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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron News-Record, 1887-08-10, Page 4rt •r • The Huron JIews !'ward Vic(4ueallay :August lith, 118$7 DIRECT AND INDIRECT TAX- ATION. It is held by many that direct taxation would be the means of checking governmental extravagance Theoretically this may be true, -pructi- caily it is not. State taxation in the various States of the Union; is direct. How do•we find it to work? Docs it prevent inordinate sums being raised and squandered. Does it prevent immense sums of money eo raised from being paid to ward politicians and other heelers without the city or state getting any consideration therefor? It does not do any of these things. The immense frauds perpetrated by officials and contractors in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chic- ago, and in all the States, go to prove that so far as a check upon fraud and extravagenco in the ex- penditure of the taxes paid by the people are concerned, the ,mode, of raking taxes has nothing whatever to do in affecting the amount demanded or its honest exe peuditere, Facts are against theory. In Canada nil the, money regeired for carrying on the Federal Govern- ment is raised by indirect taxation, and the greeter portion of that re• quire(' for Piovincialpurposes. And it is a ntatistieally ascertainable fact, that ;greater value is given for the money raised by indirect tax• ation and expended by the Federal Go•ornut,-nt than is given for. that raised by ti'ireet taxation and ex, pendeii by the municipalities and the Provinces. The many American "boodiers" that from time to time come to Otteada with the proceeds of direct taxation are notable proofs that the rnode of taxation -has nothing to do with the mode of honest expendi- ture. -These cases prove, if any-, thing, that there is a greater chance for fraudulent manipulation of money raised by direct taxation than where it raised indirectly. Then the "you support me and I will support you" principle is introduced more in- to state affairs than into national ones. The case of the famous bIc- Gariglo of Chicago, who is now in Canada and who ,is being made so notorious by the Canadian press, and the eleven commissioners of Cook county, Illinois, whose. secretary he. was, and who filched sone million of dollars fro.m......t.he 'county, does not afford any showing that where taxes are paid directly the amount collected .is only that legitinately required and expended. Seven of those worthies were sentenced last "Friday to two years in the State pris.iu, dell four of then( got oft' with a $1000 fine each. :A.u'unusually careful and accurate 'American writer on political econ. 00 y in eeinparing national direct taxation with state indirect tax- ation unreservedly conies to the conclusion that indirect taxation is most favorable to the masses. "\\'e may now form a fair estimate. of the amount paid in taxes by differ• eat classes, although the indirect, taxation can only be stated approxi- mately. • We commence with the 1ahcrjn;;,man who has no taxable property. FN: "plays two dollars a year for state and town taxes, and, if be neither drinks nor smokes, he pays nothing more except 'the duty on the imported goods which' he con- sumes. .1 do not find any authority as to the amount of this, but I have .made careful inquiries and -brought together such filets as I could find. The Dlasssaebusatts Bureau of Statis• tics of Labor made very careful in• vestigatious in regard to the wages and teepon es of working leen. ' "It will bo sem at once from this table that the \rod; lug classes con- sume very few ni,tnufar.turiei goods. These aro almost all of A.nicrican make. Provisions aro all American. Groceries are partially imported, but some of the most important, as tea and coffee, are free. Others pay a small duty. It is not probable that a -laboring man, without property, pays an indirect tar; of more, than ten dol- lars a year. Nor can it he shown that Itis expenses are much increased by the indirect results of protective tariff. Most of the things which he con.stunes are not affected directly or indirectly by protection of American manufactures, He probably gains by the increased dotnand for labor and by the taxes paid by manufacturing companies more than be loses. His total tax amounts to only twelve dol- lars, which the lowest class of labor- ers can pay by ten days' work, the average wages of this class in this state being *1.25 a day. The cost of see that NC constantly 9 0 living