Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-01-29
SCHEMES TO RENEW INCOME
TAX

government officials at Washington to
strain the law 50 as to keep the unpop-
ular, unequal oppressive and unneces-
sary Income Tax in operation for a
full year beyond the limitation fixed
in the text Of the law itself. 1t is
reported that the Commissioner Of In
ternal Revenue has decided that taxes
upon income for the year 1870 a be
collected in adrdnce, and that the as
sessments made upon income for the
year 1869 car be used for 1870. 1t is
quite probable that there may be some
error Of detail In this report, but there
is reason to believe it Is substantially
true, for the last official report of the
Commissioner shows him to be n rather
o~ver-zealous champion Of the tax. His
construction Of the Act of Congress
authorizing the tax does more credit
to his zeal in enforcing unnecessary
exactions from the people than it does
to his %astuteness as q lawyer. The
language Of the Act Of June 80, 1864,
is, that "The duties OH income herein
imposed shall be leried on the first day
of May, and be due and payable OIL the
Both day of June in each year until
and including the year 1870, and no
longer" and the Act of March 3, 1866,
declares that "the duty herein pro-
yided for shall be assessed, collected
and paid upon the gains, profit and
income for the year ending the 3lst
day of December next preceding the
time for levying, collecting and paying
said duty" Now, as the act limiting
the time for the operation of the tax
says that the "duties Oh income" shall
be "levied' until May [now March,,
1870, and "no longer" and the Act Of
1865 says these'same "income duties
shall be collected on the income of the
year ending the 3lst of December next
preceding" the time for "levying
said duties-it is very difficult indeed
to see how any kind Of lawyer can
understand or construe the law to
cover any income beyond that Of the
year 1869. There is not q shred OF
authority in the law rs it stands to
levy duties on the incomes of 1870.
These incomes cannot be ascertained
until the 3lst day of December, 1870.
and all the machinery for /" levying "
and assessing" duties on income
cease to exist with the month Of June,
six months before the incomes of 1870
can either be determined or earned. II
any other evidence Of the erroneous
construction of the Commissioner
should be necessary, 1t would be found
in the reported action ofthe Committee
Of Ways and Means. 1t Is clear that
the Committee does not agree with the
Commissioner, for they are represented
as favoring the passage Of a supple
mentary law, "declaring 1t to be the
true intent and meaning" Of the In
come Acts that the tax should be paid
on the incomes of 1870, to be assessed
and collected In 1871. If this really is
the "true intent and meaning" of the
law as 1t stands, what is the use for
this supplementary law, and this ex-
tension Of the time during which the
machinery Of assessment is to operate.
But we have already shown that the
real meaning of the law is that the tax
shall be collected in 1870 OH the in
comes of 1869, and "no longer" No
ingenuity Of strained construction can
change the clear expressions of the
law itself. 1t this tax were at all
necessary. it would be borne with
as much patience rs it was
during the time when it was indispens-
able. But it is not necessary now, and
it has been shown beyond all dispute
that It Is in its very nature unequal and
oppressive; that it is a hard and heavy
burden OIL the people Of slender means;
that it is impossible to make it operate
with uniformity, and that it should
never be resorted to, except under pres
sure of extreme necessity. 1t was for
some Of these reasons that its existence
was so strongly limited to five or six
years. The trainers Of the act knew
that the people would tolerate it "no
longer" Instead of seeking to extend
the term, the Committee Of Ways and
Means should have recommended q
joint resolution to cut off the year 1869
from its operation, and end the objec-
tionable thing at once. There can be
no doubt that such is the almost uni
versal sentiment Of the country. The
law would not have been in existence
to-day, if the people who pay this OIL
crous tax were of the kind who resort
to lobbying at Washington. But
unfortunately for their wishes, the peo-
pie who object to and oppose the con-
tinuance of the tax are of the kind
who stay at home to attend to their
business, and thus being unrepresented
by a lobby" or by n force of
strikers Of any kind, their views
lack the strongest element of force in
modern legislation. If 1t were only a
whisky tax that had to be taken off,
Washington would be full of the kind
of men who can manage to make them
selves heard and felt in Congress; but
as the petitioners for the removal Of
the income tax 10 not, or cannot, en-
gage in lobbying they remain at
home and suffer.
FRlGurFUL AccIDENT-AN OMNIBUS
,.c,p,,,,rrn nyEp THE NEST