Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1890-11-21
A Primer Of Tariff Reform.

z. Has any part Of the great aggrc
gate OF taxation which the government,
has received since the war been wastedl
A. Yes; and one example is as fol
lows. The governnlcHt has spent in
less than twenty years, nearly S400,-
O00,O00 on the navy without results.
q. What was the amount raised 10y
the government in 1860, exclusive OF
all requirements for interest on the
public debt?
A. S5i,S7J,93S or S1.7i per head, or
$50 for every average family of five
persons.
z. What was the amount raised by
taxation by the federal government in
1883, exclusive of all requirements for
interest on the public debt?
a. 1899, ,l27 ,Ij5 or over Sc per head,
or more than $50 for each average fam
lily.
q. What has been, during recent
years, the average taxation of all kinds
direct and indirect, federal, state and
municipal-upon the people of this
country?
a. 1t has been estimated by the most
competent authorities, at from SIG to
Els per head.
Q. Has there been any reduction of
taxation in the country since 1850, or
since the last presidential election?
A. Although both political parties
have acknowledged the necessity and
professed Il great desire to do so, they
have not reduced taxes; but on the
other hand taxes have been increased.
Q. How do you prove this?
A. In lS19-S0 the total receipts of
the federal government were 1888, ,52G,-
6l0. In lSSi-Si they were S3iS,5l9,-
SOC, or fifteen millions more; and this,
too, Notwithstanding the requirements
for interest on the public debt were
more than $40 0000O 0O00less in 1884 than
in lS90-i. e., J,757 900 in 1880, SOL
51S, 600 in 1881.
q. How much have the net ordinary
expenses of the federal government
been increased during the same period?
A. More than $2OOOO,O0O.
2. How much is it possible for the
people to save out of their annual pro-
duct exclusive of the increase in the
value of landD and lay upas new capi-
tai for future production OF as provision
for old age, inlirmity, or for their child
rem?
A. Not more, under the most favor
able circumstances, and when taxes
are light, than from $40 to $l5 per an
mum out of every 800 of annual pro-
duct. When taxes, at present, are
heavy, and prices are thereby enhanced,
and the opportunities for employment
are restricted or made irregular, it is
almost impossible for those whose earn
ings are smaH TO save anything.
q. How much money has the federal
government recently raisedby taxation,
in excess of its requirements for all or
binary expenditures, including pen
sions and interest on the public debt?
A. For the fiscal year 1881 the sur
plus revenue was $l00,0G9 ,4O4; ; for 1882,
$l45 ,543,Sl0; for 1888, $132, $40, ,444;
for 1884, $I04 4,393,G25. 1t is obvious,
therefore, that more than one-fourth
OF the taxes of the federal government
could have been abated during recent
years without restricting any necessary
expenditure.
THE BURDEN OF UNNECESSARY TAXES.
q. If the hundred million of taxes
which the federal government collected
in 1884, over and above oil its require
ments for expenditures, including in
terest on the public debt, had been
placed in commodities in the place of
money, what would tho amount repre-
sent?
A. One hundred and twenty-five mil
lion bushels of wheat at so cents per
bushel; or two hundred and fifty mil
lion bushels of corn at 10 cents per
bushel; or one hundred thousand
houses, costing $1,000 apiece; or five
million tons of pig iron Nearly the
whole product of the country at $40
per ton; or thousand million yards of
cotton cloth, costing 10 cents per yard.
q. If this sum of $l00,OOO,O0O in
taxes, collected unnecessarily in 1884,
had been remitted back to the people,
instead OF having been cxtorted from
them, what would it have enabled the
people to have bought?
A. 1t would have given pair of coed
shoes to every woman in the country
with an occupation. 1t would have
given two barrels of flour, or two tons
of coal to every family; or it would
have adGe a weeks wages to the gain
OF every manual laborer. It would
have paid 10 per cent on one thousand
millions of capital.
q. How have the protectionists pro-
posed to deal with this great burden of
taxation and unnecessary surplus rev.
enue?
A. They have proposed on the one
hand to take oil the taxes on whisky
and tobacco, and maintain it on blan-
ketS, sugars, window glass, and all the
essentials OF common living; and on
the other to keep up the taxes on every
thing and distribute the surplus reve-
nues for various purposes among the
states. The practical effect OF the lat
ter proposition would he to take money
out of one pocket of the people and
transfer it to another and pay corps
of officials for the purpose OF doing it.