Morning journal and courier., 1880-11-29
Sournal allO Courier.
Saturday Morning, Nov. 27. 1880.
HANK TAXES.

In his annual report Comptroller Knox re- peats his recommendation for the repeal of the law imposing tax upon banking capital and deposits and the two cent stamp tax upon cheeks. The amount collected by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue during the fiscal year, with the exception of $11,- 096, 464. 39, is shown to have been derived from the tax on spirits, beer and tobacco The Comptroller says in this connection {: "Were the entire tax upon the banks and bankers of the country, including the two cent check tax and the tax upon matches and patent medicines removed, the amount of revenue received by the government from the tax on spirits, beer and tobacco would alone be sufficient to meet it's expenses and reduce the public debt at the rate of $1OO,- 900, 900 annually"
 This recommendation is wise. and just The principal reason heretofore urged against the repeal of these taxes has been that the amount they produced was necessary for the support of the government This has not been true for some time, and these oppressive old war taxes ought to have been repealed at least two years ago. The most important and op- pressive of these taxes is that upon the banks. Contrary to public opinion, the na- tional banking business is not generally very profitable nowadays. Indeed, many of the banks have been enabled to declare dividends and to keep their stock above par only by the extreme measure of reducing their cap- ltal and raising proportionate amount by taxes. Unless something is done for their raIIaf fha is baf become fewer and less useful and damage to them is damage to the business of the coun- try.
 Probably Comptroller Knox's recommenda- tion concerning the taxes on banks would have been acted upon before this had it not been that Congressmen were afraid they would 6 get themselves disliked ]" if they made any attempt to de- crease the unjust burdens of those insti- tut1ons, which have been looked upon as the special enemy of ''the workingman" As the Journal cf Commerce puts it 'It is probable that a majority of Republican and Democrat ic Congressmen secretly approve the views of Comptroller Knox. But they dare not say so for fear of provoking at the polls the opposition of trades unions, 'workingmen's committees and other factions that make the fatal mistake of fighting the banks in their own supposed interest and thereby do the greatest possible injury to the cause of labor itself" Whether the matter will receive any attention this winter remains to be seen. The Journal of Commerce is about discouraged and says "It is more probable that the bad policy of the past will be pursued than that
 
 both parties will unite on the floor of Congress to do justice to the banks and to the demands of all business men by repeating class of taxes which yielded $S, 1000, 900 to the Treas ury during the last fiscal. year. It matters not how clearly Comptroller Knox shows up the injustice and the injurious consequences of these taxes, it matters not that he is able to demonstrate that bank taxes have ceased to be necessary, and that the government can pay it's expenses and reduce the na- donal debt $10O, 900, GOO year without them. All these substantial reasons will probably fall on ears deaf to everything but the re- monstrances of demagogues
 We hope this prognostication will prove incorrect and that something will be done to keep up and increase the efficiency of the best banking system in existence. At pres- ent the national banks are more of blessing to the general public than to their owners, and if these owners are not treated fairly the public will suffer.