New-York tribune., 1900-12-08
THE WAR TAX REPORT
WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE GIVES
ITS REASONS FOR MAKING A RE
DUCTIoN OF 100000.
[BH rELEaaAPH ro rHE rr1puvrl


best be abolished with due regard to the stability
Of the National credit and what extent the i'm
portunittes Of special interests have been ignored
Ihe estimated increased reduction Of SO 10000 be-
yond the amount suggested by the President and
the Secretary of the Treasury is shown TO have
been unavoidable. and it is asserted that this ne
eessity will be more than vindicated when the bill
! comes hack to conference from the Senate. After
| showing how closely the War Tax bill Appropriated
| me revenue production estimated BY the WAYS and
-'Aeans Committees estimates two and half years
Sso' he report continues in part as follows:
. lac report submitting the original bill to the
iloVSe !.T9>s contained the following:
Sd ICES wl'ch would be naturally repealed modi-
war expenses Ssy csssd o. war ana ID IL the Raymes
SON 70 place limit on them, not only for the
vi vi IN tne war but also for the reason that war al
which 10 80 tfaln or extraordinary expenditures
\ hostilities' win 'iie 0ioSe u @o'UNi
WI While the war for which these additional taxes
@ "IIS Levied IS ended, the train of extraordinary
eoI ehaitu,es has not terminated with the close Of
MAINTAIN man ain an army OF hundred thousand men
possessions ana we SrqeT & are fully restored in all our
IG1is 70 man the fortihcatons which we have been
sufficient force in the Nav a To man 70 ibe Ve
NaIt NNaIch we have recently added. The Increasing
greater drain upon resources.
SURPLUS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
Teasafnn f to the report Of the Secretary Of the
hScal year ending June so 1900 were SS69 4s1 IA
While the total expenditures were $50 Cos S71 show
ing surplus Of $7s.527 900 IS He also estimates the
receipts for the fiscal year ending June S0 1901
the me 5iS OF exis6ing ISL g laws at $6s "a 52 g. and
an estlInated surplus o. SS00OON00. For the fiscal
Treasury estimates the revenues at o. and
me expenditures at $3.50 S74 s04 "a leaving esti-
revenues and expenditures for the year 1902 are all
mated Increase in the revenle n Of s9s oo6o0 eyer
tne previous yesr and an increase of expendi
eiIned TO take more conservative view OF the
ending June 81 Ios al the t@ f9g the the year
anxious to avoid any deficiency in the future They
while the Secretary of the Treasury in his Tenort
suggests reduction Of only S0,OOOOOO in the
In making the reductions in the bill reported the
ing taxes in the War RevenIe srt IN dlII1y .3
abolition Of those which We're most vexatioUs and
proved great burden upon the 4eveT5 b4a6cb aEs S
trade TO which they are applied
THE BEER TAX REDUCTION.
Soon after the close Of the, Civil War the tax on
II was then claimed that the loss from waste and
in barrels and the stamp put upon it was P56eG s56gl
~ per cent OF The entire output. and hence re-
continued down to the R9S enaetmant TaH %rf
fun consideration and believing from the evideRcs
presented that the loss from these sources id moi
tax beer I bsPTe Of Pdne 2adn 1ng w9S tfs
no no. repSte ,Whatever ard such was the tax at the
time the eommittee agreed upon bill making the
70 1 rebate Of ~ per cent upon this s. But this
Tsf encted 19 bb PI up9n @ me sane % %gr3qnd as when
intended simply as reduction on the s. tax. max
ing the advance under the War Revenue actgonly
= cents a barrel This s. cents then is rhe war
Complaint has been made that this tax has
9orhe afaylIy upon the 6reWing interests ana II
it had resulted in dacreased cons91aprian Of
bser As evidence Of this, il was claimed that the
in 1893 than it was in 1885 before the war revenue
ing of in the consumption has occurred in num-
Der Of other years in the last decade, and that
the increase n consumption in the year 1900 of
27500oo barrels IS nearly the greatest OF any one
ConsmrnIfo m mi in faoo Vas ~ caIss7 S ~ inCresssd
facturers Of beer have some claim in the general
the amendment proposed in Section ! Of the bin
gives them all the relief TO which they are entitled
in view CT the amount OF reduction carried under
the bill We increase the discount from IL per
cent 10 20 per cent, making net reduction OF .
AN ANNOYING FEATURE REMOVED.
The two cent stamps on bank checks. certificates
very annoying to a large class Of people and much
complaint has been made to the committee. It is
transactions are very frequent and The stamp is
imprinted upon the paper itself the burden and
towns where transactions are less frequent. and
get checks with imprinted stamps the annoyance
and delay have been a great source or complaint
esges There is no do4bf fbat tbis taxation
has caused more widespread annoyance and trouble
than anything else in the act The committee
therefore has cricken these taxes from the law.
The upon deeds and conveyances has been
quite burdensome in numerous instances, as well
upon promissoTy notes and mortgages has been
very onerous upon the debtor class II has seemed
out paying tribute 10 the Government upon every
items in amount that stricken from the sched-
ule, while the other taxes of like character are
small in amount and present an obvious reason tor
their repeal
REPEAL OF SCHEDULE B
The committee has repealed all OF schedule 3
tax upon proprietary medicines and articles OF
similar nature There has been greater protSesl prS
in the whole law. It would appear that the tax
was much greater in severity than Congress had
anticipated when the law was enacted WINE Ihe
per cent OF taxation is small upon the retail price
OF me article sold II mas fallen upon & tne IA la1u Ip
aggregate a large percentage or taxation upon the
tcIes are Composed iargeiy Of al ohol upon which
the aggregates about 11OO per cent Of its value
chckle imported into the United States and paying
duty OF 10 cents pound, said TO be 90 per cent OF
its value The committee recognized that the wines
there did not Sc seem m 10 be any Convenient way to
therefore has left it the same as in the original
The committee has also amended the tax upon
bequests by adding:
That nothing in this section shall be construed
to apply to bequests legacies for uses of re-
hgious. literary. charitable or educational char
acter including works Of art.
The committee believed that it was an oversight
beo@Iests @ seb as are here provided for and that
Congress would not have agreed 10 such taxation
In making the foregoing reductions the commit
tee believe that the bill goes far II is safe TO
that they have made the reductions so as to do
away with the most annoying and vexatlous taxes
under the act and also 10 relieve such business as
is best entitled 10 relief under All the circun.
nee The s adRere t ts 10 se vsr taxs would
naturally be repealed modified when the neces-
sities OF war ana the payment Of expenses in
ne