is sn ti y men of this class laying up money enough in a few years to buy land and build a house. In these eases, how- e;r1', the <<'ife generally works also in a mill or as a t;hurwonaan. This class is certainly not oppressed by taxa tion.'' "Let us nese go a step hither 'and take a man who has propor�y to the animate of $5,000,.aud au income front labor of 41.200 a year. He pays a poll -tax of two dollars, a pro• piety tax of 47b, and au indirect tax to the national goverumcut which may be—estimated at 475. Total, 4152. This represents about thirty- eight days' labor. Thia est>.moUsas based oa the same principle as the last, but in veiw of the fact that a man with au income of $1.200notonly buys more manufactured goods, but a much larger proportion of what he uses is imported, it is evident that he is taxed much more heavily than the common laborer. His income from labor and property is about 41.400. This tax is nearly 11 per cent of his income, while the other man pays only 4 per ceut. "Let us now take the case of a man with real and personal property worth 4100,000,who lives upon his in- come from this—say 44,000 a year He pays a poll -tax of $2, a property and income tax of 41,580. and an in- direct tax to the national government which we may estimate - at $200., Total, 91,782. This is 48 per cent of his income. There are many holders of real estate whose whole income is not suffiicent to pay their taxes, and in the cases I have mentioned I have made no allowance for extra taxes for betterments, district expenses, and ethers which are only too common. Whatever may be said in favor of this system, it certainly does not illustrate the principle of equality. "The national taxation is much more equally divided than thateaf the state. The laborer with 9300 iucoine pays 31 percent ; with an income of $1,400, 51 per cent, and the capital- ist with an income of 91,400, 51 per cent, and the capitalist with an in- come of 94,000 pays 5 per cent on his to the national government. It is also true, contrary to.what is often said, that the taxation resulting from a protection tariff falls chiefly ou those who aro benefited by it. Ian - ported goods, awl those American manufactures whose price is 'raised by the tariff, are consumed chiefly in the manufacturing states. Any other form of taxation would fall tuucli more heavily upon the West and South. • It is to bo hoped that the changes made will be the result, of the wise application of general principles, and not the result of what we call " log - roiling." or a conlbfnetiou of interests_ lased upon the agreement, "You sup- port my interest and I will support yours." It ought to be a protective tariff as well as a source of resume or a form of taxation, but there is uu- - wiso and destructive as well as wise and productive protection. As to the 'principle of indirect taxation involved in the tariff question, it is generally criticised on the ground that in a free country the people should know ex- actly what taxes they pay,which they do not in case of indirect taxes; but we have seen that these taxes are more equally distributed than the direct taxes, and it is a singular fact that the greatest extravagance iu public expenditure is not at Washing- ton, where it is removed from the eyes of the people and is the result of indirect taxation, but it is. iu the towns where direct taxes are imposed upon property by the popular vote, or in the cities where they arc voted by the direct represcutatives of the non - tax -paying voters. Here taxation sometimes becomes confiscation." govertiment, and to Ain ignominiott death. But since tligir„ defeat in their- rebellious and anerebiolcal de- signs, their les.cier now says that that defeat wee "a, greater victory than that of Wolfe on the historic plains of Abraham." Alt patriotic Canadians will agree that the defeat of Riel anti his Grit aiders, abettors and sympathisers was a great, a noble victory for Canadians of all races and creeds. But recent converts are not to bo trusted too implicitly. Why does leader Laurier now glory in that which a few short mouths ago be fought so furiously against 1 Then he was looking only to influence the passions of French Canadiane. Then he would have sacrificed the liberty and free government he now admits we possess could be have duped his fellow countrymen. He failed in his wicked designs. A general election convinced him that even race and creed demagogism could not blind French Canadians •to the inestimable advantages of law and order over a system of