The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-05-05
THE COMING WAR TAXES
RICH AND POOR MUST PAY FOR SHOT
AND SHELL AGAINST SPAIN.
A Years War at $4,000. 900 Cost a Day
Would Mean Per Capita Tax
of Fifteen Dollars.

New York Press.
1t is now in order for the people of the
United States to get ready for a period of
hard times. War costs money by the mil
lion and the people who earn that COM
modify have to pay the bills. The actual
cost of the civil war to the United States
was at least s., 900. O00--perhaps this will
be better appreciated if written out, three
thousand six hundred millions-besides I'M
computed and enormous sums paid out by
cities, towns and States as bounties to vol
unteers and by the sanitary and Christian
commissions and other organizations for
the care of sick and wounded fighting men.
AT one time the expenses of the federal
government amounted to $3,50o,O00 a day,
and the war expenditures of all sorts in
the North from the firing of the first shot
on Fort Sumter could not have been a cent
less than $5,000O00,e00. Even this big sum
does not include the loss of wages due to
the enforced idleness of the men in the
army and navy. At the lowest possible es-
innate this was several millions of dollars
a week since at the close of the war the
fighting forces Of the North numbered fully
100000 men, aud at the low wage of 81
their earnings would have amounted to
81 900, 900 day.
There is no probability that the war with
Spain will cost any such unthinkabe sum
as this, however, since it would be impos-
sible to make use of any such vast forces;
but still the expense will be enormous, espe-
cially in view of the greatly enhanced cost
of modern ammunition, modern guns and
modern ships And there is no doubt, great
as our resources now are, that it will make
us hustle and economic like the mischief
to furnish the money that will be needed
to pay the bills.
Suppose the war should last a year and
cost, including everything but loss of fight.
ing mems wages, $1,000 900 a day, which is
generally believed to be a conservative esti-
mate. The sum total in money, then would
be s., 095, 600 That would not be far from
$l5 per capita for each man, woman, child
and baby in the entire country, counting
the population at from 70,000000 to 750C0,0O0.
Not SO bad after all at first blush, is 1t?
Analysed, however, the showing is not so
THE COST OF WAR.
In the first place. the sum mentioned
is 1926 900, 900 greater than the total revenue
of the United States during the civil war
(about $S00000 000} for the greater part of
its cost was added to the public debt, which
is yet unpaid, to the tune of 81, 700 000, 600,
and $900000 600 greater than the sum thought
safe to raise by extra taxation in single
year. And. while SIS per capita does not
look like large sum, it will surely make
heavy burden, since only about one in five,
or 100000 of the total population, are pro-
ducerS.
SIS apiece, or 10 per cent. or more, on all in
comes under $3.50 a year. To the laboring
man pure and simple. with whom 81 day
Is good wages. $40 would be exactly one
quarter of the years earnings, on the as
sumption that he had work three hundred
days, which is not SO once in a hundred
cases.
1t is the intention of the government to
increase the yearly revenues for war pur-
poses to the extent of from 800, 900 900 to
$4,000 1000. large part of this taxation
will be on beer--$1 barrel to raise about
S30O0O,0eO all told-being agreed upon. This
would be considerably under so cents per
capita of the population the price of ten
beers apiece all round, or $3.50, the price of
fifty beers for every wage Garner 1t is
pretty hard to say in advance who will
really pay the extra tax on beer; but it is
reasonably safe to predict that the brewers
VIII suffer least. while the saloon keepers
VIII probably suffer most. They can't raise
the price of beer by the glass i'm any event.
Eacn barreI contains about six hundred
drinks, and the lowest possible advance
would be cent glass. This would amount
to six times the extra tax. and the beer
drinkers would certainly revolt as one man
against any such imposition. 1t would be
easy, of course, to draw twenty more
glasses to the barrel by increasing the size
or the collar. and some saloon keepers
will undoubtedly do that, but surely not
those whose customers are regulars
That would be to drive them to other sa-
looms, whose ,propretors would see good
business in advertising the fact thar their
glasses were as full as ever
MAY BE POORER BEER
If the drinks were slightly reduced in
size there are few who would drink more
glasses; the gross consumption of beer
would be less, but not the money paid out
for it by the drinkers thereof. Should this
occur the loss would be divided by the
makers and sellers, a result that none but
themselves would grieve over If the brew
ers should try to offset the tax by making
poorer beer, however, the consumers would
probably have to pay out big sums in extra
doctors bills. which would be good for the
uoctorS ana bad for the rest of us. Per-
maps the authorities will keep an unusually
close watch on the quality of beer till after
the war is over
The tax that will be most universal will
he that on so-caled patent medicines
So far as the writer knows, there are no
STATISTICS OF the consumption of this class
one remedles, but IT is exceedingly large,
amounting, no doubt to many millions a
year. Literally everybody uses proprietary
preparations. since some of them are of
such quality and value as TO be prescribed
regularly by physicians. Whether the pro-
pIletary remedy tax will reduce the sale
OF these things IS doubtful-7probably not
less tea and coffee or deprive themselves i'm
other ways than to cut off their favorite
remedies.
About $40, 100000 will probably be raised by
the extra tax on cigars, cigarettes, chew
ing and smoking tobacco and snuff. The
additional tobacco tax will probably de-
crease the amount of the weed consumed
to some extent, but not much since instead
of raising the retail price of cigars and
cigarettes the manufacturers win probably
make them smaller use poorer stock
perhaps both-while the manufacturers of
smoking and chewing brands are more like
~ to lower the quality of their goods than
to raise the price. Undoubtedly, however,
there will be some increase in price espe-
cially of the better grades of short. fine
and plug cut and package smoking brands
and II thus seems probable that the COM
ing hard times will not lead to a boom in
pipes, as did the pinch of 1893.
The stamp tax on checks drafts mort
cages, loans and bonds will not trouble the
most of us much while the telegraph and
express package taxes will hit more pocket
books, but by no means all. On the whole
the outlook for the poor mans purse dur
ing the continuance of the war might be a
good deal worse than ii is, though no ac-
count has been taken in this article of the
probable general rise in prices due to other
causes than war taxes.