, 1869-09-03
Causes of Burden.Ome Taxes.

and they have good and just reasons
for doing SO. In no country are the
masses called upon to bear heavier
burdens, when all the circumstances
are taken into consideration. Taxa.
tiOn sits upon everything thai the
people eat, wear, or consume 10 any
manner whatever. Each dollar that
poof man earns BY hard toll, is clip
ped by the Government before it
reaches bis family. Five days out Of
six be labors for himself and bis lit
tie ones, but the proceeds Of the sixth
are appropriated by the tax gatherer,
who, like Dives of old, are clothed in
"purple and fine linen, and fares
sumptuOusly every day" For each
pound of meat, or butter, or tea, or
coffee, or rice the poor man uses, he
pays a tax, and the merchant, manu-.
facturer and capitalist is called upon
to reduce his income in the same
manner. Money is taxed is well as
labor, and the business of our indus.
triOus citizens is rendered less pro-
ductive by the drains Upon 1t to meet
the expenses IF the Government,
which, in time Of peace, are on a war
footing. Why are the taxes so
high I" is constantlS asked by the
people. A partial answer is given
in the following extracts from a
Washington letter recently published
in the Baltimore Gazette. The
writer, who is familiar with the do
iDgs of the men running the machine
at the National Capital, says:
Of late years our " PROGRESS of civ.
ilization " has been such that now
the most commonplace matters are
conducted on purely transcendental
principles. Formerly the " Blue
Book" contained the name and
amount of salary of every Federal
oficial-legislative or executive. But
this official register has become a
mere means of cOncealing from in
stead of exposing to public gaze the
expenditures of the Government up
on its official, or unofficial, as the
case may be, and who those public
ben6ciaries really are! Hundreds of
men (such as the negro Menard, for
example) have been paid out of some
claudestine fund, as mythical mems
bsrS Of OOugrorS [having no Pretea
sions to seats), salaries approxima>
ting those of real members, and
countless hundreds Of hangers>on in
the purlleus of the Capitol have fat
tened upon what is called the "con
tingent fund-performing or not
performing services=real or imagin.
ary, which no law recognizes, and
for which no law provides recom>
pense. In the Executive Departs
ment this class of unofficial officials
has ASSUMED fabulous proportions.
Not claim of consequence is how'al.
lowed by any Bureau before being
submitted mot to the law officers Of
the Government), but to outside at
torney for adjudication. Scarcely a
case of Importance arises In the Dis
trict or Circuit Courts throughout
the country, or in the Supreme Court,
in which these favorites of fortune
are not seen to'Agure. This may be
all necessary (and it is but a sample
of what is going on in all the other
branches of official business) upon
the ground of the acknowledged stu.
pidity OF the real "oficials." Upon
this point l express no opinion but
it is safe to affirm that the gross
amount these amateur officers receive
annually equals at least the nominal
amount set down in the''Blue Book"
and other official expositions, as TO
the full expenditure on account of
the legitimate civil list. But it is, in
the matter of registering, the salary
(or inoome) of recognized officials that
the public is most grossly deceived
by these ''bOoks !" the nominal pay
of these men Legislators and execu>
tive oficers) is not q drop in the
bucket of what they really receive !;
and herein 1 BY no means allude to
the vulgar charge Of downright pill
fering. There Is hardly member of
Congress who is not, at this moment,
taking money ont of Uncls Sans
pocket beyond his $4,000 per an
num) and at the same time enjoying,
at the expense of the Government,
all the luxuries within the grasp Of
millionaires. Schenck, as the head
of Ways and MEATS" Committee,
secured, by a solemn vote of the
house, ten thousand dollars to defray
the cost of "tour down and across
the continent" which, by the way,
be never performed. l mention his
case simply as similar to numberless
others, and not as ignOminiOusly
isolated. The public is sufficiently
aware of the Wholesale cutting up Of
Congress into travelling committees,
by its orders, before adjournment. 4
specimen of another Sort Of 6nancietS
ing in an economical way, is the con-
version of Cougressmen during va
cation) into quasi Foreign Minister'S
even where we have Ministers resi-.
dent. Senator RAMSEY, of MinnesO.
ia, has just been despatched to France
to negotiate q postal treaty. Other
cases, "too numerous to mention" Of
like character, occur TO mind. Who
will ever know Whist amount such
men, for such service, will abstract
from the nnhliG cofferS2 This phase