Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-01-07
The Internal Reyenue-The " hig.

The Wing in referring to the Article in
the SPECTATOR of the gath of December,
concerning the Federal internal revenue,
assumes that the Democratic party Will
prove insincere on the question of repeal.
We think otherwise, and have better
grounds for our belief than it has foF its
assumption. The job may have to bei ac-
complished by degrees, and if majoAlty
of the Republican senators will concur Yin
the proposition, these laws will be wiped
out.
The indications are that Mr.. Tucker
bill to repeal the tobacco tax, root and
branch" will soon be reported to the
House, and if the Republicans do not in
terpose obstacles, another installment Of
the good work will be realized.
The Wing asks why. there should be de-
lay''now, seeing chat President Arthur and
majority of Republican senators are COM
mitted to repeal? We might ask why was
there delay when the President recon-
mended the total abrogation of the tobac-
CO tax? We connot concur with the Wing
in its reasoning on that point 1t did not
suit the purposes of the Republican party,
is our answer.
In the late canvass the internal revenue
laws and the conduct Of the officers charg-
ed with their execution, in their partizan
work, were fully discussed. The laws and
the intermeddling of the officers in the
election were 10th condemned by the peo-
pie, and to the Democratic party they look
for the :ecntion Of their verdict. If the
Republicans in the Senate will pursue the
course indicated by the Wing, then there
cannot be much delay in Kidding the people
who bear it, of an unnecessary burthen.
The New York Journal Of Commerce is
good authority on the subject of taxation,
and the workings Of the internal revenue
laws. Here are its editorial utterances on
the 31st OF. December
"The system of Internal revenue in its
very nature is repugnant to our form OF
government, and inconsistent with the
maintenance of popular liberty. 1t estab'
fishes an official surveillance Of private
business; it authorizes donliciliary visits
without warrant on evidence; it is enforc
ed only through the aid of spiea and in
formers and midnight raids; it opens wide
door to the most offensive venality and OPP
preston; it employs body OF ten thou
sand armed adberents of the admlnistra
ton which serve as constant menace to
| free thought and independent action; and
| it is maintained at an annual loss OF life
which shows the perpetual friction it ex-
cites in the community, and the yearly ex'
penditure of five million dollars from the
public treasury. 1t was established as
war measure, and defended at its introduc
ton solely on the ground of its necessity
When it was at first proposed, Governor
Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury, re-
iected it most peremptorily, and said TIC
| the writer: GAS to Excise, its very name
is odious, and / never will recommend it. .
He afterward acceded to it's adoption with
great reluctance.
The war, with its necessities, has passed
away; the Treasury is OVERLOOKING with the
gathered surplus: but the Odious Excise
still overshadows the land. 1t is continued
mainly because of the patronage it fur
nishes, and the grio it gives to the officia
hands that would bend to their behests the
will Of every freeman. It's advocates play
adroitly Oh the sentiment that would dis
courage the common use of whiskey ano
tobacco, while secretly they Care nothing
for temperance or healthiness, and know
very well if they did, that the abolition Of
the tax would 1Soduca no effect upon
either. II wound y I'm Iurni6nsc :
this entire system, with its illiberal, exact
ing and oppressive features were wholly
wiped out, leaving on our statutes no trace
of its existence"