Middletown transcript., 1871-11-18
MH. mOuTWELi.'s FINANCIAL POLICY
COy0lDERED.

MM. mOuTwELi.'s rlNaSciAL POLICY
CONslDERi ED.
Secretary Boutwell,, in his New York
address Of last week, which was altogether
defense Of his very peculiar systcm Of
finance. said that the debt must be pnid
now and by the generation that bore with
such sublime hcroism tho whole misery
and burden Of the war. = Because" and
we cite his reason in the exact words IN
which he gave it--"Becausc. II il is not
paid now the burden Of il will fall upon
tho laboring men Of the country"
The Secretary was satisfied with the
simple assertion Of this proposition, aud.
probably ovcr-estima,ing the intelligence
Of his audience, was too courteous gen.
tleman to attempt to support it by either
facts or argument.
Again, he said tha, he was in favor of
retaining the Income tax until the public
debt is all pui!. Whcrcupon tho great
Secretary Of Finance was hssed This
was scarcely proper return for the po-
litcncss Mr. Boutwell, had shown his hear
crs previously. but j. was not an unnn,ur-
al expression of the feeling Of the people
upon the most inquistorinl and obnoxious
tax ever levied by the government Of any
country.
If the Secrc,arys perceptions were only
little more delicate he would understand
that il is not the pal'ry amount of money
parted with by the Income taxpayer ,hn,
is the objection, but rather the process by
which the money is assessed and collected
IL he were more of an American and less
Of iinancier pursued by the Demon o!
Rapid Extinguishmcnt, he would also un-
dcrsiand that it is not agreeable TO ciii.
zen to have to show 10 the spies Of th,
revenue service his private account books.
the contents of his silver chest, or the
stock Of family linen. Americans mas
tolerate the spy system in an enemy
ca up, but they do not like il on their own
| i. car,hs,ones. Yet Mr.. Boutwell, know.
that the Income tax places n spy in ever,
mans ,ousc and counting room.
As regards he Sccretarys first proposi
ton. that il II. . deb. is not paid Mt once
it will become .uttan upon the laborine
men OF the country, il IS u gliticrng gen
crality that means noih,ng; that IL, If ",
except buncombc.
To make the case stronger against lht
proposition il is only necessary to cite lh'
case Of man whose whole income Il de-
rived from the rental Of real estate to ia
boring men The owner may have n tax
able income Of n million dollars.
aud osicnsibly not one of his tcn-
au,s may be subject TO the Income ,ax
Yet, all the same. they aud not the own.
cr, will pay every cent that is levied upon
him, because he will make bis rentals higl
enough to cover, aud more than cover.
the intcrnal revenue assessors demand
upon him.
In the same way the grocer, baker and
candlcstick maker, by increasing the pri-
ces Of their wares compel their poorer Gus
toners, the laboring men, to ray their in
come tax.
And, as it is with tho Income tax, go il
is with all the other taxes. High taxes
make high rents, high clothing, high fuel
and high food.
The lnboring mon and no, the rich oue'
are actually paying of the vast war debt
of the country at the rate Of hnndrct
million. Of dollars per annum.
That rents are high. fuel. clothing ane
| food dear to-dav. is owing to Mr. Bout
wells determination that the vast debt oi
the war shall be paid by the generation
that gave of their blood and treasure t,
the Union
4 hundred millions dollars Of the deb
annually cx,inguishcd means a hundred
million Of dollars OF unnecessary taxc
wrung, not from the rich, but from ih'
lahoriug man.
Every day that the country lives it de
velaps new sources of wealth aud increase
its taxable population. II it were givei
ten years of rest from oncrous taxation !
would not subsequently, feel the levy a
the hundred millions ,ha, now cypress It
trade. The burden that child stngger
under, n ma.urcd man will bear easily
Phia. Inquirer.