The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1869-08-26
IDAHO WORLD.
CAUSES OF BURDENSOME TAXES.

We copy the following article from the Phil
adelphia Age. 1t says:
The people complain of high taxes and they
have good and just reasons for so dong, In
no country are the masses called upon to bear
heavier burdens, when all the circumstances
are taken into consideration. Taxation sits
upon everything that the people eat, wear, or
consume in any manner whatever: Each aoi-
lar that poor man earns by nara toli, Is
clipped by the Government before 1t reaches
his family Five days out OF SIX he labOrs 1or
himself and his little ones, but the proceeds OF
the sixth are appropriated by the tax -gatherer'
who, like Dives of old, is clothed III "purple
and fine linen, and fares sumptuously every
day." For each pound of meat, or butter, or
tea, coffee or rice the poor man uses, he pays
a tax, and the merchant manufacturer and
capitalist is called upon to reduce his income
in the same manner. Money is taxed as well
as labor, and the business of our industrious
sitizens is rendered less productive by the
drains upon it to meet the expenses of the
Government, which, in a time of peace, are on
war footing. "Why are the taxes so high -
is constantly asked by the people. A partial
answer is given in the following extracts from
Washington letter recently published IN the
Baltimore Gazette. The writer, who is familiar
with the dOings of the men running the ma
chine at the National Capitol, says:
Of late years our progress OF civilization
has been such that now the most commonplace
matters are conducted on purely transcendental
principles. Formerly the "Blue B0Ok" con-
tanned the name and amount of salary of every
Federal of1icial-leglslatiye or executive. But
this official register has become mere means
of concealing from. instead of exposing topub-
lie gaze the expenditures OF the Government
upon its official, or unofficial, rs the case may
be, and who those public benticiaries really
are! Hundreds of men (Such rs the negro
Menard, for example) have been paid out of
some clandestine fund, as mythical members
of Congress (having no pretenslons to srats),
salaries apprOXimatlng those OF real members,
and countless hundreds of hangers-on i'll the
purlieus of the Capitol have tattened upon
what is called the contingent" tund-ptr-
forming or not performing seryiccs-real or
imaginary which no law recognizes. and for
which no law provides recompenSe. In the
Executive Department this class of unofficial
officials has assumed fabulous proportions.
Not claim of consequence Is now allowed by
any Bureau before being submitted (not to the
law officers of the GOyernment), but to out
side attorney for adjudication. Scarcely Il
case of Importance arises in the District or
Circuit Courts throughout the country, or in
the Supreme Court, in which these tavOrltcS
of fortune are not seen to figure. This may
be all necessary (and il is but sample of what
is going on in all the other branches OF official
buslness) upon the ground of the acknowledged
stupidity of the real 'officials." Upon this
point express no opinion; but it is safe to N
firm that the gross amount these amateur Off.
GERS receive annually equals at least the nom!-
nal amount set down in the /" Blue Book, and
other official eXpOstions as tn the full expcudi
ture on account of the legitimate civil list
But it is. in the matter of registering. the
salary" Cor inconc) of rccoyHi-cd officials
that the public is most grossly deceived by
these "bOOks;' the nominal pay of these men
Legislators and executive oficerS) IS not Il
drop IN the bucket of what they really re
ceive; and herein by no means audc TO the
vulgar charge of downright pilfrrng There
is hardly 4 member of Congress who is not, at
this moment, taking money out of Uncle Sans
pocket beyond his $1,000 per annum), and at
the same time enjoying, at the expense of the
Government, all the Injuries within the grasp
of millionaires. Schench as the head OF
ways and Means" Committee, secured, by
solemn vote of the house, ten thousand dollars
to defray the cost of a tour down and across
the continent" which, by the way, he never
performed. / mention his case simply as sim
liar to numberless others, and not rs lgnOminl-
Ousy isolated. The public is sufficiently aware
OF the wholesale cutting up OF Congress into
travelling committees by its orders before adj
jOurnment. A specimen of another sort Of f.
Hanciering in an economical way, Is the con
version of Congressman During vacaton) into
quasi Foreign Minister'S, even where we have
Ministers resident. Senator Ramsey, of Min
nesota, has just been despatched to France to
negotiate q postal treaty. Other cases, "too
numerous to MENTION" of like character, oc-
cur to mind. Who will ever know what
amount such men, for such service, will alb
stract from the public Golfers! This phase in
the financial management OF public affairs by
the legislative branch of the government is
eguivOcal enough, but not comparable to what
is observed in the Executive. Heads of De-
partments and heads of Bureaus are entitled
to receive, by law, and so are put down in the
'Blue Book" from $4,000 to $4,000 per
annum each, according to grade. There are
many ways of hoOdwinking the dear people
l suppose 1t is innOcently thought that this
"per annum," is all that, in these fast days."
such patriots can "legitimatey" claim. Eyre
gious folly! Take moderate example-and
select the case of the most honest and honora-
ole of all the recent prominent appointecs-
that of Commissioner Delano of the Internal
Revenue Bureau. This gentlemen has been
much "On the wing" He has, since his brief
term, "travced much" and consequently
"knOws something" | don't know how many