Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-20


affect hundreds of
thousands Of men in the United States.
and II human nature is the same TODAY
as 1t has been in the past not one-tenth of
them will pay the taxes. 1t is laws like
this which make 1t very difficult for a
rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
In 1868. when the United States was boom
Ing, we had an income tax on all persons
VINO made over $1,000 per year and less
tnan 2oo,ooO people paid taxes on their In
comes. Inc number who received more
IMAM this and escaped taxation amounted
10 hundreds Of thousands, and 1t was even
worse when the limit was raised 1t was
not long after this before the amount of
exemption was increased to s.. 900 and then
the taxable incomes were returned to the
number of 10000 and this number fell
right along until 1870, when Senator Sher-
man estimated that only GO, 900 people were
paying income taxes. At this time we had
a population of about 10000, 900, and nine
tenths Of the people and ninety-nine hum
dredths OF the property holders Of the
country escaped taxation. At incomes of
over $4,000 1t will be worse yet. The gold
plated liar and pcr1urer will be abroad in
the land and the tax will to a certain ex-
tent be premium on corruption.
Onicials Who VIII He Taxed.
If 1t could be justly collected 1t would
bring In millions. I have been looking
over the rich men OF the United States
and estimating what they will have to pay
II they are taxed on the incomes that they
ought to have In proportion to their sup
posed wealth. Every Congressman on his
salary alone win have to drop $50 a year
into the treasury. The cabinet ministers
vxyf11 oonh orlr
President Cleveland will have 500 deducted
from his White House income. Private
Secretary Thurber will yield up $50 and the
Justices Of the Supreme Court will each
have $40 year less to spend on the capons,
terrapin and other delicacies. II in
addition to this they return the incomes
that they should have. supposing their
wealth brought them 5 per cent. Cleve-
lands two hundred odd thousand dollars
would make him pay 500 more Of an in
come tax, and Secretary Lamont will have
to plank down the same amount out of his
profits of street railway investments Every
millionaire in the Senate ought at this
rate to pay something like 81 900 a year
income tax, and II Don Cameron, Cal
Brfce and John p. Jones do not vince when
they are asked to give up 5000 and up
ward apiece to the treasury / am much
mistaken In the men. Senator Stewart Is
said to be worth a million. He will pay
$1,000. Watson c. Squire has a million
dollars worth Of real estate in the state of
Washington and he is too sharp a business
man to let 1t bring him in less than a
10000 income. He ought to nay 81 900.
OF ell of John Sherman's big fortune I
doubt whether there are many dollars lying
Idle. and Villas will probably have to drop
$1,000 a year from his Wisconsin assets.
Fully half Of the members of the Senate
have incomes Of 5000 and more In ad-
dition to their salaries They will have
to pay 500 and upward apiece, and Henry
Cabot Lodge, George C. Perkins and Sena-
tor Stockbridge are among those who will
be expected to pay their thousands The
most Of these men will kick when the bill
comes before the Senate and the general
opinion is that it will not be allowed to be-
come a law.
Mtllfonafres by the Thousand.
The millionaires of the United States!
Their name Is legion. Each one Of their
millions ought to bring in between $40, OOC
and $4,000 q year, and from this tax they
should pay at least $1,000 per million. Look
at the list and see some of the golden
spots upon which the muriatic acid of this
tax ought to fall to prove whether the fig
ures are genuine. William Waldorf Aston
Is said to be worth $50, 900. His vast
wealth is in lands and houses in New York
city, and 1t is supposed to bring him in
per cent. II this is SO he gets more than
100000 a year, and his tax will be more
than $1S0,OOO or about $4,000 per month
| The Gould estate, 1t is said, amounts to
over slO0.0O0,O0O. and at per cent it will
bring in $'i0OO,O0O a year and would have
to pay a tax of s120OOO. One of the biggest
fortunes of the United States is that OF
the Vanderbilts. which amounts to in the
neighborhood Of s2O0.OOO,OO0. and which, ii
reduced to gold, would equal more thar
| 100000 pounds Of the precious metal 1t is
| all safely and conservatively invested, and
| 1t probably brings in an income of 49,.
! 000.0O0 a year and 1t ought to pay a tax OF
| something like 10000 per month, or ovel
| 5000 day. The two brothers, William K
| and Cornelius Vanderbilt, are together sup
| posed to be worth nearly 100000, 900, and
when William H. Vanderbilt was living
! got an idea at the Treasury Department Of
his immense estate. l was looking into tn,
| investments of our millionaires in 4 pei
| cent bonds, and / was told that at on,
time Commodore Vanderbilt had held SIS,
! 100000 in these securities alone. Tn,
| interest was paid quarterly, and this on,
man got from the United States treasury
| ] per cent on this amount every three
ceived from the United States government
| a check for $780, 900 every ninety days. i
made me feel like an anarchist. L coult
| have forgiven him the receiving ten time:
| this amount from an investment in which
| he stood some chance of losing, but to re
| ceiye $15O,000 month, 5000 day, or owe
| 500 an hour, without doing a stroke o.
work or risking cent of loss was entirel!
| too much for me, and for the moment
| Haunted the red flag and envied him.
Ten Cents a Second.
1t is hard to get an idea of what thes,
millions mean, and the enormous incomes
which they bring in. The Aston fortune 4
| put into 81 bills and pasted together would
make a crazy quilt big enough to cove
| fifty-six farms Of 100 acres each. TIL
Gould estate would carpet more than 300
acres, and If the bills were pasted together
end to end those which could be realizes
| from the Vanderbilt fortunes would max,
a green ribbon more than $4,000 miles long
or long enough to almost reach around thu
earth. And still there are other FORTUNES
nearly as great as these. Coils P. Hunt
| ington is said to be worth $jO,OOOOOO ant
| he ought to pay $4,000 year of an in
| come tax. 1 would like to see the long fac
| of Russell Sage shrivel up when he is asxe'
| to give Uncle Sam $4,000 out of his in
come. 1 venture he would have the none.
| brought in in barrels of pennies and pait
| out one at a time in order to hold on to /
| the longer. Russell Sage makes his none.
| at high rates Of interest. He always has
vast amount on call. and he can figure VI
| what per cent means without using
| pencil or pen. He is supposed to be WORT
| $5O,OOO.0OO and his transactions are sucl
| that the tax inquisitors will not find 1
| hard to estimate something as to its profits
| According to the published account. how