rapine, plund- or and murder; in which every man was a law unto himself only. Now he acknowledges his error. And AV by 1 Because his own people knew him not when he preached disorder anti rebellion, and because, as the leader of the Grit party, he seeks to cohese, to consolidate that party in the other provinces. IIe knows that when such veteran statesman as the Hon. Alex, NUc. Kenzie and Sir. Richard Cartwright stood aghast at endorsing his views on the Riel question,that there must be a power in his own party behind their veiees which" it would not be advisable to disregard. Whether Mr, Laurier was sincere or not last week when he said that the people of Quebec, the people of Canada, had gained a victory For liberty and free government, we have no nleatis of knowing, but do know„ 41iat.Jie._.s.tated shall not say that he uses language to conceal his opinions. It were charitable to give hire credit for ex- pressing his honest convictions. We spial) do so, and intimate that it is a pleasing sign of the times to find such a one time stalwart opponent of the policy of the Conservatives acknowledge that the slleCes. of that policy has conduced to liberty and free government. 'Tis ioQdeed a glorious victory for the Conservatives to find the,vi'ebel sympathising le,,der of the Grits of Canada own that we possess liberty and free goverumant in this Canada of ours in spite of the efforts of bis party to take trway the one and destroy the other. On 'another page, under the heading of "One kind of Loyalty," we give former expressed views of leader Laurier and several of his Grit lieutenants,which it would be well to contrast, with the.. views of Mr. Laurier about liberty and free governmeut,expressed by him a few days ago. Nothing succeeds like success. Law and order has triumphed, consequently the advo- cate of rebellion'is theirside now. • A GL ORIO US VICTORY. i\Ir. Laurier, the leader of the Grit party in Dominion inatters' ad- dressed a great bun feed meeting in Quebec a few days ago. He ex- pressed the belief- chi, • "we," the French Canadians of Canada, "bad gained a greater victory than Wolf did on the historic plains of Abra- ham, that is .we have gained the victory of liberty and free Govern- ment." This is ' an unlooked for a lmiflsiot front the shoulder=his —musketleader of the Grit party who not very long simile declared that his compatriots were so tyrannized' over by the English speaking people, especially by the Orangistea, of the Dominion that he would have only Leen too glad to have Shot down Canadian volunteers who were endeavoring to perpetuate." for all Canadinni, these of his own race and creed as well as all others, that very "liberty and free Govern- ,. uwent" which Ire now says his own 'maple are the proud possessors of. \Vhat peculiar men these Grits be I Their new -leader, for partisan purposes, said that lie would have shot down the defenders of the very liberty and free Government which he now boasts his people to possess. Tie now as much as says that every time the Grits urn defeated in their so called—by themselves—constitu• tional aims and efforts, there is a victory for liberty and free Govern- ment. TIe and his party espoused the cause of Riel ; they would have shot down the defenders of free government ; they would have got behind their Winchester rifles and "popped" the volunteers -:t sentiment endorsed by their organ in Clinton ; .they would erect a Monument to the memory of the poor deluded wretch whoa they inveighled into unholy warfare upon religion and free civil reply that the Canadian horse in the U. Sewiila cost the buyer more than he is asking. lie gate his $160 for his horse.' Now let us take the duty off and let the seamed.buyer go to the saute American breeder to buy the same kind of a horse. At first he is asked the sauce price, but he places his position somewhat like this : 1 paid. you $150 for a Sorsa of this kind when I was here before. I can now, as I could then, buy a a similar horse in Canada for $120, but the 20 per cent duty iA off now and I will have to take that aluouut otf the price of your horse or I can- not buy. The American breeder perceives the situation and weakens. What will apply to one case will apply to all. Take the American duty off horses and the price would tumble there and would consequent. ly drop in Canada also. Did the Americans not raise horses Cana- dian breeders alight get the advant- age of the American duty were it removed. As it is the Americans are snuch greater producers of horses titian Canadians, and