Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1876-10-26
From the N. Y. Naaisa- Qndepeadent.
y cAlapAicS EXCEPTIONS. 2

From the N. Y. Naaiss- Undepeadent.)
- cAmrAicE EXCEPTIONS. 2
when y. called 3. III. Tsldea ! Nv
weeks ssp to answer The ehsfges q de
Hees With regard % his ,ineene-ta1.
ve did % q ibs fsu bs1isf 81 ''lzpe
iaceme," - n6de dpt ~ ~ p0os.
80. ~ sssst :. e ssi1ae'If
tion. Nov that We Ind that i wss sc-
tuaIly for weeks calliag him . a'.peiu-
rer" and "swindler'' on the strength Of
an estimate Of his income which was
the product partly Of guess-work and
partly Of inyention. We feel % IL We
almost owed IN apology both to him
and the public for the amount Of atten-
tion the matter has received in our coll
umns. The charge of perjury" having
been 2erforee abandoned, we are now
asked to consider him dishonest be-
cause he allowed himself to be assessed.
during the last ten years Of the income
tax law, on taxable income Of 8 Il. 900.
instead Of making . return himself to
the assessor; and are informed that un-
der . recent decision Of the United
States Circuit Court, he really had no
option in the matter. as he said he had,
ought to have made his return. and. II
he did not pay his full tax, is still liable
for the deficit to the Government over
and above anv penalty imposed by the
assessor. The original charge was
that. having by perjury" in 1862 sup
piled the assessor with false basis for
his estimate, he went on paying less
tax than he ought to have paid. Since
the perjury" part Of It has broken
down, It has undergone the necessary
modification. The simple failure to
make return is now elevated TO the
rank Of fraud Of very bad kind, and
we are told that this Of itself, without
the preliminary perjury, proves Mr..
Tilden a very unfit man Tor the Presi-
dency; and it is then assumed that he
must have been paying very much less
than his due quota OF the public burdens
from 1862 to 1872, because it is "noto-
rious." or generally believed" or is
well known" that during that period
he was becoming the very rich man
that everybody knows" him to be to-
day.
As to his failure to make q return,
we have only this to say: that the
view he took, or says he took, of the
legality Of this failure was one general
ly taken until now, and was acted on
by large numbers Of the most honorable
and upright men in the community ;
that even if the Circuit Court has deci-
ded and the Supreme Court shall decide
there existed no such option as was
supposed. and that the assessors pen
atty was not final, it win simply like
many other revenue decisions, prove
that MIR. Tilden and those who agreed
with him were mistaken in the law
1t will not prore that he was . knave.
Even ifthere was any immortality in his
paying on the assessors estimate Of his
income, there will be no certainty of il
until we know not only how much his
total income during those ten years was.
but the amount Of it which was taxable
two facts which have no necessary
or constant relation. A mans gross in
come might be very large and his tax
able income very small or MI. To es-
tablish the amount Of his "true income
this time. and the amount of it that " a.
taxable under the law, We shall need
something better than the assertions oi
a campaign paper or popular rumor.-
Most Of the talk about mems fortunes,
as everybody knows, is the widest guess
ing. We do not know whether Mr..
Tilden is very rich man or not; but
suppose he is, il Is easy to think Of ways
in which he might have become rich
without increasing during = few years
the amount Of his taxable income, and
easy to think Of ways in which his in
come might have been increased great
ly without increasing the amount liable
to taxation. We know nothing on the
subject which is not known to al news
paper readers. but re say snAesifetiag-
iy that anybody Uko. e5fer the vavniae
reeeired from tke fate Of tAe '.perjwyh
charge, aids or absfs IN sssssks on JMr.
Hlden's character 6ssed % eoaaoa ~
NOR or nerspepev gsssses about Ais is-
come riH act In IN iadecsxf aaaser.-
We do not say that the Government
may not be able to prove that he received
q larger taxable income during the years
referred to than el5. 900. but we do say
wait for the proof. Do not condemn
q man on newspaper guesses at The con.
dition Of his private Affairs.
About the likelihood of the Govern
ments being able to prove anything
concerning the amount Of Mr.. Tilden'.
income from 1863 to 1879 we have nc
opinion to offer; but. even il it produced
the amount tomorrow in black and
white, We should have to wait for Mr.
Tilden's statement Of his deductions be.
fore making up our minds as to hi.
moral position, even supPosing the theo.
~ that il was wicked to make ne return
to be sound. Upon one cognate matteI
We have very strong opinion. We
believe the conduct Of the Covernmen,
in aiding in these attacks on Mr. Tilder
by the supply Of Information TO hi,
newspaper assailants which they coult
have got from no other source, and
above all in allowing citi.en's returu
q his income to be facsimiled for pub.
lication from the covernment record.
BY party organ, in order to give 4 SEN.
blanee Dfaccurrcy 10 an assault on his rep
ntation, tobe striking Illustration oftk.
notions Of 'scivil-service reform" enter
ssined BY some Of the party Leaders
And though We are not ready 70 ascsibs
sae resent issue Of Z revenue circular
ordering the prosecution Of IN ner<or