The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-08-05
THE INCOME TAX.

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Taxation is a necessity on which
national existence is consequent.
and objections r cot SO much
against a necessary increase there
of, as the mode md manner IN
which it is increased, and the JUS.
tIce with winch its burdens fall
upon the taxpayers. The history OF
England and of this country
demonstrate that the most unfair and
unjust mode of taxation ever adopt
cd in either, was that of the income
tax.
The first income tax ever imposed
in Great Britain was imposed only
s a temporary exigency. and
against the Judgment ofSir ROBERT
FEEL, who, with all the aid he could
call ia 70 assist IN adj listing and
equallzlng it, found that it could
under no circumstances be other
than an unjust, oppressive and ex-
pensiye mode OF raising taxes, and
resolved that only upon extraordin-
AIRY occasions should IT be resorted
TO, and never relied upon as q per-
manent source of revenue. Not
only is it an expensive and genera
lily oppressive mode of TAXATION,
but one that carries With it every
species of grievance, trouble and
vezatioD, and leads directly to
falsehood, evasion and perjury, and
the creation of a host Of spies and
informers, whose creation in any
department Of the government SER
vice, more especially the financial,
is inevitably followed by the worst
forms of corruption. putting vice as
it does at a premium, and virtue at
q discount. When the English IN
come tax bill was first debated IN
the House CT Commons on the
adoption Of the frs: income tax,
Sir ROBERT PEEL said: "NothIng
but a poiItieai necessity of magni-
tude and emergency would justify
its imposition" and that it tell with
peculiar severity on those who are
determined TO act honestly, and
was in ITS very nature a bounty to
the dishonest"
Schedule ID, of the English in
come tax, abdndaHtly proves this.
Included within this schedule
under the English law we're all the
profits of manufactures, trades and
professions, yet the fact is that not
ene1fourth of the number who
should pay. pay anything at all;
and, of those who do pay, not one
fourth of the amount TO which they
are honestly liable rs assessed or
collected. We have before us a
return of the British assessment for
1856, which shows shat the whole
number assessed under this sche-
dule was 256,89l persons. No less
than 212,610 Of these were charged
upon incomes less than 9c05a year.
Now according to this return
there were less than fifty thousand
persons in the United Kingdom
who derived more than three hum
cred pounds per year from all the
trade, commerce and professions
practice Of the country and only
three thousand and nine hundred
and four, have more than two thou
sand pounds for an income. Now
no one really believes this state Of
case, but are compelled to acknowl.
edge that perjury lies behind the
whole of it. "Londen alone" said
n of the most distinguished MEM
bere OF ParliameBt, "should and
would, if honestly assessed, furnish
that number with double that in
GOMEZ
But there as IN America every
available opportunity was selzed
upon, by those who felt dishonesty
inclined, TO escape taxation, and nc
system of taxation furnishes more
avenues of evasion that this. To
show the value that British OIL
cials set upon seors refHsas, we will
give as instances: One return Of
$4,000 was raised to 10000, and
paid without appeal. One from
RI5,o 900 to s2o,6 o0, with like result.
o ne from EGG, 900 to s45, 600, paid
without appeal. The following
ysar-the same person made no re-
turn, and was assessed 100000,
which was paid without appeal.
Ons of s3 600 raised to $4,000, and
another Of 93,Ooo raised 10 $4,000,
and both paid without question,
A kc state of facts are presented
shr ough all the grades o: income
from sI5o up.