The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-03-14

OF uniform fractional percentage upon all sales OF
products"
A tax upon sales would only be even, dis
eliminating neither for nor against any pro-
ducts, in the event Of its honest and thorough
collection; and until it has been shown (which
il never has been9 that the tax cannot be
evaded, all talk about its evenness is a waste
of words If it should become (as it proba-
bly, would, what the income.tax now is-a tax
paid only by those possessed of tender con-
sciences-it would be the most uneven of
all taxes, discriminating in favor of the pro-
duct of the least honest and honorable men,
bers Of society. A mere statement Of what
is proposed by the advocates of the tax on
sales is sufficient evidence against the prac-
ticability of it. ALI sales of commodities
are to be watched, from Maine to Texas; at
every cross-road and corner-grocery the tax
is to be Levied every article, from a spool of
cotton to block of stores is to be taxed.
The taxes are to be collected in one of the
most sparse1y settled countries in the world,
under the worst civil service under heaven.
On the other hand, the taxes under revenue
tariff would be collected chiefly at one place,
the city of New York, and can be imposed on
articles of such bulk as to make the smug-
Cling of them practically impossible. When
q form of taxation is under consideration we
must ask whether it will yield the required
amount of revenue; can it be evaded; viii the
Governfnent get from it all the money
taken from the people by it? Upon
the first consideration depends the rev.
enues of the nation; upon the second, the
morality of the citizens; upon the third, the
justice of the tax. 1t may safely be said that
the tax upon sales does not answer these re-
quirements, and that a revenue tariff does.
The Bulletin proceeds to quote Bastiat as an
authority for its objections to tariffs. We
would call its attention to the following pas
sages from that great author, which will show
how extraordinary is the citation. 1t might
with equal success have instanced Darwin as
an authority for the hypothesis of special
creations. The following is from the intro
duction to the "Sophismes Economiques" =
''In an article, otherwise quite compliment
tary, published by the Viscount de Romanet,
he intimates that I ask for the suppression
of custom houses. M. de Romanet is mas
taken. I ask for the suppression of the
protective policy. am SO far
| from asking for the suppression of duties
that look upon them as the anchor on which
the future salvation of our finances will de-
! pend" And again in the third chapter of
lie Libre Echange" 1--WE are asked, why
in that case do you demand free trade and
| not the abolition of custom houses Because
we do not regard the impost as in itself an
attack upon liberty. We demand free trade
as we demand the liberty of the press, with.
| out denying tnat tax should De pald by the
printer. We demand free trade as we ask
that property should be respected, without
refusing to tolerate land tax"
In answering the Bulletin we have shown
the error of the Cincinnati Commercial in
making distinction between a revenue tariff
and free trade; and would only, in conclusion,
say that taxes on tea, coffee, and sugar are
necessary parts of a revenue tariff system
and that the Cincinnati Enquirer in asking
for their repeal is playing directly into the
hands of the protectionists, who would be
glad to force the retention of protective taxes
by abolishing the strictly revenue duties.
The astuteness of Hon. Samuel J. Randall
Democratic M. G. from Philadelphia, was
exhibited in the House on Friday to the same
precise effect, in his proposition to put tea
and coffee on the free list. Is Mr.. Randall
ignorant of the effect of his amendment, o.
does he propose to act outside the Demo
cratic party and with the inside ring of Penn
sylvania protectionists I?