the removal of the duty 'would 'not only lessen the value of American bred horses, but would have a tendency to lessen the value of horses in Canada. TYPE-ICAL SINS OF TYPO- GRAPHY. r In our comments st week On 5 letter from "Conservative Teetotal- ler," the types made us say in one sentence precisely the rovers° of what we had written. Our corres- pondent had notictid that a writer in the Free 1'vc,ss had charged Inspector Paisley with extorting money from hotel keepers, and if the statement was correct such blaclkailing should hive been kuown and expos- ed by Tile NEWS-RECOnn. In the Fire Preys letter it was also alleged that the Police Magistrate and In- spector were using their .positions for political purposes or were actu- -ated by-•--palit-ien"1--ani-trrus in enforc- ing the •provisions of the Canada Temperance Act.. \Ve denied any knowledge of those officials acting in the questionable manner insinu- ated. After saying "so we wrote, "We do not believe in. the utter de- pravity of Grits—though , there is possibly a preponderance of cussed - Imes among thein—any more than we do in the utter depravity of man- kind in general." The typos left out : the word not, italicised iu the preceding sentence which we have enclosed between inverted commas. Thus melting us say that we do believe in the utter depravity of Grits, which was the reverse of what was written. "We aro indebted to the Cheisticcrt HORSE TALK.. The horse is a patient, as well as a noble animal. The Grits brought outth'e Canadian farm horse and rode him nearly to death during three elections, but did not ride into power on him. It was no fault of the staying powers of the animal. He was stuffed with the wrong sort of food and used as in illustration of how flinch more valuable he would be to his owner if'we only hall free trade with Uncle Sam. But his owner couldn't see it and left free trade severely aloue. This patient' Canadian horse is now being made to do duty again. The Canadian •farwepr are told that if we had com- mercial union—free trade with the United States in an exaggetsred form—this horse would be worth the amount of the American duty, 20 per cent., more to his Canadian owner than at present. Let us look at this in a, practical way. They breed horses in the United States, we breed horses in Canadian. A buyer in search of horses visits an American brooder and enquires the price of a certain animal. Ile is told it is $150. Buyer says that is too much, that he can buy a similar one in Canada for $120. The breed. er will admit this to bo the case, but he will figure up else duty at $24,incidentals at f) er so more and a wprtaan scorned," and with unap.eak. eble horror read it to print with the s dropped off the last word! Speaking of reminders, we go back to the original citations of this art- icle, and remark ter the comfort of the Breathier people that similar errors to the first given are quite common. An English paper an- nounced that "the authorities at Aldershot bad orderod every regi- ment in camp to be marched out twice a week to -bottle." During -the Mexican war, an American journal contained the curious information that "General Pillow and thirty aeven men bad been lost in a bottle." But the best anecdote of all belongs to]Detroit. As the story goes,a return- ing Michigan soldier of some note in the civil'warwas accidentally men- tioned in one of our oity papers as "a battle -scared veteran," and upon the remonstrance of his friends that tats might be misunderstood, the editor promised to make it all right the next day, when the hero found him- self blazoned in immortal print as "a bottle•searred veteran." In Field's pearl edition of 1653, I Cor. vi. 9, this extraordinary state- ment occurs: "Know ye not that the unrighteous ,ball inherit the kingdom of God?" In its correct form the sentence of course states that the unrighteous shall nog inherit, etc. Another astounding biblical err ror occurs in Barker's octavo of 1631, wherein the seventh, commandment is entirely left out. For this careless- ness Barker is said to have been fined £300, which he cornpeunded by presenting a set of rich types to one of the universities. Another edition omits "not" from this commandment and in this case a fino of 9100,000 is said to have beeu imposed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is well• known that the Vinegar Bible, Much sought by book collectors, takes its name from the substitution of "vine- gar" for "vineyard" in the title of a familiar parable. "No" has been found omitted from the