Daily Republican., 1882-08-15
TUESDAY. AUGUST 10. 1889.
The Truth an n Nut shell.


The finance committee of the presen
House of Representatives finding tina
the government could get along with
out such heavy tax on the business o
the nation, resolved to make reduo,
tion on those things which most af,
fected business. 1t is well known tha
for every check drawn upon bank &
two cent government stamp has to b.
put on it and the person by whom it i.
drawn has to pay it. This amounted tc
$5,O73, $50 and it was resolved to take
that off.
Then the tax on capital and deposits
of National Banks amounted to So, 372,-
178, and it was resolved to take that
of.
Then the tax on matches, perfumery
and proprietary medicines amounted to
T,574, ,099, and it was resolved to take
that off.
Here comes in the match tax, which
amounts to some So, 100000 paid alone
by the Diamond Match Company, with
headquarters in Wilmington. This
company purchases that amount of
stamps from the government, and is al
lowed ten per cent commission, which
puts S32O,OOO into the pockets of the
monopoly and the people who buy
matches have to pay the whole s., ,2OO,.
600. The government did not want this
money and the finance committee tried
TO give the people the benefit of it, but |
Mr.. Bayard and other Democrats in the
Senate said no. The committee also
proposed taking 81, ,137, ,852 tax off deal
ers in leaf and manufactured tobacco,
but the Democrats in the Senate de-
feated it. 5000, ,464 were recommended |
to be taken off cigars, cheroots and
cigarettes, but the Democrats said |
NO. 80, 500, ,427 were urged to be taken
OFF sugar and molasses, which every
poor man nses, but the Democrats said
no. $l,329,985 were recommended to
be taken off steel railway bars, but
the Democrats said NO. The whole
amount to be taken off was $50. .6S5 1886.
which would have materially lessened
the price of many articles of consump
tion and daily use. The bill as recon.
mended by the committee, passed thu
House of Representatives by q large
majority, all the Republicans and
quite a number of Democrats voting
for it. When it reached the Senate
where the Democrats had the power OF
defeating the bill by factious opposi-
ton and dilatory motions, they used
those means until Congress adjourned
and the bill was killed. 1t is claimed
by penny Democratic organ that Mr..
Bayard was in no ways responsible for
the tax being left on matches, that Mr..
Baya1d's opposition to the bill was be-
cause there were other things upon
Which the tax should be ereduced. What
were those other things? Shall we
tell to the people of Delaware that the
leading thing was whiskey? Free
whiskey was the "Sbiboleth" of the
Democrats. Because whiskey could
not be made cheaper they were deter
mined that the matches, medicines, su.
gar and molasses, used by poor men
should not be cheaper. These are facts
that cannot be brushed aside. In these
EFFORTS to prevent reduction of the
tax, Senator Bayard is more responsi.
bic than his fellow Democratic Sena.
tors. While the bill was pending and
there was some prospect Of it becoming
alaw, he determined to take good care of (
the match monopoly for his Whining. {
ton friends, he made a motion to ex-
empt matches from the reductions CON-
templated in the bill. Why was this t
done? Why did Senator Bayard insist
on taking 50, 200,0 900 in taxes from the {
people on matches alone, 1920, 900 of !
which went into the pockets of the tax 8
monopoly of this city, of which his
friend, William H. Swift, was Presi-
dent? There must have been some rea
son. The Match Company is we'll able
pay an organ If they desired to do so.
and it is well able to put money into
the Democratic campaign to carry
Delaware for the Democrats and keep
Mr. Bayard in the Senate, where they g
are sure always to have friend. We /
do not know that they will do so, but 4
what we have stated is the truth in a o
nut shell. C