The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1907-11-09
TARIFF INEQUALITY
THE POOR PAY MORE TAKES
THAN THE RICH.
Duties Levied on Necessities Of Life
Are Responsible for This State
of Affairs-important Reason
For Reduction.

The tariff not only protects the
more tariff taxes than the rich man
ioes. Leaving out the fact that the
trusts are protected by the tariff, for
this everybody knows who has taken
he trouble to investigate the matter,
it is of still more Importance to pre-
sent the facts that show that the
many are taxed for the benefit of the
few. AS a general proposition no n
will deny that taxes should be assess
ed and paid according to income and
the amount OF property possessed by
the citizen. The person with an in
come of 500 a month or less should
certainly pay less taxes than one with
$1,000 a month or more, and yet as far
as tariff taxes OF necessities are con-
cerned the man with the small In
come avs as much and even more
than the man with the larger income,
because both poor and rich consume
about the same quantity of these
taxed necessities.
The poor mar has to buy as much
sugar as the rich man, and therefore
the tariff tax on sugar is much heavier
on his small income than on that OF
his rich neighbor. AS large families
are more usual with the poor than
with the rich, the tariff is thus still
heavier on those less able to pay 1t.
The tariff tax on refined or graduated
sugar being one and ninety-ive hun
dredths of a cent a pound, equal to
64.32G6 on the value of imported sug-
ar in the country where it was pro-
duced which in 1905 vas 8 cents a
pound, the cost of sugar is increased
by the tariff to the American con-
suner nearly 2 cents q pound. AS the
average consumption of sugar per
capita in the United States is estimat-
ed at 20 pounds, each average family
of five persons Uses $50 pounds on
which the tariff tax is 1888 per fam
ily on this one article of necessity. If
the family consists Of more than five
persons the tax is $1.36 more for each
extra person and is reduced the same
amount for each person less than five
in the family.
The tax to the DOOR man earning
$50 a month is about Il per cent OF
his wages, while the tax paid by the
| rich man on an income of 5000 a
month is but one tenth Of n per
| cent, and on the very rich the tax Is
| so infinitesimal that it is difficult to
compute the percentage. This one
item of the tariff taxes paid is but a
sample of the inequality of such in
| direct taxes and is the reason the
| democrats desire to reduce the tariff
and in place of such reduction collect
a tax upon incomes.
There Is another important reason
for the reduction and even the abo-
lition of the tariff tax on such articles
as are controlled by trusts, for with
no tariff, or only enough to produce
| revenue, the trusts will be compelled
to reduce the price they charge for
their products, or foreign products
would be imported and compete with
the trusts and those corporations
would lose that much trade If they
did not compete with the foreign I'M
ports. Thus the price of trust products
would fall and instead Of paying five
cents a pound for sugar it would sell
for about three cents, as it does in
England, and many other trust made
articles would decrease in proportion
| to the reduction of the tariff tax.
Some of the tariff schedules are
concocted to plumber the poor man
more than the rich in eve a di-
rect manner. For instance the tarif
tax on fine quality long blankets is
only about half what it is in a cheaper
grade and the poor man needs as
many blankets to keep warm as the
rich man does, and even more for his
house is not as well built or as warmly
heated.