Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1870-03-31

over the list o. .hcsc great comes - /
thc reonfe, 10 sec and know ko1
the tariff men are TO The mass az u< -
pie 10 taking OF the t-x on brokef< H.
and 10 allow them TO buy drsgna's Noa
ivorz and turtles without any ta5nxf n
| Blu. if the question is asked, hou tn
revenue to be raised to carry on the Qov
ernmens, ! answer. that an od s.,ervs
tariff eau and viii raise the poecssar,
amount as easily rs the proteciise. Thi
justice and proprieiy of the ad ylI7orsu
system is too manifest to Be denied, ant
% the proiectionis.s attempt to iusfif,
their departure from that correct princi
pie by the argument that it il liahis9O b,
GRADED BY fsise .na frxuaui.ss sSlo ~
Bot the small loss that would or mieh,
occur from such n cause Is . triHe when
compared to the irj1stice aud hardship ia
the consumer OF the specific tax. fhe
army Of custom house offi.ials now in the
service of the Government have sarcly
ability to detec. and prevent fraudulent
valuations. 1t is their duty aud bu,iness
20 prevent frauds on the revenue, all il,
is almost pueriie to argue that they can
not stop fraudulent valuations,
RGt slthonch tariff for revenue only
ard based strictly on the al ruforeg pr;u-
cip!e is mleh less Objectionable than the
mauif"stly unjust ani iniqni.ous gros"c-
tive system. still all duties on imports fall
heavily on the labor OF the country They
are a tax On the laboring class; and mas
much as It bases is popularity on the ir-
norance Of the taxpayers and it's ccnceal-
cd and secret method OF collection, ii is n
4 cheat AID fraud. i is wrong. The
poole s'oula know wha; they are pay
ing The Government.
The question as to the means of rails.
lug enough revenue from the States te
carry on the Government is question o.
policy. It may be done by a duty or
imports imposed equally and solely with
view 10 rcyenu~. or it may be doae b.
a direct tax on the property of the couI-
try. ! believe the trae principle to he
that the property and wealth of the cou, >
try, aud not its labor, should bear tAe
burden of its taxation. l believe TIA,
u1'il snrh is the cas-, the Government
will meyer be economically administered
This result may be partially raachci Uv
4 JUS ,td co!Drcm revenue tariff, but It
can only he perfectly reached bv f,c
ra'e. l. may b. a long time before ,Lc
people Of the couutry become thoroughly
aroused to the i"jus'i - and har i.Lip
the system of taxrtiou that falls hcavics.
on labor. but believe the time will even
tualiy come.
W. have in the United States doubl. .
set of tax-gatherers. One set collects the
internal revenue tax, and the other the
duty on imports. We have for cole citing
the internal revenu, collector, and an
assessor in each con sressional district
with deputies in each county. They
could c1.tec. the whole amount for the
support of the Government. Bit in ad-
h't'on We have about four thousand other
iic rs employed to collect the customs :,
at an expense, according to the report OF
the Secretary vi the Treasury. Of between
five and six million dollars per aanum
We have costly custotn-houses built and
kept up n. great exp 'nse. and also thir-
ty-s;x revcnue-cutters maintained ut q
vast co,'. and ali to protect the mauusac-
turing interest in reality. We thus have
two armies OF tax-collcctors where one p
Suih :ient, State, county aud city taxes
are imposed upon property. and not upon
labor. Way should the United States
persist and continue to tax labor and ex.
empt property? Tie amouut collected
by 'he internal revenue officers last year
was Sllo QOo, 900. while the custom rev
enus was S1S5, 900, 900. Thus the di.
rect tax-sa:heress coli c.el Yearly rs
much as the in niirect. Il is true, the in
teruai revenue is an indirect tax ia the
main. bat it is collected By tax--a,her-
crs. 1t has this advantage over the tar
iii, that each taxpayer knows how much
he pays. while under the pro:ec,ive tar
If no; one IN ten thousand Of the rrea,
body Of tic people knows wha: be does
pay. ~
Commissioner Wells estimates the r,iuc
of all the real and personal proner,y in.
the United States at S23, ,00Q. .Ooo. 900
aud according to the report of the Secre-
tary OF the Treasury the total ex ,cud;-
lures of the Government for tie fiscal
year ending June Sd, 1862 we,e little
upward of thre3 hundred aud twenty. one
Even at this ex,ravagant rate
Of expenditure fraction OF one per cent.
would yield what We now get from tie
customs and free the labor Of the country
from the burden. There would be no
need OF increasing the tax-ga,herers for
this purpose /; but By aboliihine the off.
ces OF those persons now employed on
large salaries for cJiicct,ng the customs
We should save the Government, accord
ing to the showing OF the Secretary Of the
Treasury in his last report to Congress,
more than fve millions annually. We
should thus Increase the number Of pro-
iuc,rs in the country by four ,hoasand
men, the number a, present employed in
the customs.
4 protective tariff is weighing heavily
On the great West. but che is here s,ron,
in numbers and faiiy abe TO rescue her
people from the chains Of h. Etst. But
there is another section of the country
still more affected by it. and which is a.
Jet % imperfec;ly represented that she
ran do nothiag. 1 mean the South
She is moro affected, more injured. mcn.
plund cred by the tariff saan-
ali other sections Combined. BE- the
statement OF the Commissioner of the