The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-09

bears upon families almost entirely irrespec-
tive of their resources.
A householder on an income of $1,000
year, pays nearly as much duty upon what he
consumes in his family, per head as Mr..
Astor. If a man is prosperous his income
tax increases; if he is unfortunate it dimin-
ishes. He is only required to pay the more
when he can best afford to pay the more. 1t
is complained that the taxables sometimes
make false returns, or, by collusion with I'M
faithful officers, evade their fair share of this
burden. One of our contemporaries gave
list of wealthy citizen whose returns did not
correspond with their reputed means.
Some of these cases received satisfactory
explanations; doubtless all were susceptible
of explanation. But whether they were or
not, has any system of taxation been yet
devised which crafty avarice will not some
times succeed in evading! And has any system
been invented for raising so considerable a
revenue which admits of being so righteously
executed?
The taxable who makes false return COM
mits a criminal act, but the chief sinner is the
agent of the Government who permits it. He
has the means in his hands of knowing every
mans income with substantial accuracy. If
the GOvernmen tfails to select faithful agents,
it certainly will not receive all the revenue
that is its due either from customs or from
whisky or from tobacco, any more than it will
agents, there is no tax through which the per
centage of waste from fraud or error need be
so inconsiderable. This the experience of
England has demonstrated, and it is to-
day the main secret Of England's financial
credit.
We have then in the income tax the two
great, transcending merits of a tax com
bined, the maximum of revenue with the
minimum Of burden and the minimum Of
waste.
But it is inquisitive, say some. It is in
quisitive to the extent necessary to ascertain
what share of the public burden the taxable
is competent to carry. That knowledge is
necessary for the protection of the great mass
of the community who are otherwise liable to
have their burdens unequally distributed
The knowledge required to tax justly GER
tainly cannot be deemed excessive; we go
further and say that it cannot be dispensed
with, and our chief complaint against most
| other methods of taxation is. that they are
! applied without knowledge, and, therefore,
without sufficient regard to the resources OF
| the taxpayer. Besides, we see no good
| reason, except in rare and exceptional cases,
why a person should object to disclosing his
| income, unless he desires to obtain a credit
which he does not deserve, and is therefore,
! likely to abuse. That is a class we need not
| go out of our way to protect.
The publicity given to the returns IS Otfen-
sive and Objectionable, but it grows out of a
propensity of the press to personal gossip
which the public delights in, and which,
therefore, the public must pay for. 1t would
be difficult to put any legal penalties upon
this sort Of publicity, without removing a
salutary check upon collision between the
taxpayers and unfaithful collectors.
In view of all these considerations, had not
those parties who pay income tax and who,
of course, furnish all the malcontents, better
reflect whether they are likely to be provided
with any more agreeable way of raising fifty
or sixty millions of dollars, and if not, whether
they had not better do what they can to recon
cile themselves and their neighbors to its
continuance? They may so further and fare
| worse.