The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-02-06
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Illsll.onll |ls patM.
q apNRspx FERRUARYi 2, 1878 s.
,1,axang incomes.

TAXING Incomes.
me v,,fe taken on that subject IN the na-
.,ona, House ct Represeniatiye on Monday
ia,,,cates that Bill to lax incomes may pass
ana, nslr f,is session, but indicates nothing
m 10 what viii become OF 1t In the Senate.
srhe latters house represents States. The
fact that less than one third OF the people
have III tue senate majority Of the mem M
bers il proof enough that q vote " the
House 81 Representatives, In which poay
Representation IS based upon population,
furnishcs no clue To- TIE opinions OF the
senator's. IF, however, such bill sho ''llu
pass, II would probably reach no : income
under two thousand dollars, and so wouid
touch the pocket-nerve OF but q lew CIV
thousand people in Virginia. When the
nationa, income-tax was in force, a., Z.
STEWART, OF New York, paid under Its
operation a larger sum than all the per-
sons ir, some States. A national income-SaS
draws money from the New England and
the Middle States. IL such one We're
levied the taxes would be much more
impartially distributed. AT present the
New England States almost escape taxa
ton by the National Government. They
nav Oh course their share OF the taxes upon
tobacco and wniskeY, paying in proportion
to their consumption; but this is by no
means fair way to assess taxes. The To-
bacco factories OF the South pay the
onercus tobacco.taX. How would New
England like to have her cotton
factories thus heavily taxed on the the
ory that the consumers OF the south
would have to pay the tax in the end: IL
II were proposed thus to tax her industries
she would pronounce it worse than lar
ceny-actual ruin and destruction; and
such 1t would be. Much rather would she
pay national income-taN.
In Virginia the law taxing incomes is un-
lust, unfair, and oppressive. 1t has long
been said that all legislation in Virginia is
made to shackle commercial centres. The
Virginia law taxing incomes actually pro-
yides for taxing town, village, and city
people upon what they eat. A man
living in any city, town, OF village, WHO
purchases I'LL the necessaries OF life for
the use Of his family, is made to pay an in
come-tax upon the money SO expended;
whilst the rich farmer may feed q dozen
horses and consume ten times as much
flour, bacon, beef, pork, lamb, and fowls,
and pay not one cent tax upon the articles
consumed by his family or his horses. Per-
sons in cities drawing small salaries can
hardly make out to live upon them. Yet
they are taxed upon the excess of six hun
dred dollars except that they are allowed q
small margin over that sum for certain pur-
poses) as il that sum were enough to
live upon in a town or city. In TACT
there are people in Richmond paying
the income tax who after spending all
their salaries do not live half as well
as others in the country who do not pay
one cent in the form OF an income tax.
The rich county of Madison paid ten dol
lars income tax for the year 1876 "a
county fuilof men in good circumstances:
whilst poor. clerks and head-mechanics in
Richmond paid their hundreds. 1t is only
necessary to examine the Auditors report
for any year to see how unjust and unfair
this law is. Let it suffice to state that out
side. OF the so-called cities the whole State
OF Virginia, including the wealthy counties
OF Halifax, Aceomac, Loudoun, Albemarle,
Rockbridge, Bedford, Botetourt, Fauquier,
Culpeper-but it is useless to name them
we mean all. OF .them-paid only $40, 151.12,
whilst. those twelve cities paid S25,915.24.
1t is evident from these3fgures that there are
thousands Of men in the country who keep
their carriages who yet pay no income tax.
The law plainly Expresses the poor cit and
exempts the prosperous farmer. What posi-
Bile reason can any fair-minded member Of
the Legislature give for imposing such a
tax? II it is necessary to levy an income
tax-if these thirty-six thousand dollars
must be had-surely Just men will agree to
frame law which will tax the prosperous
landlord before it taxes men living, as many
of those now paying the tax do, "from hand
to mouth" Either let every man in the
State pay taxes upon the bread and meat he
consumes, or, what would be much fairer
and better, let every man be allowed what
ever he pays for bread and meat as untaX-
able income.