The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-13
HEAVY TAX ON SAVANNAH.
PROBABLY OVER 100000 To BE
RAISED DIRECTLY HERE.

Banks Have Licenses of Hundreds of
Dollars Exacted From Each of
Them-E,very Broker Must Pay an
Annual TRx-Brewers and PrODrie-
tary Medicine Men Catch It Heavi-
Iy-Business Men viii soon Find
the Unpleasant side of War Times.
Savannah will soon begin to feel the
effects of the war. It's people, and espec-
tally those in business, will speedily per-
sonally realize what war means in the
shape of increased and extraordinary tax
alton. Their pockets will soon be touch
ed and that not lightly by the Federal
government for their proportion of the
vast sums that must be raised and ex-
pended in the prosecution of the struggle
with Spain.
One hundred thousand dollars would be
a small estimate of the amount of direct
taxes that will be levied on the business
interests Of Savannah during the next
twelve months to meet the demands of
the treasury department. War has an
unsuitable NAV, and gulps down millions
of dollars in a twinkling. What the in
direct burden upon the people of the city
win be no one can tell. On various items
of food and of clothing there viii be an
increase in cost. In the aggregate this
will mean an additional expense of many
dollars to the individual and of many
thousands of dollars to Savannahlans as
a whole.
Almost nothing that can yield revenue
escapes taxation in a time Of war. The
long array of articles on which direct
taxes have been laid in the bill which viii
become a law this week shows that Con-
gress has well covered the field. Every
conceivable form of business paper is
subject to a stamp tax, special license
taxes are imposed, tariff imposts are lev
led or increased, and altogether the bur
den Is so distributed that, while business
interests will bear their full share, every
citizen will have reason to know from
personal financial experience that money
Is the backbone of war.
On one Savannah industry alone an ad-
ditonal tax is levied that will bring 5000
from this city to the government. The
tax on beer is raised from 81 to 81 a barrel
As the output of the two Savannah brew
| cries is estimated at 80 600 barrels a year
this means that those two establishments
alone will pay in taxes $4,000 a year in
stead of half that amount as in the past.
Savannah is also a large manufacturing
point for proprietary medicines. Four es-
adjustments here turn out hundreds of
| thousands of bottles Of these preparations
! in a year, and almost every drug store
! puts UP some special compound Of its own
for sale.
These must, as soon as the bill becomes
a law, have stamps placed upon them, at
the rate of one quarter of one cent on a
| scent article, one-half of one cent on a
| 10-cent article, one cent on a 25-cent ar
Gle, 2 cents on 50-cent articles, and so
| on. 1t is a small tax on the single bottle,
| but TO the manufacturer turning out many
gross of % or 50-cent bottles of medicine
| daily it reaches considerable proportions.
Many hundreds of dollars of stamps will
| be bought in Savannah under this tax
| The aggregate may reach well into the
! thousands.
! The Savannah banks, like those of other
| cities, are another source from which the
| national government will derive considera-
| BILE war revenue. The tax on them is not
only direct but 1t is heavy On the first
| $4,000 of thetr capital and surplus they
must pay $50 and 81 on each $1,000 add
| tional. IL is easy to see what this means
| to the banks here. Taking their state
ments at the first of this year, it will be
found that the government has put a
direct tax ON them as follows: