Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-03-07
PASSING OF WAR TAX
After July the Use of Paper Stick
ers Will be Lessened.
DRUGGISTS VIEW OF THE REDUCTION
Stamps Purchased by the Manufacture
err and Paid for by the RetaiIer-Ab-
clifton of Tax on Medicines Makes
No Difference to Consumers.

After July l, according to the law
recently passed at Washington, there
Will no longer be need for revenue
stamps on bank checks, many legal
papers and kilograms, besides several
other articles. For the last few years.
since the war with Spain began, peo-
pie have been putting the little stick
|ers upon almost everything connected
with money or law. Even the family
patent medicine. taken for every COM
plant imaginable, had an array of
varied-colorcd stamps upon it's bottle
which would put a rainbow to shame
When man became naturalized and
an American citizen. his first task was
to pay a tax to help this country in
her war, for a stamp went on his nat
uralization papers, Everywhere the
little stamp was necessary, but now
or rather after July 1, it will no longer
be needed. The cost amounted to lit
tie to any individual, but the aggre-
gate counted up to good mark Firms
which suffered great deal were those
whose employees were many and who
paid in checks. To these firms the
cost was considerable, but no one com
planned. Every man was willing to
bear his part of the nations debt, and
now the tax is removed by congress
without, as one man expressed it, any
ones becoming bankrupt just to pay
for revenue stamps
The passage of the war revenue re-
duction bill in congress will do away
with the stamp tax on checks and
drafts, on express receipts, on bills of
lading, on kilograms and on proprie-
tary medicines. These are the taxes
that nave come nearest home to the
pockethooks of the people. Every
check and draft requires a 2-cent
stamp. The stamp on the check has
to be paid by the man who writes the
check, while the stamp on the draft is
paid for by the bank. Every telegram
requires 1-cent stamp, which the
sender has to pay for. Every express
receipt has to have 1-cent stamp,
which the holder of the receipt has to
pay for. Bills of lading require SINH
lar stamps, but the railroad companies
pay for them.
Druggists Happy.
Druggists regard the passage of this
bin as victory for their efforts. For
over year past the Retail Druggists
National association has been working
to induce congress to remove the
stamp tax on proprietary articles, and
during this congress they have main
tanned lobby at the capital for this
purpose. They are highly gratified at
the passage of the bill, because it will
result in a large increase in their pro
fits. S
The scale of stamp taxes upon pro-
prietary medicines and preparations is
as follows: Is cent On articles whose
retail price is cents, Il cent on 10
cents, IS cents on Is cents, 70 cent
on 25 cents, / "A cents on 35 cents to
so cents, rs cents on so cents to rs
cents and 21S cents. for all prices
above. These stamps are purchased
by the manufacturer, but they are paid
for by the retailer.
Make No Difference.
"The taking eff of this revenue
stamp will not make the articles taxed
any cheaper to the consumer" said a
retail druggist in speaking of the mat
ter, because the retail prices were
not raised on single article when the
tax was imposed. But it will make
considerable difference to the retail
druggist. When the law was passed
the manufacturers raised the prices
on dollar packages from 5 to 1871 cents
lper package. Now cents, you see,
| is double the amount of the tax on the
dollar package, and as we could not
raise the retail prices of the packages
our profits suffered a corresponding
diminution. A like advance was made
on other articles. When the manufac-
turers made this advance in the prices
of their goods, they promised to return
to the old prices when the war tax
was taken off. 1t remains to be seen
whether or not they will stick to this
promise. If they do not, the repeal
of the tax will not benefit the retailer.
In another way the repeal of the tax
will be a benefit. Many, in fact almost
every retail druggist, manufactures
some preparation of his own, and on
this he has to pay the tax. AS he gen.
orally retails the article himself. or
has a limited outside sale, he cannot
recover this expense from the retailer
or the consumer"