Year: 1870

ITS UYCoNsTTUTTONLITY, INJUSTICE, AND M


POLICY.


To the EditOr OF The Tribune.


SIR: Although the evidence adduced in the pre-
vious article must be admitted to be decisive of the
fact that a tax imposed by general assessment on
the incomes Of lands or of accumulated property
was deemed by the founders of the Federal COnsti-
tution to be direct tax, yet it may not be amiss to
advert to the decisions of the Supreme Court in this
relation The ancient case of HyltOn against the
United States merely establishes that the tax i'm
posed by the carriage tax" was not direct tax"
What were direct taxes it left unsettled.


The case of the Pacific Insurance Company against
Soule q Wallace, 4S3 in fact only recognizes the
validity of the previous decision. " If tax upon
carriages kept for his own by the owner is
not direct tax we can see no ground upon which
tar upon the business of an insurance company can be
held belong to that class of revenue charges 1t
is added "IO the question under consideration, 1t
must be answered that the tax to which it relates Is
not direct tax, but duty or ercise' The question
raised was as to the consequences of an appOrtion-
ment of such tax, which the Court pronounced
would be fatal to tho proposition. That this objec
ton applied to the appOrtiOnment of tax raised by


general assessment is not to be supposed The pro-
cedure in laying direct tax upon land in the United
States and in England is equally applicable to the
levy of an income tax by general assessment. In
both countries the value of the land is assessed and
then uniform rate or percentage is fixed according
to the total amount to be raised to be appOrioned
to the assessed value upon all the landhoders The
same mode of adjusting appOrtioned tax upon in
comes is equally practicable.


The latest decision of the Supreme Court Decem-
ber 1SG9-The Yeazie Bank Wallace, 533), instead
of confirming the opinion that an income tax is an
indirect tax, leans to the opposite conclusion And
it may further be taken is the language of the CHIEF
Justice, as established upon the testimony of Pat
tersOn that the words direct taxes, used in the
Constitution, comprehended not only capation taxes
and taxes lands, bit, perhaps, tGros personal
property by general valuation and assessment Of the
ra,ious descriptions possessed in the sererdl Satesn
Judge Patterson was of tho signers of the Con-
stiution, and thus his testimony, far as is goes,
does net inyaldate that of Hamilton, Madison, and
Martin. previously quoted.


Passing from this historical elucidatOn Of the
precise meaning of the Constitution of tie United
States which no man sworn TO support it can disre
gard, other considerations press earnestly upon the
mind. That the numbers of people are q fair index
of their wealth regarded as axiom in the for
nation of the Constitution; nor will careful COM
paTson of the value of the property assessed accord
ing to the last census, indeed OF any previous
census, with the then enumerated population, war





ton it, let the comparison be made. That in the i'm
position of direct taxes this Of the imposition
was to govern. is in the Constitution. Let
comparison now be made of the amounts of the In
come tax assessed as the present law requires it to
be done, with the numbers of the population.


The population of the State Of New-York, in round
numbers about one-tenh part of the total popula-
tion of the Union. Will il De believed that this
State pays thirty-One per oent-nearly Onethird-Of
the total amount of the yield of the Income tax
Is this tax equal In 1857 the Income tax collected
in the Eighth Collection District of New-York was
fire millions ou hundred and nRety-Sr thousand dollars
What was the amount of the Income tax collected
in the year in the Seventh District of the State
of North Carolina' Three dollars and hcenty-fre
cents -! Is this tax equitable : Under a more
effective collection however the Income return of
that district for the past year to 1886 76 So
also the City of New-iork and its envirOns are to
pay within a few days more than seven millions of
this tax-exceedng one-ifh of the total Income tax
to be collected, being less than S3j OOO0OO, Again
although the Constitution requires that representa-
tiyes and direct taxes shall he appOrtioned among
the several States according 10 their numbers, and
Ncw-iOrk has 81 representatives, and Mississippi has
five members, the Income tax of the State of New
York amounted for the last year to $40 55ONOO that
of Mississippi amounted only TO S39,70


In answer to these remarkable comparisons. we
may be told, this merely proves that the Income tax
as imposed, only falls upon the rich. Is this in
fact BY official statement made before the pres
ent Committee of Ways and Means it appeared that
the total number of persons paying the present n-
come tax, out of population of 100000. IA little
exceeded 272OOO. Were these the rich The answer
is seen in classification of the persons paying so
of those paying $50 and not over S5 and of
those paying over $50 and not over 500 The total
number of these persons little exceeds 2ls0c0
Were persons paying such moderate contributions
the rich May they not be regarded the not rich
These constitute fourffths of the persons paying
this unequal tax, and these. let il be remembered
are the persons who hereafter chiefly to pay this
odious tax.


The bondholders Of the new loans are contemplated
to be exempted. Operatiyely, it viii be discrimin
alton IN favor of the rich, and against persons in
moderate circumstances discrimination in fayO.
nl I.sk tla a..