Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1884-08-23
A YOUNG MAN B
A Young Man In Chicago Analyzes
the syssem Under which He ~
Taxed.
Iron the Chicago Herald.l

From the Chicago Herald.l
am a young man about town. l
have never owned any property, ana
until last week l did not know that l
had ever paid any taxes. l had an
idea that the rich men, the Dig lner-
chants, the bondholders, the real estate
owners, the men of family who kept
house and perhaps owned houses, pald
all the taxes. No tax collector ever
came neal me. My name has been on
the poll list for eight Or nine years, ana
feeling that l had eve paid anything
for government l have cast more than
one vote with q guilty conscience,
thinking as l bore one of the public
burdens l ought to have no voice Ill
public affairs. Ny bachelorhood mas
in this way been q reproach to me. l
have seen men paying their taxes n
have envied them, for l thought 1t
give q man q sense of Importance TO
know that all the agencies Of the gov
ernment he enjoys are in part paid Tor
by himself.
During the last fortnight the scales
have fallen from my eyes II l nave
seen a great light. l am now proud i'll
the consciousness that / am q taxpayer.
feel an Importance which ! never be-
fore experienced. l am Of some &C
count in the world. The millionaire
a frOwn upon me no more. L, as
we'll as he, Am necessary to the mall-
tenance of the government. The gov
eminent and some people whose &C.
a%uaintance I have recently made could
not get along without me and others OF
my class. Feeling that l have made
discovery of some value, 1 have COLI
cluded to write out what 1 have learned
for the benefit of the Herald. 1t may
not be news to you, but it will be to
some of your readers.
Like many young men OF my class, l
am reasonably fond of dress. l wear
good clothes no matter what they cost.
l have been in tho habit OF paying S45
for q business suit and from $50 to $50
for something better. l buy about two
suits of each kind o year and wear
them out. The other day l found my
last business suit getting a little shiny
and made up my mind to get another.
My tailor offered me q fine article OF
foreign made goods for $50 and a suit
of American made goods at the same
price. "What's the difference p said
l, ooh, not any at all" said he 'sOme
prefer N and others prefer the other.
It's a mere matter of TASTE" l took the
foreign made cloth and ordered the
suit. At the end of the week l received
it at my boarding house, put it on and
went down TO pay for it. On the way
l met an old chum of mine who had
Just got back from a business trip in
Europe. "Hello," said he, "you've
got a suit just like mine. How much ?'
/ looked at his coat and it was exactly
the same cloth. Thinks l to myself,
"'those Britishers probably socked it to
this poor h%eathen."
Then 1 Observed in a ocular way, 81
paid $50 for it." "Jehosaphat!" he
yelled, chow they do rob you fellows
here. l got mine in London for $685.
l looked at it. 1t was made fully as
we'll if net better than mine, and the
fit was elegant. l was a little inclined
to doubt his word, but when l paid my
bill to my tailor l said in a careless sort
of way, "What makes clothing 80 much
higher in this country than England p
"Oh, its the tariff, l suppose" said he.
t'Then cloth of all kinds is taxed, is
it 2" said 1. "You bet" said he.
GLOW much 2" "Well, it depends or
the quality, but all woolens are taxed
from 26' to % cents OIL every dollars
WORTH" ] whistfed a sad little air and
walked out.
1 needed a new hat, some shoes, {
q pair of gloves, some shirts, handker-
chiefs and stockings, and l bought then
at two different stores and ordered
them sent home. Then l skirmfshed
around in a book store until l found
book Oh the tariff, since then Ehavt
been reading to find out just what the
tariff is. It's a very simple little piece
OF highway robbery, l can assure you
I've heard all about the tariff for years
and four years ago l voted against q
candidate for congress who wanted t.
upset it because 1 was afraid he would
unsettle the business interests of the
country.
Now 1 have been figuring up what
tax 1 had to pay to the United States
government, because l wanted to be
decent and provide one American citi-
e with a respectable outfit. lhave
found the imposition to be most oner-
u 1 Am of a taxpayer than
want to be. l am now shouting fol-
relief, and relief l am going to have il
1 have to smuggle my clothing. Here
are the prices paid by me fer the vari'
GUS articles bought, with the tax paid
on each set in al adjoining column: