The record-union., 1898-11-25
THE WAR TAX.
TT rs PAID PRINCIPALLY By
THE WEALTHY.
The Consumer and the Poor
Are Practically
Exempt.

Who pays the war tax? The tax
law, the internal revenue records ana
information from those who purchase
the stamps and pay licenses show II Is
the men Of means-the men who nave
capital in business, great corporations
owners of capitalized industries, those
who deal in securities and handle large
sums of money. Under the tax law
the revenue flows from the channels
of wealth. and the greater the wealth
the larger the proportion of tax.
This much talked about war tax
means the daily receipt OF about S1,-
100000 by the national treasury OF
this sum New York City pays SGT ,3OO.
Such debts will soon balance the Span
ish war ledger for. though last June
members of Congress talked anout
$500, 100000 war expense, the actual
amount to date has been but little
more than one-seventh of that amount.
The Treasury Department is now
compiling a report of the war tax re-
ceipts for the first quarter, which VIII
soon be issued, and in its absence ng-
ures Of interest have been gotten from
the collectors Of the various districts,
and those from New York, which pays
about one-fifteenth. of the entire tax,
tell the story of where the revenue
comes from.
IMMENSE DOCUMENTARY TAX
The figures obtained from the va
rious revenue collectors in New York
City are for the last three complete
months, and they show that S6, lSO,ooo
of war tax was received in that time.
Nearly all the items in the present
internal revenue law were added IN
June for war tax, the tax on spirits
remaining the same, while the tax on
beer and tobacco were doubled All or
the many others are new.
Now comes the interesting fact, as
shown by the figures of the three
months referred to, that in New York
City 50, ,326,000 was paid for document
ary stamps alone. This is more than
double the amount paid in any other
department of the tax, and the figures
are out of all proportion to those OBJ
tained from other sections of the coun-
try on account of the metropolis being
the nations financial, commercial and
speculative center.
This large amount means the use of
stamps on stocks, bonds, certificates of
indebtedness, contracts for future de-
livery, bank checks and drafts, bills
of lading, telegraph and telephone mes
Sages, conveyances, insurance policies,
passage tickets to foreign ports and
similar instruments. All of these items
come from the comparatively rich-the
banker, the broker, the man with a.
bank account, the man with securities
to sell and lands to convey, the great
moneyed corporations, travellers abroad,
men of capital and those who deal in
money and securities. The poor have
very little to do with them.
Revenue Commissioner Scott eSti-
mates that Wall street alone pays $1S,-
600 a day of this sort of tax.
SPECIAL TAXES.
In the same three months New York
paid S424. 900 in what is known as
special taxes that is, a tax paid by
many manufacturers and capitalized
institutions, by persons conducting va
riouS sorts of amusements, and carry
ing on the numerous lines of broker
age. This tax all falls where capital
exists. Where in some instances rates
and prices are increased the increase is
charged to customers who are of the
moneyed class.
Then, many of these same manu-
facturers must place stamps on their
goods, and this leads us to the proprie-
tary tax, of which 81, 163, 600 was paid
in New York in the three months. This
tax covers what is known as ''propri-
etary articles" chewing gum, wines
and similar goods. Then comes the
tobacco tax of $S04,0 600 and tax on
beer of 81 ,463 900, which is the addi-
tional over and above what was re-
quired by law prior to the middle Of
June.
Here is an immense revenue. and
what is most remarkable, it is paid
with little or no complaint. and, as
told by the revenue clerks who came
in contact with the public, quite will
ingly, with very few exceptions which
are among the smaller taxpayers, hav-
ing little capital.
EFFECT ON THE POOR.
Diligent inquiry shows that the con-
sumner has practically escaped the tax.
and that the poor directly bear none
of it, and incidentally are hardly af-
fected by it. The people generally, the
great mass of consumers, pay no more
to bankers and brokers and drawers
of checks than they did before the law
went into effect, the amusement loving
paying managers, the consumers of
beer and chewers of gum pay the
usual prices and the users of medicinal
proprietary articles are charged no
more for them than before, excepting
in rare instances. where perfumes,
cosmetics and some other luxuries
have had slight increase in price.
What exceptions there are affect only
the well-to-do, so far as can be learned
from dealers. Sellers of the finer
grades of cigars and more expensive
wines have in instances raised their
prices. These appear to be matters of
Indifference to the ordinary citizen.
whose nickel cigar remains the same
and whose 5-cent glass of beer has
not changed, excepting in instances
where the quantity has shrunk a little.
Because the man with bank ac-
count pays cents on each check he
q N a A a - a n n n a