text. "The fool hath said in his heart,there is no God." In the German Bible, the sinmle chane° of "herr" to "nary" (it is said by the printer's wife) trans- formed "And he shall be thy lord," into "And he shall be thy fool." This bit of practical pleasantry is further said to have cost the poor woman her life. In a New Testament of 1604, published at Edinburgh, the typographical errors are estimated at 2,000. Popo Sixtns V. issued a Bible which he and his advisers thought so correct that a papal bull at the end of it denounced _,he curse of the church upon any one who should presume to tamper with the text. Yet it was found so full of errors that so much of the.edition as could be had to be recalled. Oa the other hand, in our day •the most perfect book, typographically, in existence is believed to be the Oxford Bible, which has had no taker for some years of the standing offer of a guinea. to the finder of any wrong doing in its print. And now having had our little laughs over these c.omicalities, let it be said for the printers that the marvel is that so few, not that eo many, blunders occur. ,The handling of type for' a ;single issue of the Chelvtian Herald is about equivalent to one-thlinipulatior of 500,000 sep- arate pieces of metal. That the right one among so many should be seized and rightly placed at all tines, and that each should be in condition to make the proper imprint, Would.be the thing surprising. The wearing off of the hair lino in one long letter may have ridiculous results, as when the destruction of the upper part of alt h made the morning paper say, in reference to a political meeting the night before, 'The snouts of ten thousand Democrats refit the air." and thea the manuscripts submitted for publication are often fearful to contemplate. • Herald of Aug 4th, au excellent Baptist paper published in Detroit, for a few samples of the maturer in which the types have tortured authors, writers and other individ- uals concerned. In the last issue of that usually careful and accurate paper, The Ex- anlieer, a very pathetic paragraph concerning the death of Stonewall Jackson is suddenly let down from its dignity by the mention of the groat soldier. as 'a "battle -scared vcteran"—which it is safe to' say he never was. The same number, in- troduces into the language , a new verb, and a decidedly. good one, in the following sentence 'i '•If ho should come, he would come weed [wooed 7) only by the desolation of God's people," . Tito omission of a single letter 'has transformed the mourning; frieuds upon a funeral occasion into "mourn- ing fiends." One of the roost beauti- ful devotional books ever printed, Dr. Phelps's "Still Hour of Prayer," by the accidental transposition of two letters originally contained the sen: teucc, "The stilluu , of a dead clam (calm] at sea." A strangely common error is illustrated by the mention in a bookseller's cata- logue of the "immoral works of the. poet Milton," and by the following lines, which make a sudden transi- tion from the sublime to the ridicul= ons : "FDeatl, is past, and all its sorrow's Swallowed up in victory • Endless joys in bliss await them, Life,and immorality." A bookseller's edtalogue printed in Cincinnati some years ago contained a surprising number of comical mis• takes. Among them were: Paley's "A Few ,View] of the Evidences of Christianity," "Lectures on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romers," and "Science [Signs} before Death." "Dr. Todd's Lies of the Saints" occurs somewhere else, as also an advertisement of Dickens's "Barney, by Budge." A New Haven editor wrote, "Is there balm in Gilead?" and was as- tounded to find it in print, "Is there a barn in Guilford?" This brings up the poet's line, "My little wife is out beyond the burn," which the printer made, "My little wife is out beyond the barn." But tho worst sufferer, probably, waiith6 edit-or"who made the Byronic quotation, "ilell bath no fury like The Renfrew election for the House of Commons list week res suited in the return of Mr. p'erg}7- san, the people's candidate, over Millionaire McIntyre, the choice of the Grits endorsed by that stalwart Reformer Hon Alex MoKen'zie. Even the leaven of the old time leader's endorsation could not save the Grits in a Reform constituency. The late member, Mr. Campbell, was a Reformer and was elected by 60 majority. His untimely death during last session caused the election last week when the Censer, avtive candidate was elected by 140 majority. A reversal of 200 votes in a former Grit riding