The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1868-03-26
Our NOmUOreU JOb Press
Who Pays the Taxes?

The poor man pays his tax, and the
rich mans tax also Instance Mr.. A.
is q wealthy real estate owner; he fig
ures up the probable tax he will have
to pay on his income, and the cost Of
the higlrpriced repairs on lis stores and
his stores and dwellings, and the G
penses Of his naturally %cxtravagant fam
lily. lie claps the sum total into his
rent roll, and Mr.. b., the active and
well to do grocer, hires one of AS
houses, and one of his stores, and
agrees TO the cxorbitant prices dcman
ded. A., you will see, good reader,
has charged all his taxes direct and in.
direct, upon Is. Now, what does Is.
do? He advances the price of every
article in his store, and these articles
are made to carry AS taxes and his
own also, which includes what he may
probably pay over as income and what
lie demands az profit. Is. is n whole
saler. c., the retailer in the same line,
gets the majority OF his stock from b.
Every article comes into C.'s hands
saddled with the entire expenses, direct
and indirect, all the entire taxes, direct
and indirect, all the profits also, Of
both A. and b. c. deals at retail with
the customers, the great million who
exhaust all their weeks wages in the
purchases oil the nccessarics Of life
The great masses who labor for Il liv.
Ing, who have no goods, no property.
no wealth. which some other stratum OF
the human family can be made to call
for, have now to part with enough of,
their earnings to pay the taxes OF ev
cry individual who may have handled
the article they consume. These taxes
have gone into the cost of it. The
poor man who uses 1t up, foots all the
bills against it including n big profit to
the capitalists who each in their turn,
~ they handled it, put their W bonus
on IL. and obtained the same. The
profits ofthe capitalists have been big
ger than they ever were in the history
Of commcrcc in this country. Fortunes
were never so rapidly screwed out OF
the consumer. Just as long as taxes
are collected, just SO long have We
proof that the rich arc getting richer
and the poor mai poorer. Wealth may
not be so well distributed, there may
be a less number getting rich, but ev.
cry article that is clothed with a tax,
AID consumed, has had the taxes and
profits Of the scores Of those who have
handled it repaid by the poor mar He!
has none to fasten upon. lie alone
carries the load. But. says the benign.
ted niggerite, who believes in this state
of things. '.labor has increased its own
value, and itself not only for the extra
tax, but for its own surplus OF profit
over these taxes" Not q Bit OF it. Mr..
Mongrel. Messrs. A. and B. have had
tho start of the laborer. They collect
ed in advance on the article handed
down for his consumption. all. and
more than the price his labor prepared
for. They heaped on every item of
groceries, on every item Of clothing, on
lis house rent and fuel, on his every
necessity, their taxes, their cost Of liv.
ing; NGr profits, and when he honored
their d"afts he had nothing left for him
cell. The consumer pays bis own tax
a, the taxes of all who have touched
the articles be uses, and he pays also q
heavy per centage of profit to the rich
capitalist and the middle-men, through
whose hands bis necessities come, and
when be has done this, large o. his wa
ges may appear 10 be, he has nothinR
lett for q rainy day. Lord, help the
poor consumer!