The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-07-04
HORACE GREELEY on THE IN.
COME TAX.

and MischievOGS OpeEaIiOA-GOOd
Advice 10 the HOpSe Of Represents
ttTcs.
Fran ~ Veg FORK TF!lrSs Of Frilov.
WISE AND USwIsE TAXATION.
To General robert C. SshcDck, n. q:
DEAR Sm-Ii some perverse genius
should rise in his VIhO0, and gEAvely pro
pose total repeal OF the duties now lev
led on the importation Of sugar, tea and
cGtEee, and u provision instead thereof
That every consumer d thuoO articles
should b0 required to render ut tho close
OF each fiscal year 10 the Assessor Of In.
ternaI Revenue Of his district an account
Of the quantities Of those articles pur-
chased and used by him during that year,
and TO pay q tax equal 10 the present du-
tics IN the excess over ten dollars worth
in all, am confident that no member Of
either House would more decidedly and
promptly oppose such proposition than
yourself, nor more i0TCibly exhibit iis VIC
ious tendencies and the hOlloWIeSs Of the
prCtense OF favOring the poor at the ex;
pensc Of tho rich.
How Is II that u statesman ol your
shrewdness and experience can fLilt0 see
that the income tax Is based on the same
vicious principles, and Is identical In spirit
with the scheme you would so promptly
and vigorously reprehendH
You say that the Income tax Is popular
because comparatively few pay Il. am
sure this Is a grave mistake, for in addition
70 the three hundred thousand who do
actually paw the whole, or some part, OF
what the law requires Of them, there can
not be- less than twelve hundred thousand
who Gdght also to pay II so long as any do,
and who only CvadG such payment by
skulkIng,. by prGvaricauOn, and by down
right perjury. Now, nothing is more
iiStaStCllll, ~ any one who would like 70
keep on good terms with his own con.
science, than law which makes him feel
and know that he Is IL william. No man
likes TO be compelled TO look sGarChingly
into tue darker corners Of his own CllRraC-
ter, il such there be; and law which
cOMpels one to commit actual or virtual
perjury in order to cvade tho payment Of
Il few scores or hundreds Of dollars, must
be, by him, utterly dCteStcd. nm Contl'
dent that those who ought to pay an In.
come tax, 50 long rs the law requires it,
yet either pay mono or pay but fraction
Of what the law CXncts, hate II even more
Intensely than do those who pay to the
utlcrlnUst fArthing.
10 those who Iay in full, this tax Is rem
tlcrcd tlCtcslablc by the notorious fact that
they nrc paying not only their own taxes,
but others MS we'll. The citizen, who pays
from 500 TO $4,000 Income tax, sccs his
ncighbOrs all around him who live aa he
cannot afford To, board ut grand hotels,
drive fast horses, and spend the hot
months with their families nt Long
Branch, Saratoga, or Newport, yet nay
no Income tax, or only dimes where no
pays dollars, CannothcIp cXeCrAttng IL law
which treats him so uUustly.
The Income Tux Is in itR nature tax
on honesty and trutlI-a tax 90 high Us 10
amount, with most persons, " absolute
prohibition. No one knows or can know
how large is anothcr's income; from the
nature OF the CilSc, q mans statement must,
ut least ninely.nine times in hundred, DO
taken AS conclusive. In other words, u
citizens Is called upon 10 say whether he
ought TO put and shall put 81 600, $500,
sd. 50, or nothing At all, into tho Fed
cral Treasury. There WINS never q more
effective device for turning tolernbIy hon
est men into confirmed f1Lscals.
SO long us VIC wGre allowed, Hnd viz
tlally melted, 10 print lists Of the returns
ii income made by taxpayers tn Asses:
sors. there was some check on this evil
tendency, A merchant who lived In n
brown, stone house, or boarded his family
at n fashionable hotel, yet returned All
income Of s., 900 or lcSs, lost in credit and
rcputAtinn quito rs much Us he saved in
DockGt by his fraud But, now tllAt The
publication Of income returns Is forbidden,
The very last Indictment to rogues 70 "as'
sumo n virtue IL they have II NOT Is ar
bitNriIy removed. =,
The Commissioner has virtually told
those who should pay income tax to do so
or not us they may choose, and to pay, II
they nav at all, as much or rs little rs
they find convenient, Under this rGgnla-
lion. this tax Is bound to become more
and more unequal and unjust 70 the last
hour Of its miserable life.
| hold II the first test Of the wisdom or
badness Of tax, that Its payment de-
pcnds in the smallest possible degree on
Inc honesty Of the payer. blackleg, a
swlndler, 4 thief, who uses lea, coffee or
sugar, PAYS Just rs much tax thereon MS
the most upright man in the world; the
executions are not one In thousand. 80
with ali our taxes lowed on importAtlons
Tic importers arc comparatively few;
,Loy ara we'll watched md Il is made the
personal interest Of our revenue officers
10 detect frauds thcymay commit, 10
not believe that ono per cent OF ule pro
ducts brought into our country escapes
the payment Ofduties. On the other hand,
| mn satisfied that tho average payments
Of income tax, apart from those made by
corporations and public officers, do. mot
exceed onC.iourth Of hGamounts Required
by the law. And the fault Is not with
the revenue officers; It's correction y be
yond their power, They cannot make
men honest who arc not 50, and they can
not compel knaves 10 tell what It Is their
interest to'conccal. Hence tho great ma
lIority actually pay what they choose 70
nay, and nothing moro
TnG faict that thist6x IS levied m itAgtant
defiance Of the Federal Constitution may
not amount 10 much in these times; but
since i u d fact, II may not be unworthy
Of mention. There Is nothing in the Con-
stitution moro precise or more tlndamcn'
tOl than the provision that direct taxes
shall bO NppOrtiOnGd among the States in
thc Tatioor their Federal population. In
other words, II this State has i've millions
of people, and Arkansas hall million, lne
tSons,ilulion prcscribcS that Arkansas
ShaIl nav into the Treasury, as tho pro
ldnct Of direct taxation, exactly ono dollar
mr. every ten paiI by New York. ! am
dni,e aware that judicial cOach and lOuI
Ias l,cCn driven through this constitutional
requirement, yet there 1t STANDS, never,
thGlcgs. 10 condemn this md every Kindred
| tax Us wholly unwarrantcd. 49,,
4 / know that ihera arc so'na WHO ta!n.
4 * ,,nl.n ,his tax DOr,JiaF by Insisting that