The National tribune., 1907-10-24
WHO PAYS THE PENSIONS.

lSOme people as to the exact sources ..
the money which is paid out for PEN
lsions. So much misinformation is con-
lstantly forced upon the people as to
this important matter that the friends
of veterans have to be Industrious in
Injecting the false assertions. The reye-
}nues of the United States approximate
$500, 100000 annually, of which $780,
I657,413 come from customs and abou,
, $3.50, 100000 from internal revenue. The
expenditures run about as follows:
ICivil and miscellaneous. 1920, 900, ,62 1
iWar Department 93,659,462
navy department -...--.. 1lV.996,l6 :
pensions .'......... ..... 141,034,0S
Interest on public debt. 24,3i0,326
Thus it will be seen that the pension
expenditures are about one-quarter OF
the entire amount.
An examination of the internal-reve-
, nue. schedule enables US to determine
with some accuracy just how much any
man may contribute to the pension
fund. Let it be remembered that the
internal-revenue taxes, like all others,
are not imposed for the sake of obtain
ing revenue, but for the purpose Of
regulating the manufacture and sale of
Ispirituous and malt liquors, oleomar-
Igarine, adulterated butter, tobacco, etc.
THE money which is received from these
is appropriated to the general purposes
of the Government with the payment
of pensions being an incident in that
I The tax on distilled spirits is S1.10
lper proof gallon, and from this source
the Government last year received
S143,394,055. a gallon of whisky con-
tains 64 ordinary drinks, for which the
buyer pays not less than 10 cents each
Therefore, every man has to pay the
barkeeper $40 before the Government
receives a revenue of S1.10, of which
only 81 cents goes to pensions. 1t will
| be seen that even if the tax We're i'm
posed for the purpose of paying PEN
sions that the drinker would have to
spend a great deal of money before he
contributed so small a sum as 81 cents
to the pension fund.
The tax on fermented liquors is 81
for barrel of not more than 81 gal
| Ions. There are four kegs of beer to
every barrel and about 125 glasses in a
keg. The beer drinker, therefore, will
pay the red-faced waiter, who serves
| him, s6.25 before the Government gets
the benefit of % cents revenue, of
which six cents goes to pensions.
Tobacco in all shapes, except cigars
and cigarets, pays tax of 6 of a cent
! per pound. A man therefore has TO
chew the enormous quantity of 10
pounds. probably much more than the
average per capita consumption in d
year, before he. would pay the Govern
ment six cents revenue, of which one
and half cents would go to the pen
sion fund. On cigars of all descriptions,
and weighing more than three pounds
per 1000, the rate is SO per 1000. That
is 80 cents a hundred. One thousand
cigars would furnish the ordinary man
smoking for year, at the end of which
he will have paid the dealer about $50
and the Government So. of which 75
cents will go to pensions. Large cigar
cts pay s1.0S pound and small ones
| 81 cents. 1t would be something of 4
computation to estimate how many of
tht5c vic, ahltlc anu
health destroyers man has to consume
before he pays more than a dime into
the Treasury of which two and a half
cents would apply to pensions.
Oleomargarine, when co1ored to look
like butter, pays a tax of 10 cents 4
pound. This is a matter that lies 50
near the hearts of our farmers and
81 y
ldiscussing. The makers Of real butter
are~ferce for a still higher tax upon
the bogus article. The same is appli-
cable to adulterated, process or reno
waited butter. Filled cheese pays one
tenth of cent pound. This is an
/ pure food and honest dealing. and there
is an element among our farmers and
others who insist upon its being made
so high as to be prohibitory. In the
interests of good morals there is tax
of SO per pound on opium prepared
for smoking. The revenue is not large
from this and hardly worth consider
food and honest dealing is that of four
cents pound on mixed flour.
It will thus be seen that the internal
revenue imposes no burden whatever
upon the people for the purpose of get
ting money to pay pensions and if it
did the proportion that any man pays
compared with the price that he paid
for the article, is insignificant, and en-
ters in no degree whatever into its cost
to him.
The receipts from customs could be
analyzed in the same way to show how
| insignificant is the revenue derived to
the general cost of the article and how
infiniteslmal the portion that is devoted
to the payment of pensions.
For example. and thoroly Illustrating
the whole schedule, let us take the mat
ter OF wool, which enters so largely into
mems clothing and upon which we have
heard limitless denunciation of the ini-
/ quities of the tariff. The duty on wool
used for clothing is IL cents n pound
In an ordinary suit of clothes there IS
not more than three or four pounds of
wool The tariff therefore on tba yyool