, 1870-08-14
TAXING THE SICK.

The supply Of goldfish seems to s1.ffes no
dtninutiuu. The annunl catch in estimated
at three and half millions Of quintals,
each quintal weighing one hundred and
twelve pounds, or an aggregate Of ti5.0
tons. The number of fish to qnintal
averages forty, which makes the total num-
ber of Goldfish caught on the shores of New
foundland. annually, one hundred and
forty millions. The Detroit Post states
that the trade in cod-livars Ia distinct
branch Of businehs. Tho manufacturer of
eod-liyer oil pays so cents gallon for the
livers as they como from the fish, and, by
heat and staining, extracts the oil, which
he sells at 81 per gallon. In the registered
exports Of Newfoundland for the last year
are 333 tons OF cod-Iivcr oil. The Detroit
Post adds:
"How much Of this goes to tickle the palate Of
the Yahkees is not stated, Dor Is It quite certaIn
that the annexation ct tEe6e n.hctIca would make
oil aud t1ecac It Is one OF the reW articles Which
siderable En1istaetion."
The people of the United States arc
large consumers Of cod-liver oil, castor oil,
and irecac; but, though they are produc-
ticns of the New World, the people Of the
Old have the satisfaction 'of getting them
much cheaper than we do. There are q
| few men in the United States who "manu-
| facture cod-liyer oil-tl,at is, mako up IN
article which tbcy call cod-li7er oil, OK they
got the livers and make the oil. in whole or
in part, from them. For the benefit OF these
people Con g1ssa lsvies tax Of 90 per cent.
in gold on Newfoundland oil, which is
therefore sent to Europe, aud the invaliai
Of the United States are compelled TO pus-
chase the homemade article, which retails,
We believe, at about Il apint- The people
of Europe get the article, for, perhaps, ono
fourth of that price.
In the matter of castor oil, which ough1
TO be sold cheaper in this country than any
where else, VIC havo tho most ingeniousl,
devised law for making it expensive Ths
oil il expressed from the beans Ly i very
simple process, aud could he nalo ut tht
pll1c where the bean is grown at very lit'ls
Expense. Dnt II few enterprising Ameri
cans ret up small mill in New York fo
snaking castor oil, aud forthwith Congress
enacted That every person using cas-
tor oil should pay double or treble
, Price TO this mill for all the oil he lnigh
,:se The first thing done was to levy
tax Of FL 10 in gold per gallon, TO e1clud
: all foreign made castor oil; the next WAS T.
q a1past torcign-grown castor beans at 6
4 Cents per bushel. In the absence of an
tax, CASTOR oil could be imported ut 81 ceut
!. per gallon, but the duty increases it 10 ::
A. and, consequently, mono is imported, an
II tie government gets no revenue. But or
= enterprisiug American mill imports th
- foreign beans, the yield OF which fnrnisht
i, them the oil Mt tax Of only 3, cents
>, gallon. Foreign oil not being a1,lc to cor,
n pete at less than $40 in gold, the Ne
# York mill gets $3.50 currency fur all IL
oil Ut wholesale. The government gets III
triae of revenuc,-equal, as Ill. Wal
estimates, to about cents per gallon {
II the whole amount used hut the AmBnca
d people pay the tax Of $3.50 gallon, whic
,r goes directly TO the three or four gentl
h men who express this oil from the bean
ia lnd who have "A monopoly of IL
business The people Of all parts t
= Europe have this production of the Ne
!. World for nbout onc-thir,1 the cost price "
. pay fort and the poor invalid, who is force
L to use tho article and pay the tax of 15O pc
d cent, has tho miserable knowledge that nc
: penny Of tho tax goes to tho government
q Mustard is another article Of use among IL
4 va1it1s. And our tariT makes those VII
n rced u plaster pay largely to support IL
few gentlemen who grind The article. Nm
"a tard setd pays q tar OF cents Per pound
II mustard rnys ta1 of II cents per pom.
10 The consequence is, that Congress has d
s clared that our people who u.
l. mustard must pay to tie pl,il4l
@ thsnpists who hare established ,uu
% tard mills A. bounty Of nine cents
a pound. It u,ny be n "satisfaction" to Il
i, sick usnn 10 know that, though the p1aste
" he euduzes 1ney cause him pain, be is el
"a couragirg somebody Is industry MS much
1t he disceurages his own, by pavi:s t' Il
- American manufacturer n bounty of vi,
r cents a pound, thereby Protecting tbs Il
ID spcstic mill against the foreign machi:ie