The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-01-13

l'Il Wy NhACIA 49,
uals contribute OF their private
means for the support OF the govern
ment that gives them protection. Al
first the means employed were crude
and more or less inefficient, but with
the development Of the systems OF
government under the influence OF
advancing civilization came the de-
velopmcn OF the systems of taxation
until those now used by existing gov
.rnments are more or less general in
their scope, quite complicated in their
machinery and effective in results.
\ Sovereign Power.
Taxation is now regarded as a SOW
ereign power of the State which it
excrts for the support and mainte-
nance of the government and without
which it is impotent to protect the
lives and property Of it's citizens or
perform the functions that insure to
each those inalienable rights referred
to in our Constitution as Life, llber-
~ and the pursuit Of happiness
History.
Historically considered, the right OF
a sovereign or State to levy taxes
without the consent or voice OF the
people was for centuries a question
that moved the people to revolution.
This is manifest in that clause Of the
e
1915, wherein the Sovereign prom
Used that in future NJ contributions
to the public treasury should be made
except by the consent of the General
Counsel Of the realm. Again the
struggle between Charles l and his
people, A. D.. 1649, hinged upo the
question. whether or not the king
could legally take money from sub
jects without the consent Of Parlia-
ment. A similar question gave rise tC
the American Revolution, with the de-
mand that there should be N taxa
ton without representation" Their
was established the doctrine tina,
taxes cannot be levied without the
consent of the people, or their repre-
sentatives. In this lies the true prin
ciple of taxation. r..
Federal lowers.
In the United States, the power t,
tax resides in two sovereign sources
the. National Government throug]
Congress and the respective State
through their Legislatures. The pow
ers of Congress in reference to taxa
ton are referred to in the Fedora
Constitution as follows:
LIST: Duties must be uniforr
throughout the United States SO. thu
one region may not be benefited {
the expense of another.
End Direct n capitation take
must be apportioned to the States az
cording to population.
Ord: Duties cannot be levied G
articles exported from any State"
Aside from these restrictions Co
gress can levy any kind of taxes ar
for any amount desired.
State Powers
States cannot tax XpOrtS or In
ports nor the agencies of the FEEDER
Government, such as governme
bonds, buildings, money, etc. Wi
these and a few other minor restri
tons, the power Of the States
levy taxes is absolute. h Sta
delegates it's powers OF taxation to t
various municipalities within its be
ders.
Protection.
Taxes are classified as direct or i
direct according to the way they a
imposed. The Federal Govsrnme
n<es almost entirely the methods
hE'rect taxation, viz: Custom hut
on in ports and internal revenue c.
lections.
The first Congress Of the Unit
States In A. l. i7S5 established
tariff regulating the duty an impo
and each succeeding ConsrtsE !
maintained a similar tariff. The =.
tom rates have been changed fir,
time to time, but the policy has be
continuously preserved. The spec
session Of Congress recently in sesst
passed a tariff bill reducing materia
the rates heretofore imposed and
many cases abolishing them altoge
er. 1t is impossible at this time
forecast the effect upon the inco
of the government, or upon the b.
ness interests concerned; time o
will reveal the wisdom and practi
bility Of this measure. Last year
tariff yielded a revenue to the F
eral Government of about $311.c,
900 and has produced since 1889 O
twelve billion dollars.
Internal Revenue.
AT the outbreak OF the Civil W
increased revenues became necess
and almost every article hat could
taxed was subjected to excise. tt
excise taxes were subsequently lal
ly removed, but they are still retail
upon such articles as alcoholic
quors, tobacco. cigars. cigare,
snuff. oleomargsrine, etc. From
source the Federal Government :
ed last year S2S3.000 600.
7 80 WORTH, ~ nnta that fo,. q