, 1875-05-15
The Tax EfPnd.


4 c'temporaTy has an article ou the tax
question which with q few notifications Is
applicable 10 our own locality. Every per
-,u who Is not a pauper contrIbut 70 the
support ot the national, territorial and city
government. The poor man who rents
-hautv III the outskirts Of the city at ten dot
lars per month, and Whose bill for groceries
aud provisions is hardly as mach more, CON
tributes as lurgrly in proportion to has income
us the financial gsniuses on Main street, who
-,rain z,a.uts- 10 escape their Just proportion.
The tax collector may not come to the poor
man IN person, but every landlord. every
keeper Of grocery, every street vendor Of
v.ga,ables Is the tax collectors agent. The
rich Landlord talks Of his enormous taxes.
n. -huus that ho has paid five, ten or twenty
iguIreI dollars each year into the city treas
rry. The landlorl's tenants, perhaps. actu-
ally pay 10 taxes at all into the city treasury;
hI' they pay rent, ana rents are fixed III ex-
..t proportion 10 the cost Of the property
The landlord no more fJrgets to add the taxes
o.. lac appraised value Of his real estate than
la ioryc.- 10 count the cost OF the roof that
.pveT- the building. \ landlord who has
?, pay one hundred dollars tax On q house
and 1T worth fvo Thousand dollars, adds
r.lt oIe hundred to the price at which he
I..,,., l., l.,l e.,
Jay. BY the same rule, if his taxes are two
hundred dollars when one hundred should be
-uiieien:, he adds the extra hundred 70 what
.rherWi~e might be fair rent. We do not
il-lu to argue that the rich man escapes taxa
-lun. lie does not always succeed Ill trans
..rriug quite all his taxes to his tenants.
iI~ Is also responsible for non-paying tenants,
aud fer taxes while his houses lie idle but
as a rule, the landlord fixes his rents on
basis Of certain rate Of interest on the cash
value Of the property, with a liberal estimate
r,r taxes and repairs If he neglect To keep
Als buildings in repair, or if through conni-
vance with dishonest public officers he es-
.lpes paying his due proportion OF taxes, he
j. the APPARENT gamer thereby, a. he has col
l.cted this iteIu from his tenants 50 with
the grocery and provision dealer: they can
not sell 50 cheaply as they could sell ii they
had no taxes TO pay. II taxes are double
bat they onght 10 be, little more profit
must h. added TO tea, coffee and sugar
he dealer il only the middle man between
the consumer and tax-collect0r lie hands
the money over TO the city, but he has first
elected 1t from his customers The land
lord and provision dealer are only illustra-
fi1us Of a rule which holds good in every de-
Virtment Of business A. the rain from
Heaven falls on Ne just and on the unjust 20
ao taxes fall uP5n property holders aud upon
those who are not.
Let Us see. for instance. bow taxes are col
looted from the class who york for salary
.nl have no property Of any kind. They
think, perhaps, that they pay no taxes In
'Hio they are greatly mistaken. TheT sre
'aNed, il the first place, in the form Of de-
lurIOn GH their salaries, and in the second
place, on the increased prices Of the thiags
'Ey purchase Let us suppose a mercantile
a'uSe reviews It's business for the past year.
he balance sheet perhaps is unsatisfactory.
business has been good and profits respectable,
bat expenses have eaten everything up. The
toms OF expenses are examined. Rents rlay
have been advanced a little for soI1s causs Oc
N'hr-Pr0bakly because taxes were 80 high
,hat the Landlord was not satisfied with his
net Profits. This item cannot he reduced
Egm2val il expensive, and rents would be
Iu,t as high in any other place One by one
the proprietors examine the different items
hat 20 10 make up the aggregate of their
,Npeu1Ituros, and at last they come 70 the
item OF labor. There are a score or more Of
Young men employed in the sales department
There are Por'ers, errand boys, apprentices,
and other grades of assistants The prapri-
rt1rs are fully conscious that these people
have not been Over-paId but they know also
hat q reduction Iu expenses must be made
somewhere. Interest money, rents and tax
- are not elastic expenses They do not
Weld b any necessity, however urgent. But
human beings can always work for a little
less than they have been receiving Most
ui them cannot afford 70 remain idle. The
screw, therefore, Is applied TO this depart
ment Of expense. y few of the Vorkmen
rebel, but a majority submit They are lit
.r4lly compelled To 90 -. They imagine,
perhaps. that they pay no taxes but II they
Will take the trouble 10 think, they will per
crIye that their employers pay taxes Tor
them. and charge the amount to their ac-
argut. Let no one who eats fooG and wears
r'athes >olace himself or herself with the re-
-ae.gon that they pay no taxes.