Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1892-05-10
Mr.. Clevcland's Record on Internal
Revenue Taxation.
WASHINGTON Nav 7th 1900

To the Editor of the Aieruadria Gazette.
The internal revenue system of taxa
) ton has always been regarded by the
:. people of Virginia as partial, burden
some and hostile to the spirit of free
dom. In the better days of the repub-
lie these taxes were not favored. Even
. Alexander Hamilton declared that 1.-THE
genius of the people would lily brook
the inquisitive and peremptory spirit of
excise laws" These excise duties made
the administration of the elder Adams
odious and contributed largely to the
overthrow of the federal party. In
1905 Mr.. Jefferson, in his second inaug-
ural address, said ''The suppression of
unnecessary offices, of useless estab-
lishments, enabled us to discontinue
our internal taxes. These covering our
lands with officers and opening our
doors to their intrusions, had already
begun that process of domiciliay vexa-
tion which once entered, is scarcely to
be restrained from reaching successive
ly every article of produce and proper
ty.
The democratic party swept away
these taxes, but they were again re-
sorted to in order to meet the extraor-
binary expenses of the war Of 1912.
But not as o permanent system. They
were very soon repealed and for forty
-, ~irs no excise duties or taxes were
INN -rsed. In 1862 they were revived
3 nmd h we since been upheld by the re-
nnblicon' party and the friends OF the
r rt,,.on+ tnh, ceO and Whiskey rings of the
There was O Nc redceming feature in
this internal re venue mug sys.eini lotas maneis
the income tax. This tax exempted
persons of small me;.> ana 1t 'ell lght-
" Oh those whose int zones were Iess
than $4,000 but it forc>$d most OF the
money changers and rich men TO pear
their fair proportion of the public our,
pens. There was great out@ry raisea
against this tax by the plutCcrats OF
Boston, Hartford, New York. Philadel-
phia and other cities, and this branch Df
of the internal revenue system was re-
pealed not long after the war Inc
taxes which bore like blight on the
farmers of Virginia and North Carolina
were retained, and all ameliorations
and reductions in them were effected
with great difficulty against the sturdy
opposition of the eastern capitalists;
The whisky ring perpetuates its grand
monopoly by keeping the tax OF 6Oo
per cent on tho value Of the original
product while its advocates and organs
loudly denounce the tariff monopoly.
Responding to the general sentiment
of the people of Virginia the democrat
ic State convention held at Roanoke,
August 4th, 1887, included in their plat
form the following resolution
'We demand the immediate repeal OF
the internal revenue system, relic OF
the war, and no longer necessary to
meet the demands of the government,
becauseit it is oppressive, fosters monopo-
lies, and is obnoxious to the interests OF
our people"
Can any honest man deny the justice
of this Indictment? Is not every word
of it true? Has it not been a grievous
oppression to the people of Virginia =?
Had there not been hundreds
of honest men indicted, prose-
cuted and bounded under these
laws until general system of terror
existed? In single district of North
Corolina in 1872 there were as many as
$500 individuals i'll the U. 5. courts,
and such indictments were freely used
both in North Carolina and in Virginia
to coerce voters to join the republican
party. Doubtless i'll other southern
States the same iniquitous system OBJ
tained.
Yet these taxes were no longer nee
essary, as stated by the Virginia con-
vention in 1887, for as Mr.. Cleveland
reported there was very large surplus
in the q. S. Treasury think he esti-
mated it at 10000, 900 on July /,
1855.
What was Mr.. Cleveland's reply to
the appeal of the people of Virginia to
be relieved from this grievous system
of taxation? quote from his message
of December 6, 1887, to Congress, four
months after the Virginia convention
was held:
Zone scheme of taxation, by means
of which this needless surplus is taken
from the people and put into the public
treasury, consists of tariff or duty
levied upon importations from abroad,
and internal revenue taxes levied upon
the consumption OF tobacco ana spirit
uous and malt liquors. 1t mast be con-
ceded that none Of the things subjected
to internal recenue tQratiOn are, strictly
speaking, accessories; there appears to
be no iust complaint of this ta1ation by
the consumers of these articles, and there
seems to be NOTHING SO WELL ABLE TO
BEAR THE BURDEN WITHOUT HARDSHIP
TO ANY PORTION OF THE PEOPLE
The italics are mine.
} Thus did Mr.. Cleveland brand with
his contradiction, as false and unbound
ed, the complaints of the people of Vir-
ginia as expressed by their State con-
vention held at Roanoke. The people
who produced tobacco and spirits from
fruit or grain did not know what they
/, were talking about but this 'great big
n man" (as Virginia Congressman call.
e ed him the other day. knew, by sort
j. of divine inspiration, that their suffer-
ings were all imaginary, their loud COM
e plants frivolous and impertinent The
!, individuals who had been unjustiy drag
. ged from their homes by U. S, marshals
ouI tba;r md arlinoS laox-;no l,n,,,a,