The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1876-01-16
RELIEF FOR THE SOUTH.
A PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION
FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF TAXES UPON
PROPERTY BASIS,
[ Washington Correspondence of the New York
Tribune

Washington Correspondence of the New Yorl
| Tribune.]
| WASHINGTON, JAN 9-Among the amend
ments to the Constitution OF the United States
which have been proposed in the House this
session is one by MIR. Reagan, of Texas, pro.
vldlng that direct taxes shall be levied upon
the States and District of Columbia in pro-
portion to the amount of property they con-
| tain, instead of in the ratio of their popula-
lation to that of the whole Union. Judge
Reagan would also allow the States and the
District of Columbia to make use of their
own local officers and machinery for collect
Ing such taxes, should they SO elect, provided
| that the Government of the United States re-
tain the right to collect the tax itself in any
State that refuses or neglects to pay its pro-
portion to the General Government within a
reasonable time after the tax is levied.
This amendment is intended to correct
what is considered by the Southern people to
be The grossly unjust system of levying direct
taxes. The ability of any S ate to pay taxes
depends, not on its population, but upon the
amount OF its productive property The
present method Of apportioning direct taxes
IS the result OF compromise between the
Representatives of the North and of the
South IN the Constitutional Convention. The
Representatives OF the South insisted that
their slave POI ulation should be counted in
determining the number of Representatives
in Congress State should have, while the
delegates from those States where the institu.
ton OF slavery was weak and declining OBJ
jected.
Finally, it was thought fair that three. ifths
OF the slaves should b. counted in determin-
ing the representation of State in Congress, |
provided the same proportion of them was |
also included in the population of the State,
when the basis for levying direct taxes was to
be found. If the revenues of the government
had been derived from direct taxes. this ar.
'angement might have some of the elements
u fairness In 1t, but the direct taxes were
almost unknown before the late war Surplus
'evenues having given the statesmen of Ina.
period more trouble than the problem how to
alse them, the South always had undue in
iuence ii the National Legislature, without
living anything for it in return.
Now the tables have been turned. Eman-
lpatlon, while 1t has added nearly million
the representative population of the South,
las also increased by the same number its
axahle population without augmenting its
biity to pay taxes. This is very st1ikingly
Illustrated in the case of South Carolina The
alue OF property in that State in 1860 Was
54o, l3S, 1874, and in 1870 $685. 146, $50 de- (
rease of more than fifty per cent. The free
spulatlon of the State in 1860 was 3OI, 2l4. |
nd the number of slaves 402, 40G: adding s
lree-titths of the latter to the former gives t
II, 657, the population on which representa-
on IN Congress or direct taxation would then f
Q computed, and South Cardinals share of /
ny direct tax that might have been levied G
ould have been about oneffty- eighth. In
SO the population of the State (all free)
as 7O4 COG. and its share of any direct tax
WED would be about one-fifty. fourth La
her words, while the ability OF South Caro- :,
IA to pay taxes has been reduced more than
le- half since 1860, her liability to the Gen
al Government has been actually increased
Comparing the case of South Carolina with
at OF Massachusetts. We find that while the =
tier has but one twenty first of the popula-
IN CT the Union, she has more than one -
nth OF the wealth. The percen tage of taxa o
IN on the property, should direct tax be -
Wed, would, therefore, be more tn IN twice -
great IN South Carolina as in Massachu-
It's. The difference is not as great, when -
e whole of the South is compared with the ~
lole Of the North, and yet the inequality of
g tax is even then considerable. The South W
q States had, in 1870 less than one-ff.h of BIS
g wealth of the whole Union, while thew ey
d more than one-thrd of the population, SO
that, should direct tax now be levied, the sr
nth with one-tif,h of the property would al
We to pay one-third of the tax the same it,
lount Of tax, on al average, would have to nr
paid on sixty cents Ia the South, as on one sc
liar in the North. From these facts it will ar
seen that the Southern Representatives
i make pretty strong case in favor of in
dge Reagan's amendment. tn