New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-12-04
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..

Oly
UMPTION-TAXATION
"The slothful man saith, There is lion In
Z" the way." Nor is he unique IN this. Every
one who does MT want thing done, overf1ows
with reasons for not doing tat least, not no~
He "wants it done as much as anybody but
here follows a string of excuses Tor not DONG
tat present.
The NJ y. Times has favored Resumption
when there was no immediate prospect OF
efiecting it; now that it is coming OF ITSELF
and is close at hand The Times hangs back.
The country Gt pleads) is too heavily taxed-lt
can't afford TO resume till taxation is reduced.
But why not cut down all salaries and allow
ances that will bear it in proportion TO the
appreciation of the currency IN which they are
paid In short what is there In calling 5O 10
rs cents dollar that tends to mitigate the Dur-
dens of taxation-especially since our heaVi-
est public burden the National Debit is paya-
BILE in coin any howY
Says The Times:
"Now the effect OF early return TO specie pay mehts
will be to aggrayate the burden Of taxation at time
when the country least able TO bear it, Come when IT
may there are certain penalties attendant upon Resump
ton which the most adroit craftsmanship cannot "noy
obyiate The debtor class-Glways the largest IN the
coinmunity-wil be less embarrassed; values
will 20 down; everything man has will be worth less
everything he offers for sale will bring lower prices
There will DO period during which solvent traders VIII
experience depression, while insoven traders VIII en-
counter difficulty perhaps At such time, even
ordinary taxation will be burdensOme What shall DC
said then OF the extraordinary taxation at present pau
by the people Simply, that specie payments wonlu rem
der n absolutely ntoembe. The farmer receiving ess
for his grain would be compelled to produce ana SCH
more IN nay his taxes The merchant, with moro bad
debts smaller profits, and restricted ana less cerah
market would DO required TO contribute at the highest
rate to the local and the General Government Inc
mechanic OF salaried man. with income reduced Wouu
he compelled to pay the old percentage to the taNcof
ector In other words. the proportion OF taxes 10
pronts and income would be enormously lheredseu'
Hard times would be rendered harder by the
OF scale OF taxation adapted TO an era OF high prices
and boundess enterprise and prosperity. An anomaly
40 ,arlng should not be thought Of Such taxation IN
such circumstances could not be collected"
Comments By The Tribune.
Since the National Debt is now payable, prin-
cipal and interest, in cOn just rs it would be
after RESUMPTION. we may leave that out OF
the account. And, rs Income Tax Is proper
toned to Income we may let that pass also
He who had $4,000 u year in Greenbacks had
| TO pay $50 per annum as Income IaN' grant
that Resumption will reduce his income to
81 500. he has now but $2j to pay, equivalent
to 5000 s3j in Greenbacks; while his $1,000
will buy as much food and clothing as the
| 80 900 did. We can't consider his hardship IN
| tolerable.
! That "insolvent traders will encounter DIM
equity, perhaps rnin," seems probable. Some OF
! them are now living at the rate of $1,000 up to
! $4,000 per annum out of the assets that should
! have been already divided among their cred
| itors. They may have to dispense with their
horses, carriages, wines, &c, IN ease oil Ike
sumption but that is hardly ruin"
The farmer, who gets less for his grain, will
pay less for his goods, and buy less OF them
! There will not be so much paid into the Treas
ury. because people will buy less of the good,
ON which duty is charged. The Government
will be straitened, and will have to retrench
wherever it can, and perhaps stop paying oil
the principal of the Public Debt. We shall
| build fewer grand houses, give fewer and less
expensive parties, and save (perorce) good
deal of money that we now squander; and that
will make pinching times at the Treasury; but
we shall manage to pinch through. The diff
| fculty is to get fairly started. We presume
our Imports will be $lOO.OOOOOO less the first
wear after Resumption; and that will cut down
the Revenue at least SiO,OOO,OOO. When we are
through the pass we may be able to diminish
our resources; to do so before would be raShly
| imprudent Let us at all events preserve the
means Of paying our Debt.