The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-05-03
THE INTERNAL REVENUE BU-
RE4U

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue
has lately put forth the fourth or fifth of his
series of statements comparing the collec-
tions of the present year with various periods
Of the preceding fiscal year. If these state
ments are merely intended for general in
formation as to the working of the law, there
can certainly be no objection to them; but if,
as seems to be generally understood, they are
put forth for the purpose of glorifying the
administration of the present Commissioner
over that of his predecessor, they are simply
false and unfair, worthy only of some tricky
pettifogger.
A simple illustration will show the fallacy
of such a comparison of figures for such
purpose. During the fiscal year 1S67-S the
tax was collected on only six million gallons
of distilled spirits, while during the year
1869 the tax was collected on sixty-two mil
lions, more than ten times the former amount
Must we therefore conclude that the Commits
sioner of 1867-8 was a great knave in league
with the distillers against the Government,
while the Commissioner of 1869 is entitled
to great credit as capable, honest, and eff
cient officer? The difficulty in the way
40 eAA"s sho poAA0 S3OheAVAhon Wuo SoLl-
missioner during both of these years, that
the increase was due to q more effective law,
and that the tax of the latter year was actu-
ally collected with much less labor than the
small tax of the former year. The simple
truth is that, under the provisions of the law
of 1868, it was utterly impossible to collect
the tax on distilled spirits. The whole sys-
tenn was an utter failure, and Congress
acknowledged it by repeating the law and
substituting therefor the act of July 20, 1868.
AS matter of history not generally known,
it may be observed that this act was approved
by President johnson July 20, 1868, and filed
in the State Department. On the same day,
however, he withdrew it, and held it for some
days, finally returning it to the State Depart
ment on the 23d or oath of July, with the
original approval upon it; and during this
time the joint efforts of the Secretary of the
Treasury and the Commissioner to ascertain
whether or not the bill had been approved
were without avail, and the bill was in fact
law, and in force as such, for three or four
days, during which time it was kept close
concealed in the Presidents pocket
Immediately on its being known that the
bill had been signed, instructions were issued
to close every distillery in the country, SO
that they might be reorganized under the
provisions and restrictions of the new law.
The preparation of the necessary instruc-
tions and regulations for this purpose was
work of time, and but very few distilleries
were able to reorganize during the month of
August, but few more in September, and it
was not until October that there was anything
like fair resumption of business. A COM
parison of the product or receipts from this
source of the first six months of this fiscal
year 1869-7O, and those of 1869, is
completely valueless whether intended
as a demonstration of the effectiveness
of the new law or as glorifcation of the
present Commissioner. 1t is in fact a COM
parison of the results of six full months of the
present year with only half of that time for
the preceding year; and the suspicious part of
the case is that these comparative statements
ara put forth without the slightest references