North Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1867-current, 1870-06-15
A Defective and Corrupt Bill.
From the Chicago Daily Tribune, Juno 9th.


A Defective and Corrupt Bill.
From the Chicago Daily Tribune, Juno eth.
The House bill to lessen taxation is a
piece Of patchwork and botchwork, at
once inadequate in reduction, incongruoua
in detail, and fraudulent in intention. 1t
reduces excuses on many articles, but in
such way as to render no reduction Of
the army of revenue collectors possible.
While the income tax is lowered, two
fiiths of the cost of collecting it will re-
main the same as before. The tax on
sales Of merchandise is continued, in or
der, we suppose, to furnish an excuse for
retaining thousands Of deputy tax.gather.
ers and smelling committees. just about
enough excise on hotels and places ol
amusement remains unrepealed to defray
the cost of chasing down the proprietors
and forcing them to pay the assessment.
But this gives employment to numerous
class Of worthy people, who otherwise
might not be able to support themselves
And then, General Schenck managed to
hitch to the tail of the bill his corrupt tar.
if scheme for the depletion of the Treas.
ury, without relief to the people. His
bill takes from the Treasury a cent a
pound on imported crude sugar, and gives
it, not to the consumers, but to the refners,
The eight or ten millions of reduction
on sugar, Withdrawn from the Treasury,
is adroitly transferred to ring of sugar
re6ners. The bounty on steel rails, which
is now 45 per cent, is increased to II per
cent. All revenue from this source is
cut OF, and D. j. Morell and his two con-
federates are authorised by the bill to
charge and collect II per cent. over the
market price, on all the steel rails the pub.
lie are obliged to purchase. On dozen
other articles of necessity the same sort
of swindle is perpetrated on the public
for the benefit Of special classics. And
this is the measure of revenue reform and
tax reduction which the Ways and Means
Committee forced through the House Of
Representatives last Monday, and which
they suppose vii: be acceptable to the
people!
The Senate bill is incomparably super
ior to that which passed the House, in
that it sweeps away all unnecessary ex-
cises, and makes clean job of them. 1t
abolishes the odious, oppressive and in
come tax-sweeping it entirely away, and
with it all the expense of its collection.
1t also repeals the tax on sales, on taverns,
on places of amusement, on retail dealers
of every description, and ON all profess
sions. It simplifies and reduces internal
taxes to few things, chief among which
are spirituous and malt liquors, tobacco,
and cigars, stamps, banks, and gas. The
Senate bill decreases taxation not less
than sixty millions, and affords apprecia-
bic, palpable, salutary relief to the peo-
pie. It is bona .tde diminution Of the
burdens Of taxation, and would be CRATE
fully and thankfully received by an over
taxed public. It is statesmanlike bill,
and proceeds on the true principle of wip-
ing of every excise that can be spared by
the Treasury. Under this bill three i'm
portant results are expected: First, one
half the army of internal tax-gatherers
can be discharged, and, consequently,
half the cost of revenue collection can be
saved. This item will amount to Eve or
six millions per aunum. Second, the OBJ
jects of taxation being reduced to few
prime articles, the revenue officials will
have time and opportunity to devote their
scrutiny and ingenuity to strict enforce
ment of the law and the prevention of
frauds and evasion. As result, these
subjects of taxation will be made to yield
far more revenue than heretofore. Third
~, nine-tenths of the people now visited,
investigated, worried, and prosecuted by
the tax-harpies, spies, and informers, will
escape such inhospitable attentions and
inquisitorial harrassment. The Senate
bill releases considerably more than nine
tenths Of these whose names are on the
Assessors books from.any future inter-
views with revenue officials, and yet it
leaves more than two-thirds of the receipts
of internal revenue untouched, with the
certainty of large increase of the same
in consequence Of the repeal of many
small excises collected from multitude Of
people.
!. If Sherman's Senate bill is wise and
statesmanlike, Schenck's House bill is the
work Of q bungler or barbarian in f.
nance. The problem before Schenck'a
committee was, What disposition shall be
made of the hundred millions Of unneces-
:sary surplus taxation what subjects Of
! taxation shall be released in whole or in
part to the amount of this immense and
needless surplus7 After pottering over
B the question for six months we have the
,sresnlt in the unsatisfactory bill reported
by Schenck, and passed by the House in
= ftof despair and diagust-a bill which
only reduces internal taxes by thirty mil.
!. lions and that in such way as to retain
IN the unpopular and odious features oi
tho present system of collecting internal
rassnue. No member of Congress who
Transported this bill has improved his stand
ling with his constituents. Nobody will
4 fael grateful for the trifing and ill-eonsid
- .ol,~A:o~cD Dc o~o:coo norto;nnI 80 thx