Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-02-16

, act of June, 1872, which taxes tn
sweat of his brow and the labor O
his hands, introduced? The Com
missioner of Internal Revenue, il
his report for the fiscal year endin,
: June 30, 1875, in speaking of the tal
upon the sale of tobacco, undertake
to explain, palliate or apologize 70
the present law in these terms:
In a country producing the raw material
and where no such tax had ever before beer
levied, and therefore without any practica
experience to serve as a guide, it was no easy
matter to determine in advance what rate
OF tax or what mode of collecting the same
or what restrictions it might be necessary L
impose upon the producer, the manufactli
rer or the dealer in tobacco in order to yield
to the Government the greatest amount 81
revenue with Just and equitable distriblI.
ton of the burdens of such taxation, and ai
the same time preserve as much as possible
| the interest of each of the different classes oi
| persons before mentioned.
Let us examine the law as it now
stands and see whether any effort
has been made to preserve as much
as possible" the interests of each OF
the different classes named.
Section 1924, subsection 6, of the
Revised Statutes, provides that
Dealers in leaf tobacco, except retail deal
/ ers in leaf tobacco, as hereinafter defined,
shall pay SIS. Every person shall be regard
~ dS q uSsief II iestl toDacco Whose OusinesS
/ 1t is, for himself or on commission, TO sell, or
! offer for sale, or consign for sale on commits
/ sion, leaf tobacco; and payment of a special
| tax as dealer in tobacco manufacturer of ci-
| gars, or any other special tax, shall not ex-
! empt any person dealing in leaf tobacco
! from the payment of the special tax therefor
| hereby required. But no farmer or planter
shall be required to pay special tax as a
! dealer in leaf tobacco, for selling tobacco Of
! his own production, or tobacco received by
| him as rent from tenants who have produced
the same on his land: Prorfded-
Mark the proviso-
That nothing in this section shall be con-
strued to exempt from a special tax any
farmer or planter who, by peddling or other
wise, sells leaf tobacco by retail directly to
consumers, or who sells or assigns, consigns,
transfers or diSpOSes of to persons other than
those who have paid n special tax as leaf
dealers or manufacturers of tobacco, snuff, or
cigars, or to persons purchasing leaf tobacco
for export.
Dealers in leaf tobacco shall sell only to
other dealers who have paid special tax as
such, and to manufacturers of tobacco, snuff,
or cigars, and to such persons as are known
to be purchasers of leaf tobacco for export.
Subsection provides for a tax on
retail dealers in leaf tobacco and de-
fines who shall be regarded as such.
1t is as follows:
Retail dealers in leaf tobacco shall each
pay five hundred dollars, and if their annual
sales exceed one thousond dollars, shall each
pay in addition thereto fifty cents for every
dollar in excess of one thousand dollars of
their sales. Every person shall be regarded
as a retail dealer in leaf tobacco whose busi-
ness it is to sell leaf tobaccoin quantities less
than an original hogShead, case, or bale; or
who sells directly to consumers or to persons
other than dealers in leaf tobacco, who have
paid a special tax as such; or to manufac-
turers of tobacco, snuff, or cigars, who have
paid a special tax; or to persons who pur-
chase in original packages for export. Re
tail dealers in leaf tobacco shall also keep
book and enter therein daily their purchases
and sales in a form and manner to be pre-
scribed by the Commissioner of Internal
Revenue, which book shall be open at all
times for the inspection of any revenue Off
Ger.
The latter part of subsection z, in
requiring a retail dealer in leaf to-
bacco to "keep a book" of sales, and
to keep that book always open for
inspection that the revenue officers
may see what he sells, am disposed
to regard as a piece of grim humoron
the part Of Congress at the expense
of the retail dealer. After providing
that he shall pay fifty cents to the
Governmental for every dollars worth
of leaf tobacco that he sells by re-
tail, the requirements to keep an open
book to record the progress of this
exceedingly lucrative business can
not be properly regarded in any
other light than that of congress
sional joke on the retail dealer. The
particularly with which he is re-
quired to keep a book and to keep
that book open at all times to the
inspection of every revenue officer
shows that Congress must have an
ticipated that there would be rush
on the part of producers and others
to enter into this retail trade in leaf
tobacco, where they were required
to pay only O'ae-hGf the amount Of
their gross safes into the Treasury,
leaving to them the other half out of
which to extract immense fortunes.
But, seriously, this subsection Z
looks very much like a false pre-
tense and a fraud. Under the guise |
and seeming intention of allowing |
retail trade in leaf tobacco, a most |
effectual prohibition is placed on
such trade by the man who grows |
tobacco on his farm and by all |
others. What man would think of
embarking into any business enter
prise when he was required to pay, |
as q tax, fifty cents for every dollars |
worth he might sell. The law was
intended as a prohibition, and such, |
of course, has been its effect. Why |
was the law thus enacted? The
Of Internal Revenue,
in the report above referred to, says |
that in framing the law an effort
was made to appOrtion the burden
of taxation on just and equitable
basis among the manufacturer, the
producer, and the dealer in leaf to-
baccO, and to preserve as far as pos
Sible the interest of each of those |
classes. / fail to see the equality
spoken of in the report in the diStri-
button of burdens, and am equally
at loss to perceive in what respect
the law has an eye to the interest of
the producer when the producer is
prohibited from selling his tobacco
to anyone save to the manufactures,
the dealer, or exporter, and then only
in quantities not less than an "Orig-
inal hogshead, case, or bale ;" ! can
cannot see where his benefit, comes
in. When one class which produces
an article is rigidly restricted in the
sale thereof to other classes, thus
placing the former at the mercy Of
any combination the latter may
make, the enormity of such injus-
tice can neither be palliated nor OBJ
scured by calling the obnoxious
distribution of burdens in
which the interests of all have been
One man who has money
enough to engage in the business Of
a dealer in leaf tobacco, an exporter
or manufacturer, can force a whole
community to sell their tobacco to
him, as he may be the only licensed
party in reach of them, and they
dare not sell to any one save those
to whom the Government, on pay
ment of the required tax, has given
the right to buy.
/ can see very well how the law is
TO the manufactures. when |