The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1888-04-06
ut a family or the miser. The whole

out family or the mlSer. The whole
| income of the farmer may be, and often is
| expended in the consumption Of drtiable
goods, whilst the millionaire spends no
more, and his houses, lands. furniture,
| horses, plate and jewelry, works of art,
of all sorts, pay not one dollar to the sup
port of the government. Wild horses,
chained to his limbs and struggling to
burst forth, could not make an honest man
say that kind of taxation is right and just.
Yet such is the operation of tariff taxes
every day, even with the most judicious
| which can be levied, and whose oniy aim
is the proper one of revenue. There is al
ways much endeavor to meet the force of
this consideration by talk OF discriminate
| ing in favor of the people of small means
by imposing higher duties on luxurie> than
| on the necessaries of life. Even # this
not by any possibility remedy the Unequal
ity of the tax, for the reason already stat
ed, that the rich man cannot in the very
nature of things consume as much more
than the poor man as to make his taxes
greater IN the proper proportion In
short, it is physically impossible 10 attain
to abstract justice and equality in taxation
by duty on consumption In our pres
ent laws it has not even been attempted,
though the talk of discriminating AGAINST
luxuries is in every mans mouth when
ever the subject is mentioned. They are
framed with special reference neither to
| the wants of the government nor the needs
of the people, but to the interest of the
manufacturers alone. In reality the bulk
of whatever discrimination there may be
in the law is AGAINST the neceSsarieS Of life
and in favor of luxuries. A glance at .he
treasury reports of duties collected will
satisfy any one of this. In most wooden
goods the greater tie cost the less the
duty. IroL and steel goods pay four to
five times as much duty as gold and silver
jewelry; common spirits FIVE to six times
as much as fine wines; cornmO,. cotton
goods twice as much as fancy straw goods
and furs. Common WOODEN goods pay
fifty per cent more than silks and satins
whilst common window glass is taxed six
times more than polished and sivered
plate glass of the same size; homely IL
lustration of this species of iniquity NAV
be found in an ordinary WHISKY TODDY
The whisky of which it is the chief ingred-
lent is taxed in the neighborhood OF 400
per cent. the sugar which Sweetens it is
taxed 80 per cent, and the nutmeg which
is grated upon it for havoring Is FREE.
That is fair sample of the discrimination
of our tariff against Injuries. Nutme-s
cannot be grown in the United Safes
therefore tax on nutmegs would protect
nobody bnt would go straight into the pub
lie treasury; therefore to that extent it OBJ
viates the necessity of taxing some article
which is made or grown in the United
States; therefore it stands in the way of
some manufacturer; therefore the duty on
nutmegs is repealed, and, PRO TANTO, it is
placed on salt, or trace chains, or chill
al n Ipr lf.y Of
necessity. OF all the wrongs contained
in the existing tariff there is not one more
fragrant than the admission of tropical
luXurieS free of duty in order to force the
heavy taxation of the necessities of life.
There is no law, human or divine, under
which it can be justified either in policy or
morals. 1t is unjust to ali; it is cruelty to
the poor.
In the imposition of income taxes it is
sometimes provided that the rate is in
creased as the net income becomes larger
and in all cases, believe, the tax ceases
when the income sinks below given point
This is a manifest discrimination against
the rich not rece ncilable with strict Justice
but men forgive it on account of its OBJ
vious humanity. But whoever heard of
any country save free America, by any
law save our Morrill, tariff, inverting the
process and taxing the poor more than the
rich-INCREAsINC the rate as the ability to
pay is DECREAsED-so that the poor man. S
poverty becomes crime for which his
country Furnishes him with pains and
penalties and shortens the allowance of
his children's bread and diminishes the
warmth of their clothing. Let any honest
man look at that tariff and study its eff
fects before he denies these things. He
will find all here stated to be true, and
- a. 81 ,<>f% l,T
ury Department.
To such absurdities and outrageous re-
suits does unconstitutional taxation lead
when once we depart from principle. No
matter how good our intentions may be,
it is dangerous to enact any laws or meth
DDS of taxing the citizen that is not
grounded in justice. There is no safety,
the preachers tell US, outside of the church
So there is no security for our rights and
liberties outside of the organic law which
guarantees them. For the good of man
kind it is provided that outraged law will
avenge itself. If, therefore, We violate
the manifest dictates of justice in the mat
| ter of taxation, we may be sure that one
portion of the community will suffer in
proportion to the benefits which have been
reaped by another. We cannot escape the
| great law of compensation. We must reap
| whatsoever we have sown. If the seed be
| injustice, the harvest must needs be suffer-
| ing Therefore, to recapitulate, whilst a
| constitutional tariff is at The best open to
many and serious objections, and has many
avenues leading to monopoly and injus-
tice, yet as it has become the settled policy
Of our country, no tariff reformer wishes
to change it for another. But we do de-
| sire earnestly to restore our system to its
original and only lawful objects, to com
form it to justice and humanity, and make
it as nearly as possible free from oppres-
sion and all kinds of ineqality. In short,
we strive to make the taxing power of the
| government the shield and support of THE
PEOPLE, and not the dormant partner of the
manufacturing firm.
| T. b. VANCE
| Worth knowing.