it merely TO the
Senate for its consideration. But before this
latter branch the proposed shorter bill need
not consume near so much time as would the
longer. Many as are the amendments which
the House makes, in its consideration of the
reported bill, still more are likely to be made
in the Finance Committee of the Senate,
where most of the suggestions of the Com
missioner of Internal Revenue are usually
brought forward.
But the time saved is not so important as
the opportunity gained (if only it be rightly
used) for thorough, comprehensive revision
OF the internal revenue laws. Much that
could not be done at this session, may be
done before the close of the next; and must,
it the internal revenue system is to be made
tolerable to the people of the United States,
so that it may be retained to work the nation
out o. debt, instead of being abandoned to let
in reputation.
The most striking feature of the bill, that
of investing the Commissioner, as the head
OF new department., with the unrestricted
power of appointment of collectors and as
SCISSORS, which could scarcely have gone
through Congress, even with the rest of the
bill, will probably never be reported again af-
ter the delay. The more fully the subject of
internal taxation is understood, the less ineli-
nation will there be to resort to such depar-
lures from the uniform practice and well tr-
ed principles of the government in order to
secure the collection of the taxes. Make the
tax laws plain, complete, just and constitu-
tional; and the first and greatest step will be
taken towards complete, uniform and salts
factory collection of the revenue. All the
difficulties of procuring good appointments,
great as they may have been, and may con-
tinue for awhile to be, are secondary to the
defective character OF the internal revenue
laws. Until these are much improved, no
appointments can MAKE their administration
satisfactory and successful. I. III. T.