Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-04-02
Average Daily Circulation, 1863
The Personal Tax.

W surrender a large HOillDN o. Oll space
today To a report OF the interview between
the citizens committee and the District
Commissioners upon the ali absorbing uues-
1iOR Of the personal tax. II would appear
from the facts elected al this interview that
there was no real necessity FOR the Ievying
of this personal tax, that il wa not favored
by the District Commissioners: and that 10
was only inserted in the tax law through
the representations OF Mr.. jeremiah Wilson
and others that no taX1a w could be pas ell
that did not contain this feature. 10 is in
conceivable how Mr.. Wilson could have got
this idea, for the fact is indiSputahle that the
feeling in Congress was to relieve the Cti-
zens of Washington from the enormous tax
alton of the previous year. amounting in the
two payments to five per cent, by fixing a
ght tax for this year. And yet, in full view
of this feeling which manifested itself in
every debate in Congress. Mr.. Wilson thrust
this most oppressive and offensive adj
tlonal tax upon the people here-a tax so
odiOuS that its enforcement in the OnerOus
shape interpreted by the Commissioners. has
received the unanimous prot ,st o. the largest
meeting of the business men of Washington
ever held IN the city.
Gov DennisOn, while not an advocate of
the personal tax. holds that il i not really
rs Stringent and onerOus as the pers Onal tax
in Ohio, his own state, where. he says, il Is
% per cent, while the real estate tax Is,
also, ?. per cent. 1t would be a matter OF
interest now Ia know what amount Of tax is
realized in Ohio from this source. II in that
large wealthy. heavily populated state tine
amount should prove To b. less than enO--
nous 10 would show Onp of two things -
Either that the assessors there fail % make
anything more than merely nominal val
uatiOn, or that the people, or a large portion
of them. feeling that the law is Inquisitorial
and oppressive evasie compliance with it, or
deliberately disregard ii. As pointed out in
The arguments yesterday before the Com
mis>ioners, tax Of this kind j. a tax upOn
conscience. and a large portion Of every com
munity viii evade NJ.
But whether our personal tax il or is
not as onerous as that in other states il is
certain that the law passed so hurriCily in
The last moments of Congress is so imperfect
and has such fatal omissions that il is
virtually impracticable of execution. We
think, therefore, ii would be the part OF
wisdom ON the part of the Commissioners to
defer the attempt to carry out an irnpracti-
cability. and wait until Congress shall have
an opportunity 10 say what IL really did
mean In the premises. Gov. DenniSOn
lays much stress upon the fact that the
Co imissiOners are merely executive officers,
and have no more power - suspend the exc
cutting Of a law than has the President or a
cabinet officer But the President ami the
Cabinet officers do suspend the execution of
laws or provisions of laws where they are.
Imperfect or impractieable OF execution
Only the other day we had case in point i'm
the suspension by the Postmaster General.
fora time. Of the execution Of that blunder-
ing, hastily adopted provision of the postal
law that doubled the portage on transient
newsI papers.