Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1882-02-23
Where Taxation Falls Heaviest.

Recently Mr.. Thomas u. Sherman
who was one of the eminent counsel en-
gagged in the celebrated Beecher trial: de-
iiverpd lecture on the subject of FRO
lection and Free Trade" before the ReVe-
nue Reform Club of brooklyn.
He alluded to the enormous growth OF
fortnnes since 1945, and remarked that
This would be well enough If the earn
ings OF the poor kept any reasonable pace
With this development OF riches. But
tbe> did not. and the poor were not uh,
reasonablv dissatisfied, knowing that
thev earn twenty times as much as the
rich and vet that a few rich men save
40 nuch as the whole mass below. The
moor man blames usury laws. specie pay
ropnts or some other feature OF the or
oanization of society for this state OF al
fairs hut he does not stop to think that
there is all the time working system OF
;n5;ract taxation which takes from every
bod. carrier more than thirty times as
much in proportion to the means OF pay.
,oent az it does from Vanderbilt, Gould
or Astor. All the Federal taxation was
;nairact and large amount of State tax
ation also. All indirect taxes being levied
on property, which men buy and con-
sume, fell upon them ID proportion 10
their consumption and not TO tnelr on III
come. A man whose income was $l0o w. :
600 year, and who spent only $loo'oOV,
maid not one cent more than the man
whose income was only $lo,oOo anu "ho
spent it all. If Mr.. Vanderbilt chose 10
live in a modest way upon $l0o'0oo a
wear, he paid no more. to the Federai
Government than five hundred errand
bows earning $500 each. This was not
JTnder indirect taxation the merchant
and retail dealer must be paid his regular
nrofit on the tax as we'll as on the actual
price of goods. This profit rolled over
and over until, in order to enable the
government to receive $40O, 900, 900 a year
the people have to pay at least SOU, ,Oo0'
600. AS the merchant could earn this
nrofit in other ways under direct taxa
tion. this 800. 100000 per annum was
wasted as absolutely as if thrown into the
sea. Nor was this all. Not content with
the enormous waste we SO arranged taxes
as to increase the price of articles OF
daily use the amount of at least $75o, ,0OO,-
600 every year. As the Federal taxes
we're $400, 900. 900 every year, the local
taxes 800. 900, 900, the merchants com
mission on taxes 800, 900. 900, and the ex
ira cost of goods caused by the protect
i've" side of the sy stem, $3.50. 900. 600, made
total burden of over $1,000, ,0O0,0Oo an
nually, almost all of which was borne BY
the people according to their income
Men like Gould and Vanderbilt were
taxed less than two per cent. on their an
nual savings, the wealthiest citizens Of
Brooklyn were taxed eight per cent. the
average successful man OF buslnes;
twenty per cent, and the great mass o.
laboring men eighty per cent. lit were
not for this system of indirect taxation
combined with protection. Mr.. Sherman
argued that the 100000 persons wht
live by their daily labor in this country
would save every year over $1,4OO0o
900. while all the more prosperous classes
combined could only save about $500,
100000; so that if taxes did not inter
fere. the laboring classes, as a whole
would in twenty years be worth $11, 1,o0o'
900 more than the upper classes. Bu
taxation did not interfere with such CT
feet that If the upper classes used tn
slightest economy they would in the mex
twenty years be worth $4.OO0.0 .0OO NOR
than all the laboring classes combined
while 100000 men at the top would o
richer than all the rest OF the people II
the United States combined.