National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-06-23

and the comforts and necessities OF the peo-
ple. Instead of that, If am here, shall ASK
YOU 30 to adjust the penalties for defFauding
the revenue, and make them so stringent, and
so sustain and reward the officers who fear
lessly do their duty, that upon the silks, the
vorsted stuffs, the laces, the satins, the jewels
and the yelvets, and the plate glass, and the
luxuries of the rich, such tariff may be hon
estly collected as will pay the expenses OF the
administration of your Government from the
Golfers of your Treasury.
: I might well stop here, but there is another
branch of the system of collecting GoyernmenS
dues by giving moieties which naturally RANGES
itself alongside the customs moicty. Inc
practice of the Treasury Department for many
wears. without the sanction of law, until the
Sth of May, 1872, of collecting delinquent
taxes and old claims and debts due the United
States that had passed out of the usual chan-
nels of administration for years was by giving
a contract for moieties to the informer or col
lector. One of the earlier Secretaries VINO
found the necessity Of IL was Mr.: Guthrie, OF
Kentucky, and It began with his administration
Of the Department. It has been eonunue1 py
every Secretary thereof downward until Mr..
Boutwell, came into office, who wholly refused
to give out such contracts until they were
sanctioned by law. Congress passed such law
In 1879, and under It several contracts were
made which proved fruitless. Finally con-
tract was given to Mr. John d. Sanborn, under
which, In nine months, he collected S427, 900
Of delinquent and withheld taxes, and received
one-half, he paying all the expenses.
These delinquent taxes arose in this way:
There was tax upon estates of deceased per-
sons, but the law was repealed In 1870. An
other class Of these delinquent taxes wero
taxes upon dividends by railroads and other
large corporations. The law for these also was
repealed at the same time. There was another
-. -
nues and had neglected or refused to return
them and pay the tax as was their duty by law
to do, and the law fonthat tax had been also
repealed. The law establishing the Office Of
assessor had also been repealed, and as the
collectors duty had been only to collect the
list Of the taxes given him by the assessor, and
as, indeed, il was IN doubt whether the taxes
could be collected at all without they were as
sessed, 1t will be seen that quite all of these
classes of taxes were IN danger of being wholly
lost to the Government. So that the collection
of these delinquent and past taxes had run
down to substantially o nominal sum in COM
parison with their great amount, and this,
too, without any special fault Of the internal
revenue officers. Their collection could not
be enforced without suits, and no revenue OH
Ger was authorized to incur that expense on
behalf of the Government.
| The amount of these taxes thus behind, and
that had been behind for three or four years at
the time Sanborn undertook his contract, is
simply enormous. Sanborn testiies that he
had knowledge of some five millions of income
and other taxes due from !property-owners in
Europe, to get the data of which he had spent
large sum Of money. / have in my hand
which will make q part of the record-a LIST
of taxes due from railroad companies still un,
collected, the evidence Of which has been fully
investigated, but which the party giving me
this list does not wish to disclose since the re-
Il -"
cause he says the knowledge has cost him
money, labor and time, and he does not choose
to give 1t to the United Strtes. l may say,
however, that this person is not Mr. Sanborn;
but I have no doubt of its entire accuracy.
Amounts of viLhheld tGrss due from railroad