National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1879-02-13
TIE TOnACCo rAX.

THE TOBACCO TAX.
Bill 4i14, II. r.. which passed the House
in June 1878, and was read twice in the
Senate and referred to the Committee on
Finance and reported TO the Senate Febru
ary s, 1879, has received at the hands of
the Finance Committee very important and
radical amendments. The original bill, us
it passed the House, made the tax on all de-
scriptiOns of manufactured tobacco includ-
ing snuff, sixteen cents Gpound; on all cigars
and cigarettes weighing more than three
pounds per thousand, five dollars and oil
all cigarettes weighing not more than three
pounds per thousand one dollar and
twenty-five cents. The Finance Commit
tee have proposed an amendment placing
the tax on snuff at twenty-four cents
q pound, and striking out all that por-
ton of the bill which related to the tax on
ments be adopted by Congress and the bill
become a law, it is very easy to see that it
would entirely destroy the present balance
or adjustment of the tax so rs to equaiiZe
the burden upon the two branches of the
trade
The average consumption of leaf tobacco
in the manufacture of 1000 cigars is found
to be, by actual computation, twenty-iour
pounds and a fraction.
The loss of material by the cigar manu-
facturer in stems, shrnkage, and waste is
equal to two-ffths of the gross amount of
lan frn,, G,,a
of leaf tobacco the cigar manufacturer gets
but fifteen pounds of cigars Those fifteen
pounds, or one thousand cigars, are taxed
according to the present rate, six dollars, or
forty cents pound. Cigarettes weighing
not over three pounds per thousand are
taxed at the rate of one dollar and seventy
five cents per thousand or fifty-eght cents
per pound.
1t is proposed by the pending bill to con-
tinue these taxes on cigars and cigarettes,
while the tax on all smoking tobacco which
comes in direct competition with the low
| grades of cigars, and the great bulk of all
| the cigars manufactured in the country are
of low grade, made of leaf tobacco grown
principally in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsyl-
vania, New York, Connecticut, and Massa-
chusetts, and which is sold at prices vary
ing from five to twenty-five cents pound
according to its quality. In exceptional
cases, and the cases are exceptional, n good
quality of Connecticut seed-leaf, used for
wrappers, may bring n higher price, but
ordinarily the leaf used is much inferior in
quality and commands a less price in the
market than the bright yellow tabaccos of
Virginia and North Carolina, from which
are manufactured the choice brands of Dur
ham, Lynchburg, Richmond, Petersburg
and Danville smoking tobaccos. These last
named tobaccos now pay tax Of twenty
four cents pound. The loss in manuiac.
ture is very trihing, as the stems, except in
the choicest grades are cut and granulated
with the leaf.
1t is now proposed to tax this last grade
of tobacco, and all other grades of smoking
and chewing tobacco, including fne-cut
chewing, and the finest specimens of bright
plug tobaccos, only sixteen cents pound
being but two-ffths of the tax imposed
upon every pound of cigars. Why thi:
difference? Is it the intention of Congress
to tax the cigars or the greater amount
Of labor necessary to manufacture thous
and cigars-the making of cigars being
nearly all done by hand-than il
required to convert twenty-five pounds o
leaf tobacco into cut or granulated smolS
ing tobacco, which is nearly all done by
machinery, and is comparatively very in
expensive operation? or is 1t owing to the
fact that Congress has become converted Il
the idea, so persistently advocated, that by
reducing the tax the increased consump
tion which will Immediately follow will
more than compensate the loss in rate by
the increased quantity which reaches tax
alton? But how is this increased con,
sumption to be secured? The annual con
sumption for the last three years has been
according to the reports of the Commits
sioner of Internal Revenue, averaging a
follows, in round numbers; Manufactured
tobacco, 112,000,000 pounds; cigars ant
cigarettes, 2,000,000,0O0
To secure the same revenue the consump
ton of manufactured tobaccO-cigars ant
cigarettes remaining the same-must be in
creased one-half, or to an annual cOnsump
tlon of 1Gs,OOOOO0 pounds. AT presen
twenty-four dollars pays tax on 100 pound
manufactured tobacco, At the rate o
sixteen cents per pound, TO obtain twenty
four dollars of revenue, $50 pounds of to
, bacco must be stamped tax-paid,
1t necessarily follows, therefore, that every
consumer of tobacco-and the consumer
are only about one-ffth of the entire popu
J lation-will have to increase his consump
tion by one-halG The man who uses hi
ounce Of line-cut chewing every day vii
have to use an ounce and half; the man