The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1870-10-22
Taxation and MOn0p0lies.

The general rule that consumers pay
the tax works curiously under a system of
taxation which gives TO q class a monopo'
ly of any branch of business. If our
tariflaws give to some half dozen rolling
mills in the country exclusive control of
the business of manufacturing Bessemer
rails, aud there Is a demand for them far
beyond the capacity of those mills to sup
ply, the prices of the rails will not be
governed by competition, or the actual
cost of production, but by the ability to
extort extravagant prices from purchasers
with which such legislation has invested
the owners of the six rolling-mills.
If our tariff laws grant TO q few men
around Onondaga Lake and Saginaw Bay
advantages which give them control of the
salt markets Of the country, the price of
q barrel of salt in any locality will not be
fixed by the amount Of tax paid on it,
added to the cost of production, but by
the necessities Of purchasers and the greed
of the m~onopolists. 1t was shown in the
debates on the tariff bill last winter that
our rates of customs duties In many In.
stances grant monopolies in important
branches of business to a comparatiVely.in.
significant number Of men. The serge
factories in Rhode Island, the man inter-
ested in t~easels, living near Syracuse, and
manufacturers of drugs, chemicals and
dye-stuffs of various kinds, were frequent
ly brought forward by the opponents Of
protection in Congress to point the moral
to this fact.
The man who obtains q patent for an in.
vention of any kind, is given exclusive
control of the market for that invention. II
1t be one of practical utility, and one which
in economizing labor and facilitating pro.
duction will cheaper the cost Of a useful
article several hundred per cent OF cup
ply q need long felt, the owner Of the
patent will not be content with small
profits. He will not say the material
cost me - dollars, the cost of making
amounts to - dollars, rents are - dollars,
taxes are - dollars, and interest On the
money invested in the business amounts
TO - dollars. As he has q monopoly, the
price of his machine, or the privilege Of
using his invention, will be gagged by the
advantages it offers to purchasers. Sup
pose Elias Howe had q patent which
covered all the principles Of construction
to be found in any of the sewing machines
in the country, what would such .
monopoly bring in the narketP
About five years ago, when another
enormous..hoist was given to the rates Of
customs duties, q special tax was laid on
manufacturers Of four and a half per
cent. They professed to be satisfied with
this arrangement, because the tariff
shielded them against foreigncompetition.
They would have charged just a. much
without the tax as with II, because the
demand for their products at that time
was greatly in excess of the supply, and
the cost of production was not made the
basis of calculation in determining what
the prices Of their goods and wares
should be. In releasing the manufacturers
from the tax, the people Of large were
not enabled to buy goods cheaper, and
the treasury lost about 100000
We now understand how the repeal OF
the tax on sales win result In q great re-
lief to the people, but they will not OBJ
tain relief from the repeal Of q tax impos-
ed on classes Of monopolists whose prices
are adjusted, not by the laws OF supply
and demand when the doors OF competi.
tion + open, but by an authority which
makes the public subject TO them In the
business under their control.
! II our tariff laws have not given manu-