The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1876-01-27
That s7,ooo,ooc..


fered OH aceoant of heavy taxation, was the
S7.000.000, taxes paid by the State to the Z. s.
Government on wbiskey and tobacco. The
absurtlity of the statement was so transparent
that we allowed it to pass at that time, with
out notice, believing that the intelligence OF
its readers would readily correct and expose it.
We did not believe then, nor 10 we believe
now that there is man of ordinary informa-
ton in the county, who does not know that
the assertion of the indicator was intended
for party effect, regardless of the logic of its
conclusion. Presenting, however, thai the
people were as ignorant of the ratocilaton OF
its premise and conclusion, as it is fair to as
sumo it was itself, two weeks ago, it
reiterated this statement. and pressed
it in the following language: "Flle farmer
tieaves the year round, the MEG hanic, who is
fortunate enough to get work, sweats the year
out with only holidays from labor which means
starvation to him and his, the merchant cuts
all corners close to pay his rent and eIothe his
family, and at the eud OF the year, after all is
done, the 9islicartening spectacle is witnessed
OF the T. S. Government officers walking off to
Washington with seven million dollars, all our
earnings and savings for the year,
These assertions were so variant from the
truth, so monstrousiy absurd, that we felt it to
be duty to criticse them rs they deserved, and
explain the method by which the internal rev.
enue tax complained of was paid Wc:ssumed
that the State paid none of it,and that the peo-
| pie of Virginia, who did pay any OF it, did so
voluntarily and from choice, and only in pro-
| portion as they were consumers OF the articles
VI wiHskey and tobacco. We assumed further
that the consumption OF these articles Of Vir-
ginia product was not confined to our own cit
| liens, but was diffHsed to different states and
countries, aud that wherever consumers were
| found, there the real tax was imposed In H.
| lustration of this. we awaited ourselves of an
incidental conversation we had, not bearing on
| the subject, with gentleman of this place,
[ who manufactured and sold whiskey, who re-
marked, referring to the fiuctlMtirm in bust
ness, that his sales we're $4,000 per month year
before last and only $4,000 per month last gear,
and he had the same agent travelling in the
South both years. We referred to the state
ment to show that consumers of the peculiar
manufacture of Augusta county were not con-
fined to Virginia but were scattered all over
the South, and for that matter. the United
States. The statement was not made in re-
Spouse to an inquiry seeking information as to
statistics, nor was it regarded by It's, nor in
tended by the gentleman, as accurate statiS-
teal summing mp OF business. 1t was merely
an illustration of the point he was making, AMI
it was used BY us as illustrative of what we were
writing about. The force of it would have
been the same. had the figures been one-third
| or any proportion less, merely sustaining the
method we were pursuing to expose the impo-
sition the ", dicator was seeking to practice
upon the public. For that paper to assert that
the internal revenue tax was paid by the farm
| or, the mechanic and the merchant. In obedl-
enec to an memorable Federal law, we claimed,
! was s.nonsense''--that if either enc OF this
class of citizens. did not use tobacco or whs-
key, he paid none Of the tax, and that its use
! was matter Of choice to himself-he had the
whole question Of paying amy part of it entire
| ly under his OWE control. and the imposition
of the 4bnrthen'' WIS sclf-inffictcd, and, we
may add. constitutes an injury the blame for
which he can reasonably lay no place else than
upon himself.
The Vindicator further assumed that this tax
was '!non-returning drain of the lfe-blood
| of Virynia''-or in other words, that the in
| ternal revenue tax paid by the manufacturers
of whiskey and tobacco. was forced out OF the
farmer, the mechanic and merchant. and the
aggregate of $7.00o,0O0 was ''walked'' off with
by United States officers, never to BE- returned.
This. we contended, was simply absr'l-that
the manufacturer primarily paid the tax, and
he collected off the parties to whom he sold,
and they off those to whom they sold, until
| finally it fell upon the consumers wherever
they might be, who deliberately and voluntari-
ly assumed the burthen.t to their own injury and
th:.t of their families and to community.
After ten days incubation, the indicator
of last week attempts reply, which is merely
q repetition of the assumptions it originally
presented. Its special pleading about the
exact quantity of whiskey manufactured in
Augusta county. differing with the figures OF
| the Illustration we gave showing the process by
which the tax WAS returned to the manufacture
ers. amounts to nothing. II does not affect
the force OF the argument, or change the prac
lical operation. The manufacturer is governed in
bis operations, il he is prudent business man,
by the demand for the article manufactured
The amount he makes he pays the tax Oh ; he
sells it. and collects the tax back again, and it
| is the same, be the demand and sales more or
less. Whatever he pays out he receives back,
| with the profit he may nave fixed to justify
him in carrying on his business.
| The statement OF the Vindic0tor, that only
fifteen thousand dollars of the aggregated
amount OF the sales of whiskey manufactured
in Augusta, comes from outside OF the State,
will not bear investigation. We know that
the whiskey is sold in bulk to dealers in var-
Gus parts OF the State. particularly in Rich.
mond, and they supply their trade ontsi'le of
the State 1t would be an unjust reflection
upon the citizens of Richmond, were it presl-
med, for a moment, that they consumed it. 1t
is sold to other dealers in other States. and the
consumers ,here bear their share of the voluu-
tarily assumed tax.
Hut all that tbe Pindtcator fatters itself is
argument that it has presented, resolves H.
self into what we have contenled for-tat
the consumer pays the t;x-that he does so Of
his own accord am, flat he has 70 one to