Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-12-07
RARNES OF GEORGIA.

and individuals who paid the tax that por-
ton Of the direct tax which was collected
After careful computation he was able to
state that the bill carried SIS, 227 ,6i. This
did not include the Is per cert commission
allowed the states or parties who paid the
tax. The amount to be cancelled, now un-
collected, was 81, 526, 40l
Oates said that the bill was unconstitu
tioual and unjust He sent to the clerks
desk and had read for information a series
of amendments which he proposed to otfer
at the proper time The first refunds the
cotton tax; the second permits persons who
paid that tax to bring suit in the court of
claims 10 recoser the amount paid, the third
revives the right TO action in the court OF
claims under the provisions of the captured
and abandoned property act, and the fourth
directs the secretary of the treasury, in
making payment and settlement of the
direct tax, to take into account and set off
any amount due by any state to the United
States under the act of June q, 1876, "to
regulate the deposits of public money"
Barnes of Georgia said that the provisions
of the bill seemed equitable, but the direct
tax of 1861 was land tax, a legal tax, a
general tax, constitutional tax The tax
on cotton was special tax, an illegal tax,
an unconstitutional tax. 1t was a special
land tax upon cotton lands of the south. He
quoted from declaration of the trainers of
the constitution to prove that in their opn-
ion direct tax was tax upon land and a
per capita tax on slaves.
Caswell inquired what was the distinction
between the tax on cotton and the tax on
tobacco.
Barnes replied that there was no distinction
whatever So far as raw, manufactured
tobacco was taxed, the tax was Illegal and
unconstitutional.
Kerr OF Iowa said that one of his objec-
tions to the refunding of the cotton tax was
that during the years when the tax was col.
lected the producers received so large
price for their cotton that the law was
really to their advantage
Hooker of Mississippi took the floor In op-
position to the bill He was not surprised
he said, that no gentleman on the other side
was prepared TO give any reason for ad-
vocating the extraordinary proposition to
take from the treasury back taxes paid BY
the citizens and distribute them among the
several states. He raised the note of warn
ing that if congress passed this bill, it
would not be long before it would be said
that in order to equalize the taxation the in
come tax would have to be refunded to those
persons who had paid it, Pending further
| debate the committee rose
| The iron schedule was the bone Of conten.
| ton in the senate. Plumb called attention
to the paragraph as to beams, girders, and
| joists, and spoke of the iron and steel COM
binations in the country. He moved to
amend by reducing the rate from cents
per pound to 0 s cents.
| Harris called attention to the fact that the
existing duties on these articles was eouva-
lent to an ad valorem rate of 102 IS per cent
that the rate of 10 cents per pound, proposed
in the house bill, was equivalent to A. 81 per
cent !; and that the rate proposed in the SEN
ate substitute was equivalent to 90 AZ per
cent He moved to amend the amendment
by fixing the rate at 0 6 cents per pound
Allison opposed Harris amendment, say
ing that it went to the root of the whole iron
and steel schedule. He had no doubt that,
II the present rate of duty were maintained,
the competition would be sufficient in very
short time to brsk down the prices.
Aldrich also opposed Harris amendment.
The adoption Of the amendment, be said
would necessarily involve the recommittal
of the bill, or its abandonment 1t would
certainly be an abandonment of the protect
i've feature of the bill The prices of struc.
tural forms of iron and steel were not ex
| cessfya now