The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-08
THE INCOME TAX RETURNS.
A Talk with the Internal Revenue
COnfmissiOner in Respect 10 Them.

A Talk With the Internal Revenue
COnfmissioner in Respect 10 Them.
! Washington. June 7.-Commissioner Of
! Internal Revenue Miller regards the re-
/ turns collected in accordance with The
! provisions Of the now defunct income tax
act, as an elephant on his hands. The
! commissioner was to-day asked by your
/ correspondent what reply he would make
/ 10 persons who might request the copy
I Of the returns they may have made prior
I 70 the decision OF the supreme court.
I which declared the law unconstitutional
J He answered that ever since the decision
I Of The court his mail has been filled daily
( with requests Of that nature. lie holds
| that the returns secured must be treated
/ as are all public records. without Ie-
I gard 10 the action Of the supreme court.
II would be a matter of convenience 10
the department if IL could send the re-
olrls back TO the persons making them, or
uestToy them outright. but in the absence
of any authority from congress on the SUBJ
jeci the returns viii be filed away ana
| projected as far as possible from inQuisi-
tive or nalic.Ously inclined persons. As
SOO1 as congress cOnVcnes the Secretary
. Of the Treasury, upon the. recOmTncnda-
ton of Commissioner Miller VIII request
the appointment of a committee TO super
intend the destruction not only of the
returns, but the records in the various in
ternaI revenue offices upon which the re-
turns were entered when taken by the
collec "a rs.
A. a matter of fact, continued Commits
sioner Miller, the mere sending back Cf
the RETURN forms to the persons who nned
them u would not destroy all traces %
the imfoF nation fbggy contain for tho ertft-
stance OF each return appears in the books
Of the collectors in the various internal
revenue districts Many persons appear
10 be ahprehensive that their private
business VIII be revealed to persons who
have no right to inquire into the private
affairs OF others We are required by
law TO take every precaution against any
disclosure Of the returns of the inforiu,>
tion con tained in them, and that is the
reason / think II would be wise to ASK
authority from congress TO destroy not
only the returns but also The books in
which they have been recorded. In the
meantime ! am endeavoring to the besc
OF my ability 10 protect them from In
qWsitive eyes until congress decides what
may be done with them. We have on
file in the various departments tons of
data that has been collected by the gov
eminent under misconstructions of GER
tain laws and that material is treated
just az sacredly as the records compiled
in strict accordance with the law"
A few yards away from the Office of the
commissioner Of internal revenue, on the
same floor, but just around the corner. in
the eastern corridor of the treasury de-
pa-tment, are throe rooms set apart for
the work Of arranging the income tax re-
turns. The doors of these rooms were
spread oIen and large piles Of returns tied
up with strings of red tape, brown Irvine
and other binders, We're scattered about
upon tables and pine packing boxes in
somewhat confused state. The clerks were
engaged h arranging them in piles, ac-
cordng TO districts and states, prepara-
tory TO fling them away in a room to be
hereafter designated by the commissioner
of internal revenue. The clerks engaged in
the work handled them like so much waste
paper and visitors were admitted to the
ooms while the asserting process was in
progress. There was nothing to indicate
secrecy or ca traordinary caution on the
part of the clerks, and a maliciously dis
posed person might have easily made
notes of some of the returns spread out
upon the table. II was during lunch hour
and one of the rooms was entirely desert
ed while in the second room clerk was
eating his luncheon, and in the third
clerk was entertaining visitor. 1t is not
likely that any of the clerks care to re-
veal any OF the secrets OF the returns, for
as a rule government clerks become so
well trained in ther work that they man.
age to forget or ignore circumstances
which the outside world would be glad to
know all about. Once in great while
an employe in some Of the departments
uses for his own advantage, or the advan-
tage of a friend, the official information
passing through his hands. but the cases
are very rare It is not likely that the
income tax returns. now in the custody of
the commissioner OF Internal revenue, con-
tain information that would damage any
man. even IL 1t were revealed. But very
few of the men about whom the world
generally, might like to hear, RETAINED
frcm making returns. hence the material
on hand is of that class that does not ex-
cite much curiosity or interest.
Further down the same corridor is a
room. over the door of which is a large
sign painted and gilded ito designate the
Income Tax Division" few weeks
ago that room was considered a cave of
secrets. and no one could enter therein
without going through considerable red
tape Now the room of the former chief
of the income tax division is practically
deserted or has been turned over to an
other branch of the service, for the chief
was deprived of his office by the decision
of the supreme court. Commissioner Mil
Ter has not yet figured out how much
money the government actually expended
in getting ready and starting out to col
lect the income tax. This subject is not a
pleasant one to discuss with treasury
officials, who had rRreat expectations"
from the income tax.