St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-01-09
THE AMEND
MENT. As A TAN.

sHSDs VIC VSasCA u~y S1C AUUme0
Democrat called attention 10 The
fact that. considered in the light
Of . tax-which it 10, a. Thomas
Jefferson hiss shown-it has this
strong point in its favor, that It 10 q
! voluntary tax which no one need
pay who does not care to. In the
same connection It should be no
ted that II has two etrcax points n
It, favor:
Fret, the cullection u this tax
b automatic and involves no adj
dition to the already excessive OIL
ciaIism u the State.
And. Secondly, that under such
- system there win be md back
taxes-everytl,iny being paid in
cash and in advance.
We will get the entire Sl,.jO,-
900 each year. without the appoint
ment Of = single tax collector. with
out any legal machinery to enforce
ITS collections, and without 3 heavy
expenditure therefor.
All these are important matters
everywhere. but nowhere more 80
than in Louisiana. where we are
troubled with an excess Of officials.
and borne down by the weight u
delinquent and unpaid taxes.
Perhaps the evil Of . large force
Of officials for the collection Of tax
es was never better exhibited than
In the case Of United States internal
revenue 1t has required IN army
Of deputies. spies. commissioners
and agents to get the money due
the government from this tax. The
cost Of collection has been nm inn
p0rtant item. and has materially re-
duced the revenues Of the govern.
memt; and. moreover. the spy
system th0s encouraged, the dupu-
ty marshals necessary to get the
whisky license. have produced the
very worst results. riots and dis
turbances, and the collection Of
this tax each year j. accompanied
by = considerable loss Of life.
Ii il on this account that the i'm
ternal revenue tax has been ~ um.
popular. and that It has been done
away with on all hat . few articles.
The collection of the customs. while:
not as bad in this respect, has new;
ertl,eless compelled the employ
lnent Of . large force Of officials.
Against this there is naturally .
popular prejudice, for the
feeling is that We have too many
officials in this country al
and all propositions to i'm
crease their number have been OPP.
posed sternu0usly. What il true Ut
the United States generally is true
Of Louisiana in particular. We
have too many officials, and
the people are opposed to increas-
Ing their number. To collect the
same amount of revenue rs the Lot
terry Company proposes to give
Louisiana would cost rs at least
800. 900, possibly $50, 600, BY any
other process, and would call for
'Osne 900 OF 20 more officials. tax
deputies. etc. Look, for
instance. ut the provisions made by
he several levee districts for the
Of the produce tax. They
'equire . host of deputies. and 81
complicated. expensive and impert.
ssent system, which swallows nj
n0et Of the revenue. and which dis.
yusts. anlsoys and angess the peo-
Ne. Every dollar Of money due
rosa this tax is paved; not . cent
4 1t Is taken In the collection.
There will be, II the amemdmentl
aries. an increase Of several thou;
and school teachers. Of thousandsl
labOrers. busy On our levees.
drainage canals. ETC.. butt
! will mot add . single official toll
he large-and excessively lsrgr-
rmy We already have. IL tllis
also the revenue amendment,
n . tax. h an almostl
erfect n The perfect tax
be voluntary, no one being
MnpelIed to pay 1t Who does los
are to do 20: and Il should cal!
y rs little increase in the army oil
ablic officials rs possible. In both
'ese respccts the lottery il y, ideal
*. II
Again. in regard to back taxes.
Is similarly perfect. There are :
, back taxes with it Every cen.
Ne is paid and paid in advance. :
here are NO losses On account Of
I'd crops or overflow. The Legis- .
will not be worried. $ it has {
ZEN In the past, in trying to frame =
gislatiOn that will squeeze the last q
out Of the delinquent taxpay-
5. This evil. tax delinquency. i "
serious one everywhere. hut no :,
here is it worse than In Louisiana. u
it is hard On both the state Q
I'd on the property holders. The
counts On . certain rev.
'ue. which it O,ght to receive. and : J
hlch would be received il all the !
xes were paid: bat unfortunately Z
ey are not paid. An overflow :"
mes Or some other disaster. The
xes are RENTED. because they :
nuUt he collected. and the State or :
y finds that. although . liberal :
owance Of 10 Or 20 per cent II :.
lde for the delinquents. the reve- !.
e fall short OF expectations. and
1e6cit is the consequence. :;
Ia Louisiana, and in New Orleans :,
particular, the back OF delinquent :.
les have grown larger and larger: n
til they amount up in the millions. -
could collect them It wOuh =.
ieve us Of all financial difficulties :.
| put us on = solid basis again: :.
{ tine l~ewis1stOrS have maveP 1neqaa ~