The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-05-08
THE MILITIA TAX.

readers Imagination.
THE MILITIA TAX.
OuRventilation of the militia tax swinde hash had
the good effect ofinducing the individuals who
have charge of the collection and distribution
of the tax to make a statement of receipts
and expenditures. This statement, which we
find in the columns of one of our Sunday con-
temporaries, is, we presume, the best that
the assessors and receivers of the
tax are able to say for themselves;
and if we accept it as correct,
it only substantiates the general assertions
made in The EVENING TELEGRAPH. Accord
ing to the figures given, 1922, ,376'01 we're col
lected from May 2, 1870, to May 2, 1871.
One-third of this amount, or $7295 27, was ex-
pended for collecting the tax, and the sum of
$15, ,OSO'75 was distributed among the several
brigades, leaving a balance on hand of
$2435'S1. 1t will thus be seen that the ex-
penses of collecting the tax absorb one
third Of the whole amount, an enormous
percentage, and the public certainly do not
from the balance of the tax get the worth of
the money thus paid to the assessors and col
lectors. The statement referred to makes no
mention of the Is per cent. which goes into
the pockets of Mr.. Pearson, the collector of
delinquent taxes nor the $2O5 charged by
that gentleman for ''costs, which make his
perquisites amount to the nice sum of 1920
for every 65 cents paid over by him to the
Board of Division. Taking the figures at their
full value, however, it must seem absurd to
every one that only $22,376 OF should have
been collected by Mr.. McCammon. From a
reliable source we learn that in 1870 ~, 4O7
persons were assessed. These were those
between the ages fixed by law, and it would
be certainly large allowance to say that of
this number not more than % 900 were ex-
empt under the law. This brings down the
number of those absolutely liable to the tax
to about $4,000, where we placed it in our
first remarks upon the militia-tax swindle.
Now, we want to know why all these $4,000
individuals were not forced to pay the tax as
we'll as other people? In the first place we
know that the assessment is loosely made,
and in the second place we know that many
persons are permitted to exempt themselves
for totally insufficient reasons, and in the
third place we know that the tax is waived
in many cases where its collection is sturdily
resisted, and the party liable shows a dis
position to make disturbance. If the tax
is a proper one it should be collected
with strict impartialty, and if it
is not a proper one, it should not be col
lected at all. If it is collected, such official
public statements of receipts and expendi-
lures should be made as will enable the tax
payers to know where their money goes, and
the whole matter should not be left in the
hands of men who are responsible to nobody,
and who exercise the power of expanding
thousands of dollars of the public money in
secret without being under the necessity of
rendering any account of it except
to persons who are as irresponsible
as themselves. If we must have militia tax,
let it be levied in proper manner and i'm
partially upon all classes of taxpayers, and
let it be collected by the regular Receiver of
Taxes, who will inform the public in proper
manner with regard to its disposition. The
present tax is what we have called it, swim
die, and the Legislature will do the people of
Philadelphia in general and our militia orga-
nizations ia particular an essential service by
abolishing it, and by providing a better
method of supporting the home guards.
The New York sensations of last week CON
sisted of somewhat detailed description of
the process by which the railway magnates of
that city victimize ill-fated stockholders,
disclosure of methods whereby panderers to
vice conduct their operations on a scale COM
mensurate in infamy with the grandeur of
the metropolis, and touching picture of the
universal interest excited by fears that the
death of the wife of shoulder-hitter, through
alcoholism" would postpone a prize
fight. This record is worthy of Fisk, Tweed,
and Tammany, and if it is we'll followed up
by development of the movement recently
commenced in that city to reorganize society
on the basis established by the Commune in
Paris, the glories of Gotham will shine forth
with lustre that will well-nigh become a self
consuming blaze.