The herald., 1898-07-18


he taxss Il imposes jmust BE- paid. tn
Incidental consequences Of failure 10 OBJ
serve the requirements Of this law. apar'
| from the resulting punishment by fine Of
| Imprisonment, make It the interest Of the
citisen to conform to Its provisions. A
deed Of conveyance Of land must have q
stamp attached thereto. Neglect to afflz
this stamp to the deed involves not only
q fne Of one hundred dollars, but thu
instrument itself, although not made void
thereby, IL deprived Of the important fea-
ture Of being used as competent evidences
in any federal court. The gravity OF this
diaqualifying clause Is apparent Upor
the evideutial competency Of such an in
strument might turn, IN an action 1t law
the decision Of a case involving many
thousands Of dollars; or, It might be, the
life or reputation Of some estimable citi-
zen.
There ID, especially to the mercantile
community, an interesting provision tn
this revenue measure touching the &C.
ceptancs and payment of foreign bills Of
exchange or amy order for the payment
Of money executed abroad 1t is pro-
vided that any person paying or uego-
tfating such bills Of exchange or money
orders, without placing thereon the re-
quired stamp, becomes guilty Of mis-
demeanor, and, upon conviction Is pun
ished by a fine Of one hundred dollars.
It Is also provided that (D no instFu-
ment shall be recorded until 1t is first
duly stamped; (2) that bonds or certifi-
Gates Of stock issued in foreign country
must "pay the same tax" as similar In
struments issued in the United States;
(s) that every Geographic dispatch must
have the required stamp Zone cent? az
fixed thereto-for each omission there is
a penalty Of ten dollars; az and that
medical articles compounded by any
formula, published or unpublished, or
which are advertised as remedies or spe-
cities for any ailment must be stamped.
This last clause catches all that INTERIM
Unable host Of alleged sure cures" for
every i'll to which human flesh IL heir
the patent medicine materia.
One Of the least desirable features Of
the law Is the requirement that manu-
facturers of all articles upon which the
revenue tax is imposed shall file with the
collector of internal revenue. every
month, statement in writing that, dur
ing the preceding month, no such article
has been removed from the premises
other than such as have been duly taken
account Of and charged with the stamp
tax. Failure to make this declaration
involves a fine of one hundred dollars.
Citizens engaged in the business Of re-
fining petroleum or sugar, or owndng or
controlling pipe lines for transporting oil
and there are many such in Los An
gelec city and county-are closely inter-
ested in this revenue measure.
Where the gross annual receipts Of such
business exceed $250,O0o there is imposed
a special excise tax equivalent to one
quarter Of one per centum on the gross
amounts Of all receipts In excess Of said
sum. A monthly statement Of receipts
il also required Of this business. to be
made to the collector Of the district.
In point Of fact, almost every business
In the community IL made to feel the
pressure Of the war tax. In the abstract
It is q mere bagateile; in the concrete 1t
win amount to hundreds Of millions Of
dollars. While the excitements Of the war
are here. while the daily press teens with
the recitals Of startling incidents by flood
and field and Gin the imminently deadly
breach" the war tax cuts but little fig
ure, but It will assert itself when peace
returns and the memorandum of war
costs and distributions Is filed. OF course
the American people have long since rec
ogndzed the necessity for some such war
revenue law as that In question, but 1t
would be folly to suppose that they do
not also recognize the burdens It imposes
or the governmental policy that created
the necessity for It's existence.
o4