The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1868-01-04
E N Tunsti1
W. @3421 y. eA40RDAY MORNING. JANUARY 4 l868.

The London correspondent of tho
ohlcago Tribune gives an interesting
account of the operation Of the ,ncon,e
tax in England:
,onnI me increase of penny on the
I,ss,t y lh Tue income tax will press
TNs ENeIy heaVily upon large class Of ths
E5ngllsh people. The painful mart 'of
tne business is that those who can least
u4ofq to pay II are those from whom
@ .Ae utVefnost farthlng is exRctetl An
'aecoGnt OF the mode in which this nm
popuLa5 pos, ~ tno9gh extremely useful i'm.
@ bost Is levied IN this country will show
,,ius,bIl nTm tuis y. occurs. Each year every EN-.
PoSeE OF lROor; whether in a factory
warehouse, office or shop. or an eStaie
EscelVes form on which he has. nnfIer
threat OF large penalties. to WFifa tho
names OF the eindividualsi in his emnlov
or who are in the receipt of wages a.
saiaEy @ anonnhng to one hundred
pounds sterling year. He does T,Ct
state himself the exact amoS,St ssl,SS nS
individual receives, but merely snn-
Pies MS name and his address, The
person thus on the list speedily hears
from the ta1-collectOrg OF his district.
anu Is called upon in turn to give the
amount OF his income, sipninp, a sol.
ssnn asseVeratton of the truth OF his
aeEata gli6i 5Gs mi 81 sst,t,
tax. The poor fellow, inst within t6a
iron circle, Whoig his two pounds a
week and nothing more, must nav five
pence In every pound OF his earnings.
be has no chance of escaping with the
shadow OF aBtXpence, Thousands nn0n
thousands of artisans, who have to
support, 1t may be, expensive families
IN towns where rents and living arc
dear, are all docked to the lasI pennv
OF their income tax. But how is Il
win the men of larger incomes-whose
gains are derived from variety of
sources7 With stockbrokers, with So
Iicltors, with medical men, and even
shop keepers? They are bound nv
their honoralone, and there is evidence
enough to show that a profuse amount
OF living 3 compatible with their no.
tions of honor.
You Rave probably heard of the
case, which became unexpectedly pub.
lie some time since, in which n few
Puolc othclals whose pay was derived
from ices, claimed a particular sum as
compensation on the abolition of their
oIhces; ind who grounded their claim
on the fact that their income from the
fees had been such and such SUN; and
you probably know how this return of
theirs vas compared with the returns
which hey had made for several years
to the income tax commissioners. and
cess, and how they detected defaulters
were thereupon directed to pay up the
arrears. This was peep into scene
always In full activity. For this and
other reasons many pu bic men are of
opinion that individuals having small
Incomes should pay a tax of u less rate
In the pound than those of fuller earn
tngs. r
THE practice is to keep the income
strictly secret. The commissioners are
sworn to secrecy, and the returns sent
in are declared to be destroyed, though
believe some of them have turned up
In the butter shops, together with the
torn leaves of modern books of fiction.
In great number of cases, where the
real income is small, though the un.
oertaklng Is large and IL il a necessity
TO appear we'll of even to in come tax
commissioners, who are but men, and
generally business men, too, the firm
lets the commissioners apportion the
profits and the amounts of the loss,
submitting resignedly to pay on sup
posed profits OF 10000 a year, when
they We're possibly under GlOO. Thus
humbug is al set-off to some extent
against dishonesty. In thousands o
cases the commissioners refuse to nc
cept the returns until the man OF bust
ness has shown them his books auC
proved his case, but with professionH
4aAl4ps sHpeculAllNe men Nth1B does no
laa1lld r a9.5Si,tsb llIeu
pay on am nfaVerage OF three years
II a man can affirm that he has not re-
ceived as much as G1OO year on tht
average for the three preceding years
he can claim exemption, but as many
difficulties as possible are thrown IN
the way. The collectors are chiefly
paid by commissioning much out 81
every pound they cOllect-and no pub.
hcan' of old was more sharp than are
lose by every successfully established
exemption. The tax, however, is a
democratic one, for it il so tangible, so
close, to the body, 80 direct in its APP
proach, and conspicuous in its features
clined to look sharp after the method in
which 1t is spent than If the same
amount was amassed out of high tar
ifs." -.