Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1869-12-31

eI. The Commissioner c1nld pane
the rate of dividend paid during the
year 1868 By the furnace referred to,
we're il not communicated eOnnden-
italy. The reader caB, 0Eevers ap-
proximately determine IT. by eaieala
ton.
Lumber.-Tbe existing duty Of
twenty per cent. on lumber became Op-
eratiYe Oh lumber imported from the
British Possessions tour only foreign i
source of supply By the expiration Of
the reciprocity treaty 10 the spEing Of I
1856. The subsequent advance in /
prices Ia Chicago was from Sl4 so per |
thousand feet In 1865, 20 s17 20 10 |
1866 z aud IN Albsby from 81 Il |
per Thousand feet in 1865, to 80 o5 IN |
1866, and S2T ~ in 1867.
As the prices paid for lumber, FUR |
thermOre, have been as a rule higher
In Canad8 since the expiration of the
reciprocity treaty and the imposition /
Of the twenty pet cent dHty. while
the sales have been larger, Il is evi-
dent that the duty falls wholly Rpon
the American consumer.
Coal--Ehe Commissioner would also
again renew bis recommendation for
the entire removal of all duties i'm
posed upon the inp0Ttation Of coal.
Oh the broad general principle that a
tax upon coal is not ju5tifable except
iD the case Of such an extreme emer--
geBcy as WouId justify tex upon the
breadstuEs and food of nation.
Such On emergency Of course may
arise, for there are times when taxes
which trench upon and absorb capI-
tai become necessary aB3 JastiHa bic
But such extreme occasions can be on
IL temporary. Further thaa this. OBJ
fections 20 tax upon coal to meet the
ordinary requirements fer revenue
may be briefly stated as follows Coal
Is a necessity Of Efs-next IN lupoF-
tanee to foud Indeed, as both are In
our elimzts absOiutely Indispensable,
it can not be said that either is more
OF less needful thar sbe other for life
can Dot be sustained without both.
The universally recognized PTIGeipie
Of taxstion-that ajax should be laE-
en- from what can be spared foFDf4s
the laying Of a tax upon that which fs
indispensable to rich ard poor alike.
Coal, moreover, is not only neces-
sary Of life, butthe source OF motive
poNef. To tax coal, therefore, IS 90
tax poBcr 10 tax the force Of the
steam eoeine, o starge the laborer on
whose strength we depend for work.
70 do this as part of plan of pro-
e notipg domestic Industry seems the
reverse Of UisdOms
In 1862, when the iuterBal revenue
aystem was projected and the pecessl-
ties for revenue required that the
system Of taxation should be all per-
Fading. an internal tax was laid Upou
coal OF three aud n half cents per ton
This was raised to five, and afterwsTd
to six cents. under which rates 81 10
l06 was collected for the year 1865 66.
But il Is worthy of remark that this
tax, trifing as it-Was IN amount, was
among the very first to be repealed
and this circumstance may fairly DC
looked upon as conveying the sense ol
the country upon the expedieney Oi
such tax for revenue.
The question of an excise upon coal
may be considered, therefore, as deh.
bitely settled. But If an excise is IN.
wise. can anything be said in favor oi
an Import dutyt In fact, an impoT
duty as a source OF revenue Is still les:
iustifable. All taxes should be al
equally borne by the community a
possible. "A tax which reaches onl!
one part Of the country and leaves al
the rest untouched is manltestly an
just.
a Law which enacted in terms that I
duty of fifty per cent. upon an arlicl'
should be levied at PittsbuTg. Can
cinnati and St. Louis, while no dut!
on the same should be paid in BostoI
or New York, would be SO manifest!
m0pstroas that the proposition WOulC
not receive 4 mOment's thought ye
an import duty en coal produces
4sa.1Io,- varEsl& Te ran nffnn
only verg-small portiOE Of the ooun
NV which the resi- escapes fF0ms
IF the enhanced price paid BY th'
consumer for this eoal, In consequence
Of the existence of this duty. we're az
paid TO the Pennsylvania miner, y
would beof eeurses great injustice bul
he,eoantry would be none the poorer
because the law took money from one
man snd gave CO aRotheFs But Il
haRpeps that while the consumer pays
the increase, the immediate producer
IL NOT -benef fted iuasmRch as the whole
enhanced price is expended IN paylag
for the transportation of the coal to q
greater distance lin other words, thC
Dayment is for unnecessary tTanspor
tatiop, that is useless labor.
Now, no acquisition of skill car
change this. Ii is fixed by the laws o.
nature. To the end of time It will cos
more, 1. q, It will take more labor Il
bring every tun of coal from Western
PennsylVania, across the Aileghen,
mountains, to the northeastern sea
hoard. than to bring it from Nov
Scotia. So long as a duty makes
possible to bring coal from the fOrme
source, SO long that unnecessary WoT
will be done; but the price does nc
represent profit, but the cost OF use
less labOf.
The theory of protection, then,
applied TO coal, Is that, IN order
promote American ind dustry, the sourc
Of motive power must be enhanced l
price. and so production to that ez
tent discouraged and obstructed, ]
order that unnecessary labor may Z
oaid for. Now, considering that tt
ingenuity of man has been and is dali
taxing itself to save labor in all form
of production, aud that the Unite
States, especially, has no surplus
either labor or-capilal, can anythiu
be more retrograde than such a polio
But if protection be wise IN this ma
ter. all PARTS Of the country shoul
have the benefit of fit-yet that is II
possible.