Evening star., 1925-04-05

Spelling matches were not only a
source of public diversion in Wash
~. ington fifty years ago,
opening but they were a means
rr...l of raising revenue. Such
o'0A' an enterprise is an
nounced in The Star of March 80,
1875. having been promoted for the
benefit of the Young Mems Christian
Association. 1t was to be held the
following night at Lincoln Hall,
which stood at the corner of Ninth
and D streets. Tickets of admission
sold for SO and 20 cents, There were
to be two contests, the first between
two classes Of ladies and gentlemen.
led by Prof. Cleveland Able of the
Weather Bureau and DR.. E. M CAL
laudet president of the Deaf and
Dumb College" The second class was
to be between two classes Of profess
sionals, the Grammar School boys
and girls against the reporters. print
ers, proofreaders, etc" Speaker
James G. Blaine, il was announced.
would preside, but, as 1t turned out,
Mr. Blaine had to leave the city and
Columbus Delano, Secretary of the
Interior, presided in his stead. The
referees were Senator Window and
Ainsworth r. Spofford, librarian Of
Congress.
Shortly before the close of the
Forty third Congress an act was
passed imposing a per-
Personal sonal tax upon the Dis
To. law trict When the new
Lax Law law was examined it
was found to be imperfectly drawn.
A ss meeting of citizens was held
to protest against the enforcement
OF the act and a committee was
named to confer with the District
Commissioners. The. Star of April 2,
1875, says:
1--WE surrender a large portion of
our space today to a report of the in
terview between the citizens commit
tee and the District Commissioners
upon the all-absorbing question of
the personal tax. 1t would appear
from the facts elected at this inter
view that there was no real necessity
for the levying of this personal tax;
that it was not favored by the Dis
trict Commissioners, and that it was
only inserted in the tax law through
the representations of Mr.. Jeremiah
Wilson" "a member Of Congress from
| Indiana and later and for many years
a leading member of the District BARI
"and others that no tax law could be
passed that did not contain this fea-
ture. 1t Is inconceivable how Mr..
Wilson could have got this idea, for
| the fact is indisputable that the feel
| ing in Congress was to relieve the
citizens of Washington from the
enormous taxation of the previous
! year, amounting in the two payments
| to 5 per cent, by fixing a light tax
for this year. And yet, in fun view
of this feeling, which manifested IT
| self in every debate in Congress, Mr.,
Wilson thrust this most oppressiv
| and offensive additional tax upon the
people here. a tax 50 odious that its
| enforcement in the onerous shape in
| terpreted by the Commissioners has
| received the unanimous protest of the
| largest meeting OF the business men
of Washington ever held in the city.
Gov Dennison" Zone of the District
| Commi ssi oners), while not an advo-
| cate of the personal tax, holds that ii
| is not really as stringent and onerous
| as the personal tax in Ohio, his own
| State, where, he says, it Is 2I1 per
| cent, while the real estate tax is also
I2h per cent. 1t would be matter OF
| interest now to know what amount
of tax is realized in Ohio from this
| source. II in that large. wealthy
| heavily populated State the amount
| should prove less than enormous II
| would snow one OF TWO things
| either that the assessors there failed
! to make anything more than a merely
| nominal valuation, or that a large
| portion Of the people, feeling that the
l1aw is inQuisitorial and oppressive
! eyade compliance with Ii or deliber-
ately disregard IL.
1 But, whether our personal tax Is
| or is not as onerous as that in other
| States, it Is certain that the law pass
ed so hurriedly in the last moments
| of Congress is so imperfect and has
such fatal omissions that ii is virtu-
ally impracticable of execution. We
| think, therefore, 1t would be the part
of wisdom on the part of the Com
missioners to defer the attempt to
| carry out an impracticability and
/ wait until Congress shall have an
| opportunity to say what 1t really did