The daily gazette., 1882-01-18
TIE TAX or WHISKY.

The whiskey manufacturers are going
10 move Congress for reduction Of The
tax on whisksy from ninety CENTS, vhsre
il DOW stAnds, to fny cents per gallon.
There Is DO dOab1 that ffiy cents Is the
true reveDss point al which ibe govern
ment viii OBJ ain tee gre4tes, revenus
Eith the leasl cost for collection and The
least amount OF Illicit distilling and
fra0d, which last are SlEHys serious
iujary to the law observing distilier.
When the tax on tobacco uas lowered
from twen.Y-feur to sixteen cents per
p und it was asserted that there Eould
rssul, great diBunitIon Il revenue
from this source. But these prophecies
have proved false. The revenue from
tobacco bell OF slightly for tEo years and
will this year exceed that Of the high tax
ysar.
There is 10 doubt that # TIE taria
shall be lowered ten per cent. all round
there will be no decrease but an Increase
Of revenue from this source. The whole
system Of taxation, internal and Gus.
toms, as now in force, is nesdlessly op-
Presssive. l, extolts from the people
one hundred and fi'ty millions perauuum
over aud above the needs Of the govern
ment, aud irfiicts Ibis totally unnecessary
burden by the crud9st aud most oppre.-
sive tax system endured by any civilized
people. The tax TsformeTs desire 70
r-medy this abuse by slight changes.
The extreme Frotectionists resist any
change whateyer,and ihey have on their
side great and powerful lobby, which
hopes to fsttsn on the spolls 10 be 90,
ont OF the surplus revenue. Sensible
prOtectionIEts here and ia New England
meantime privately urge reasonable
taTlh and tax reform, because they fore
see Lnat II tins is nov refused by aud by
the wuole tariff Eill become odlous o
ths people and they will demand sweep
ing changes.
| DEPARTMENT OF AeRIcULTURR-BILL
or MR.. MONEY, or MISSISSIPPI
The bill introduced in the House
to day by Mr.. Money, of Mississippi,
to make The Agricul ural Department
an executive department and to en-
large Its duties aud powers, provides
for secretary and an assis ant sec .
tary Who shall be practical agrlcul.
tur SIS that the department shall
embrf &c the Bureau of Education and
Labor, whose uuiy It shall be to col
lect ali Information concerning educa-
ii IN, wages Of labor, price Of products.
the cost of living Of The working
classes, here and abroad, and all IN.
formation that may conduce 10 the
welfare and advancement Of the in
dustrial classes Of this country that
this bu, eau shall especially collect all
Information concerning the rural wo k
Of women that may enlarge the sphere
Of labor and tighten the burdens oftbe
families of the agricultural population.
1t also provides for a Dareau OF
geological survey, bureau OF trans
portaiiOn 70 collect Information con-.
corning cost Of moving agricultural
products, merchandise and passengers;
also bureau of manufactures. The
important feature of the bill, however,
is that It establishes in each State of
the Union one Or more experimental
stations for the purpose Of thoroughly
testing valuable plants, seeds, fer
tiliEers and agricultural implements
with reference 70 soil aud climate.
PUReHAsE OF FOREIGN BUILT SHIPS.
Representative Farwell, OF Illinois,
introduced bill in the House to-day
to enable American capitalists TO
purchase in the foreign markets iron
or steel steamships to be used exclu-
siVely in lhe foreign trade and to be
navigated under an American registry.
In speaking OF this bill Mr.. Farw il
said this evening :-"Although al first
sight 1t might appear TO antagonize
our American shIpbullding interests il
is not 30 intended by me aud it will
not 30 operate. AS a matter of fact
there is no firm in this country now
engaged in building such ships for the
foreign trade entirely, while we are
paying tribute to the extent of a nun
dred millions annually 70 foreign ves-
sells. The object Of the bill is to save
the American capitalists and American