The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-07-11
Financial Leg station.

. General Grant, when installed IN
the Presidential Office, promised,
among other things, that ~ speedily
as the circumstances Of the country
would allow, the burden Of taxation,
necessarily bearing heavily upon the
capital and industry OF the country,
fshCGld be made lighter. Accordingly
at each session OF Congress since al.
Inauguration, acts nave been passed
10 carry this pledge into effect. Among
the most important reductions, tke
one which Will relieve the working
struggling masses Of the country, is
the act placing tea aud coffee, the lux
uTies Of tle poor mans table, on the
free list. On every pound Of tea con-
sumed the consumer viii save fifteen
cents, and on every pound Of coffee
three cents. For mere revenue pur-
/ poses, the duty on these articles was
+ the most valuable to the Government.
I The revenue gathered from these ar
I ticleS Of universal consumption was
very large and easily collected. The
| placing Of these articles on the free
I list necessitates the continuance OF
heavy duties on the articles of use and
luxury demanded by those whose
purposes eau better afford the sacri-
/ nee. The Administration has acL5J
upon the fair and just principle that
/ capital, rather than labor, should bear
the chief burdens of the government.
The recent act Of Congress reducing
[ the duties on imports, and reducing the
/ internal taxes, vigorously purSues the
same line Of just and Deneieent
change The duty on bituminOus
coal mas been reduced from one dollar
and i quarter per ton to seVenty-live
cents. salt paid formerly eighteen
cents per one hundred pounds; under
I the new tariff it will pay only eight.
Lumber, an article, the price of which
affects the industrial interests of the
country as much as the price of wheat,
will hereafter be admitted from Cana
ada on better terms. From an an
UdLOren5 duty Of twenty per cent,
I hemlOck, sycamore, and Uass-wOOd
| boards will, after the first of August,
! pay a specific duty of one dollar per
thousand feet, anu all other varieties
/ two dollars per thousand. A reduc-
I ton of ten per cent. from the duties
now charged will be made by the new
tariff on cotton and alpaca goods,
which constitute Il considerable part
Of the clothing material used in this
country. Wool and wooden goods,
iron and steel, and the manufactures
of them undergo similar reduction.
/ The same reduction is made on paper.
glass, India-rubber, leather, etc. A
/ large number of articles heretofore
taxed have been placed on the free
list. The benefit of this reduction ex-
tends 10 all articles in bonded WBre-
houses Oh the first day Of August,
| 1872.
Tne system Of taxation in the inter-
nal revenue department has also been
greatly simplitied, and large reduc-
tiOn also effected. Tue tax on distilled
spirits is fixed at the uniform rate Of
seventy cents per gallon, dispensing
with the barrel tax, the capacity tax,
the per diem tax, and other charges
made under the old law. The taxa
ton on feFmented liquors has been
simplified in a similar manner. There
will be no material reduction, hOwev-
/ er, in the tax collected from these
sources. It is supposed that the reve-
nue. derived from tobacco will be less
| by three millions of dollars than un-
der the present law.
But the most important reduction
l in the general business of the country
/ is in the removal Of all stamp taxes
/ from q large number of business and
legal papers, such as afiidavits, con-
| tracts, bills of exchange, entries,
deeds, mortgages, notes, letters of ad-
ministratiOn, etc. The stamp tax OF
two cents on bank checks, drafts, or
| orders however, has been retained.
This in our judgment is the most seri-
/ Gus fault of this recently enacted law.
The stamp tax on bank checks, drafts,
orders, etc, should have been repealed
with the rest. The business public do
/ not regard the amount of this tax so
much IS thetime taken up in procuring
stamps, affixiug, perhaps, a hundred
| times a day to petty businesspapers, he
ceiling of them, etc. While taking
| the tax off of perfumeries, matches,
cards and canned sauces, we think our
| lawmakers should not have retained
this most annoying tax upon the busi-
ness of the country.
This law also provides for the re-
ductiOn of the revenue districts to q
/ uuulUcI HUI cACGehluS GlSuLg ihuu tue
mastering out OF service before the
first day of January, 1873, of all inter
nal revenue officials, except q suffi-
cient number to conduct the business
Of the reduced number of offices. This
will probably leave in Ohio about fOuI
revenue districts.
We have thus glanced at the prin-
cipal changes made by the recent leg
islatiOn of Congress. With the excep-
tiOn we have indicated, they are such
as must perceptibly relieve the inter
ests which most need and deserve re-
lief. In this respect the Republican
party has nObly Kept its promises t.
the people. In making these reduc'
tiOns it mas not impaired its own cred
it. That stands on firm foundation
Even on the eve of a Presidential
election the party hesitates not large
Iy to reduce the number of its office
holders, an occurrence which neve
took place before, perhaps, in the his
tory of the government. Let thesI
facts be noted as evidence of the bust
ness capacity of the administration
and lis strict fidelity to its pledges.