The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-06-29

war revenue bill, which is expected to
become law in few days, is some
thing that very small proportion OF
the general public has given any
thought to. The importers, manufac-
turers, jobbers, retailers, in fact, all
merchants who hand their wares over
to the general public for consumption,
have not been so remiss in this matter,
and the result is that most Of those
who come in for heavy taxes under
the new bill have arranged things so
that their share of the war revenue
will be paid by the consumer. Then
there are many other things in every
day use by the general public, such as
bank checks, deeds, mortgages, con-
veyances, notes and steamship tickets,
that the individual himself must pay
the tax on. There is going to be a
great number of surprised citizens on
the first day that the new law goes
into effect, which will probably be on
July l, because the articles taxed are
many
An interesting feature Of the new
law is the new stamps tits going to
put into use in this country. There
will be hundreds Of different kinds.
For weeks the Government engravers
have been making designs and submit
ting them to the treasury department
for approval. It's said that all Of
the work has been completed, and
that the Government plants, assisted
by the various bank note companies.
are hard at work trying to turn out
enough stamps to meet the demands
Of the first week in the life Of the new
law.
The demand during that week will
be tremendous. Every bank check
must bear stamp. Most men know
that there are thousands Of bank
checks issued daily in this city alone.
In the entire country there may be
million Yet the stamping Of the
bank checks is just one item 10 the
List.
During the civil war and away up
into the seventies, when there was
tax on bank checks, the stamping was
expedited by the banks, which entered
into an agreement with the Govern
ment by means Of which they were
allowed to stamp themselves whole
books Of checks. These books were
sold to the depositors for the value OF
the stamps they contained. Whether
this method will be adopted now is
question. If it is not the depositor
will have to buy his own stamps and
stick them ON himself.
AS the distribution Of these stamps
is in the hands Of the collector OF
internal revenue, they will naturally
be on sale in the Offices Of the district
collectors. Banks also will keep them,
they will be on sale in the various ex-
changes downtown, and in the bust
ness centres of the city. Stamps OF
the kind that almost everybody will
want will probably be sold in drug
stores aud retail dry goods stores, as
the ordinary postage stamps are to-
day. The whole thing will eventually
resolve itself into a perfect system.
The interesting question is whether
the Government, in the short time it
has had to get ready, will be able to
supply enough stamps to meet the
demand of the first few days. If it is
not, there will be endless confusion
and interference with business. How
ever, the Government is not generally
remiss in such matters, and there is
very little danger Of such break
down.
New York city s contribution to the
war fund under the new law will be
almost twice as much as that exacted
from any other city in the country
There is very little to base calcula-
tons on, but it has been roughly esti-
mated that this city will spend s40,-
600, 900 annually on war taxes. There
will be no protest here. II it were
twice as much New Workers would
stand it without a word.
The tax on beer is nominally 81 a
a barrel. 1t will be 50 under the new
law. 1t is expected that something
like 81 900, 600 year will be realized
ON beer iu this city. The brewers
have refused to pay or even share the
additional expense They say that
the retailer must stand it. The re-
tailers are not satisfied with this plan
at all. They proposed some time age
that the government quadruple It's