New-York tribune., 1894-04-22
I DITINE INCOME TAX.

Dean II Martyr Hart. 0f Denver Col. has
broken out again He has contributed Il long
article, 10 The Churchman." In which he pro
noses the law Of uthing rs the only feasible
way Of bringing about "thc millennium Of the
nourcr" He advances his theory with chip
nor insoucIonce that distinguishes all the good
Deans writings. The whole thing IS very sim
ple. he SAYS In substance. In the Bible God has
commanded every one TO pay to Him a tenth Of
his income. This Divine law has been reit-
Grated by the Church. as, for instance. in a
canon Of the Council Of IIiSpalis in A. ID. go,
which reads rs follows
Ue is a thief and a robber OF God. arl the curses.
which God inflicted upon cain FOR not dividing arlSht
are laid up in store for him who does not pay tithe
OF all things
TO the average ninctccnthccntury man this
dcclara ton may seem a trinc harsh; but it does
not occur 10 the Dean 10 say so. Instead he
proceeds To show what a heaven on earth the
city of Denver would be If the law of timing
was enforced And since what would be good
for Denver ought 10 be good for the Who'll" coun-
fry. he draws a moving picture OF the happiness
that would cnsuc If. 10 quote the Deans Eng
lish. "cvcrybody paid tenth OF what they
actually received in way of income. II
ONLY the Government Of this country was up TO
It's profession: II. as they assert on the face Of
the dollar. in God We trust they really did SO,
they would follow the plain and evident direc-
tIon God gives for the purposes of social living.
In older countries income tax Is collected; then
why not make II n law OF the land, as II Is Il
law OF God that every one should pay 1.-THE
that every one should he taxed onc-tcnth Of
what they get for religious and social wants.
or course the Deans argument is purely aca-
dcmlc II IS plea in the optativc mood; that
is the Dean IS In the optativc mood If the
American people thought IL worth while to think
OF the question at all. everybody would express
themselves this Is the Deans English. not ours
in n categorical negative. Practical people
have little interest in what might could. would
or should happen II some law might. could
would or should be adopted Not even the
curses Of the Council Of Hispais, A. ID. 800, will
stimulate their interest. Indeed, we fear there
are some irrcvercnt persons who will ask. "Who
I'm thunder was Hispalis. anyway
Still the Dean has great fun with himself in
his article: and we must confess that he has
evolved II much more logical and consistent
scheme Of income tax than that proposed by
the Democratic party. 1t Is true 1t would be n
little hard for man with wife and ten chill
drcn whose income was say. only $3.50 II year
to pay an annual tax Of so. But that is IL mere
detail that should not be allowed to interfere
with Il great principle, promulgated by the Al
mighty. approved by the Council Of IIispalis,
A. d. 800. and proclaimed to the American
people by Dean Hart. Of Denver
This is not the first time that the Dean has
saturated political questions with religion. Last
fall he wrote one OF his most unique articles de-
nouncing the Mckinley law as "mcdiaeval,"
and those who passed 1t rs ''pagans.' Speaking
for the badly paid priests of the glorious and
b0undless West, he showed how. under that
odious law, they had to pay an exorbitant duty
on their cassocks and pew rugs. AS these arti-
clcs, so essential to the propagation Of the Cos