Litchfield enquirer., 1876-09-28
..Mint, Annis and cummln. g

Mints AnniS and Cumnin."
 MT. Tilden has not been very nasty with his answer to the charge of having defrauded the revenue by making false income return. There was an apparent clashing of oaths that had bad look, but which We are bound to say he has satisfactorily explained at last. He made oath, it will be remembered, to an income of only about $7,O0O in 1862, while. few months since, he swore to having received in that year $20, 900 in that very year services rendered in cer- tain railroad matters.
 In our comment on this apparent con- fict of testimony, few weeks since. we assumed that he should have returned for taxation in 1862I the amount of his cash. receipts, that year. It turns out that our construction of that law was wrong. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue construed the law at the time as foll9ws:
 Physicians and lawyers should include actual receipts for services rendered isa 1862, together with an estimate of unreal ized or contingent income due to that year.
 Judge Sinnott, of the New York Ma rine Court, at that time confidential. clerk of MT. Tilden, has issued statement from which it appears that nearly all the services for which MT. Tilden received the $20. 900 from the railroad companies, were rendered before 1862, and, conse- quently, that the $2O,OOO in question were not liable to taxation as income of '62 un- der the commissioners decision. The other items of receipt claimed by the New York Times during that year, Judge Sinnott ayers. are totally false, or greatly exaggerated; they were mere guess-work of MT. Tildens acousers.
 In view of this state of facts and law we must acknowledge that there seems no ground for the charge of perjury against the Democratic nominee for the presiden- cy. What remains is the charge that after '63 he made nc further income re- turn and thus allowed the U. s. Assessor to rate his income far below it's actual amount during the remaining years through which that tax was in force. To this, Judge Sinnott replies:
 The statute gave the taxpayer the op- tion to take that course, and good and honorable reasons existed why scrupu- lous man should accept that option. MT. Tilden received no favor from tho Gov ernment officers, and sought none. He did nothing but pay all they imposed on him. Nearly all his income from invest ments paid the tax through the corpora tions whose bonds and stocks he held with allowance for the lawful deductions. On the residue, after the lawful deduc- tions were made, he believed at the time, that instead of paying less, he oftener paid more than would have been the result of a full, but troublesome accounting.
 Whether or not the Judge is right in holding that taxpayer has right to avoid taxation by silence, it is certainly very different matter from perjury. We feel bound to say that if Gov. Tilden was thus indirectly defrauding the revenue, it was principally the fault of the officers of that revenue. He was a we'll known law yer and little of the industry shown In looking up this matter since MT. Tilden's nomination, would have enabled the gov ernment assessor to ascertainS%hether or not he was earning twenty times the amount at which he was assessing his in- come.
 Eurthermore,we hope the clamor about mint, annis and cummin" will now be allowed to subside. Democratic commit ties who have been counting Gov. Hayes chickens aud on nldl. s5H8tteslf- tteslf- ness of assessing to the regular officials, who are sharp enough, as general thing, already. In making mud. volcanoes of themselves, the political newspapers are besmirching journalism and nothing else. Indeed 1t has come to be the case that a political editors word in political cam paign goes for absolutely nothing, with any but the most heated of his own parti- sans: It is generally understood thatthe press will in all cases throw mountains of mud over opposing presidential candi- dates. hoping that little will stick. It is pretty forlorn hope; and furthermore it gives every opportunity for real rascali- ty to escape. All a corrupt candidate has to do, nowadays, is to hold his tongue; and no one will believe him guilty on any amount of newspaper evidence.
 There are very strong reasons for pre- fering Hayes to Tilden; but all the clam or against the latter will have very little influence. His personal record is too good for successful attack on any evi dence yet developed; and the sooner Re- publican editors leave the business of ti- thing, mint, annis and cummin to the proper officers, and attend to ''the weight fer matters of the law" the better 1t will be for them and the party.