The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-09-29

1 VdBO OH tIltlh pStciS thCy Nath w
put into market. Whoever pays
the government tax adds the
| amount OF this tax to the price he
asks tor his article from the next
buyer; and so it goes on until 1T
reaches the retail dealer, who con-
! tinues to bring forward the cost of
the tobacco and whiskey, including
all charges and representatives. as
well as others. When the con-
sumner buys the tobacco or whiskey
he must foot the whole bill. Hence
it is obvious that there are quite Il
number of United States Tax Col
lect0rs who are at work collecting
all the time, every day, These
collectors are the merchants, every
one of whom is II collector Of taxes
for the United States Government.
Not only do they collect taxes from
those who buy whiskcy and tobacco,
but they also collect taxes from all
who buy from them at all. In adj
ditiOn to the amount of Internal
Revenue collected upon whiskey
and tobacco, the United States
Government collects Il tax Through
our mcrchantS) on ereFy Ricket
UOrth of any kind of merchandise
we buy! And instead of nercr pay
ing a United States Tax, we are all
the time paying this tax, without
Knowing it. The United States
Tax is so consolidated and mixed
in with the costs and charges for
the making of an article, and its
freight for transportation, that a
consumer pays the price and never
thinks about his paying any United
States Tax. But those who will
take the trouble to investigate,
will find that with the exception
of Il very few articles, which are
placed on what is called the free
list, everything YOU can think of
that is imported, i. e.: brought into
ours from any foreign country, is
taxed with an import duty, which
must be puid before the articles inn
ported can be delivered to anybody.
The importing merchant adds the
import duty Cor taxi in the price of
the article oefOre selling, and this
is successfully carried forward and
added i'm with the price Of every
article by each successive dealer,
few ever thinking about the L. S.
Import duty Cor taxi entering into
the price, which must be ultimately
paid by the consumer. All the con-
sumner knows is that if he buys n
given article he must pay a certain
price. II he'can't afford to pay the
price he does without the article.
But no man or woman, white or
colorcd, can buy anything from a
suit of clothes down to a paper of
needles or Il spool Of thread or u
drZen buttons, without at the same
time paying his quota of Import
duty Cor taX) toward the L. S. Gov
ernment! But h0U much? All!
there is the rub! Comparatively
few people know, or can know,
how much they pay towards the
United States Government. Any
who happen to have the means at
command IA turn to the ct of
Congress, and if they have tive to
read it through carefully and make
a few arithmetical calculations, can
form II tOlerably good approximate
estimate Of his payment on account
of Import duty Cor tax to the U. =.
Government. Those who have
carefully examined into the differ
ent rates of duty imposed on I'm
ports by the existing Tariff, set
down the average Import duty at
II per cent. The whole list of
dutinble articles number about 5000,
most of them being charged % and
30 per cent. and from that on up to
70and 100 per cent. al rdiOrenl, |. e.:
according to the value of articles
imported. But many articles have
a double import duty or tax. For
instance, iannelS and blankets are
taxed at from 10 to 50 cents per
pOund ard in addition the same
tiannelS and blankets are taxed 10
per cent. al ~C0iOren. So, too cloth
ing imported is taxed 40 cents per
pound and in addition the same
clothing is taxed 30 per cent al ca
lOreMl. In this way il is not at all
surprising that the average
rate of Import duty (or taX)
should be estimated by careful in
VeStigators at N per cent. at r0iO-
rem, or $l4.00 per head on an aver
age!
Further, it is claimed by those
who have made a study Of this and
kindred subjects, that a duty on
Imports, OF from ID to 20 per cent,
would raise an abundance o | l(eNc-
nue. for all the legitimate purposes
Of the Government.
Now let it be borne in mind dis
tinctly that the utmost limit Of our
State taxation is only 81 mills on
erery dOii0ys WOrth of value. In
addition, i'm some or most Of the
Counties, the" e is a County Tax for
local purposes, IL for repair Of high
ways and bridges, the support Of
the poor, payment Of jurors, &C.,
In IL own County, Laurens, the
tax this year for the repair OF
bridges, consequent upon the des-
tructive freshets of several past
years, is Five Thousand ($5,OOO)
dollars, which called for II levy by
the County Commissioners Of B
mills whiIp the law made npcpS-