speaks well for the intelligence of the electorate. Prof. Goldwin Smith addressed a meeting at Port Arthur the other day. He urged the people there to be in favor of commercial union, pointing out that "American capital was necessary to develop the vast mineral resources of that district.", Illogical Prof. Smith. Ariierican capital is not necessary -for the put-. pass stated any more than any other capital. Why, indeed, American capital 1 Is it so much a better commodity than any other capital 1 Why would British or Canadian capital not do just as well ? Are Americans not anxious to invest their capital where it will be ren,un- erativo 1 And dons Mr. Smith fancy that to invest it in "that district" would be of doubtful utility, and he would rather Americans should lose their capital than Englishmen or Canadians. English capital is more plentiful than American and is go- ing up' and down the world ?locking ing investment. And the possessors of it ale as anxious to profitably invested it as. aro American capitalists. Let us have a litt.ln lies prating about the Americans own- ing the whole earth. Commercial Union in a nut shell is given in a recent issue of Grip. Mac- kenzie Rowell is exhibiting his rev- enue sheet for tho last year ending Jane 30th, with a receipt therefrom of $25.301:048. Uncle Saul points with trinuiph 'to the United States revenue for.thc same period as $309,- 807,809, and suggests to Mr. Bowed that "they divide the contents ac- cording to populatiou" whilst Erastus \Neiman from the back ground calls out to Mr. Bowefl "All, there t" Now any school boy can work out the problem. Our infant Dominion with a population of five millions in round numbers, under existing conditions, raises 925,0)0,000 wbilst Uncle Sam with his population of 60 millions raises a revenue front the same source of say iu round numbers 9300,000,000 or in the proportion of twelve to ono. Thus the proportions arc equal, so that by Commercial Union Canada has nothing to gain.— On the other hand she has something to lose. Iu the last financial year Canada received the sum of $6,790,- 080 darty on American goods import- ed, not one cent of which would be payable under Commercial Union which would sweep off at ouei troko of the pen about one-fourth of our whole source of income and would be transferred to the pockets of the Americans. The next number of Grip will thus announce Mr. Bowell's response to Uncle Sam : Ho threw hint a sign Which I cannot divine But must leave that to some Worshipful Deputy Grand." I can only describe what ho did with tris hand. The left hand he put oat—the fingers ho apread— The tip of his right little linger lir nein To the thumb of the other, Anil raising its brother - To the side of his nose, lie ,just said, Ile Ino I _ � Don't }roe Wish j•nii may get if , �ttclt Union's No•(:n," -Cont, Porter's Bill. Jalap is the latest medical appli- anco used in this village for bone setting. Harvest is about through in this section, and it has been a most fav- orable time. Mr. Goo, Cox leas disposed of his 3 year old mare for $200. The an- imal Was sired by McDougall Bros. Glengary, of this place. Coxc\nnual.—What was the Government detective's business on the 6th con. the.other day? Had fast horses any thing to do with it 1 Since the departure of the village chief for the northwest such threats as : "No, by hanged, Alec, you may haul nae up but you can't keep me down" are often heard. A •new chief should bo appointed at once. Tho Elliott Brothers of the 4th con. threshed on the farm of Mr. Win. Elliott 900 bushels of excel- lent wheat in one • day. Good for the boys, boat them who can. This• was the yield of 30 acres or 30 -bus- hels an acre. The work was done with a separator• made by Farrah, McPherson and Hovey, of Clinton, which I consider to be tha best machine in the market. Although not Hauch of a Tory I would much dislike to have the Americans have free acme to our markets and make a war of prices just long enough to crush out such manufactories' when, up would go the priees by combina- tion and monopoly at which our Ameriean friends aro atnuch cuter experts than are Canadians. THE CROPS IN THE NORTHWEST. Winnipeg, Aug, 3.—Lieut-Gover- nor Dewdney, who has been staying in the city for a few days says the wheat crop'promisesgreat, whilebar- ley ted oats in the Territories have already been cut. Wheat is:already being cut at Medicine Hat, and in two weeks' time harvesting will be general throughou t the Territories. The crop was altogether better than ever known before. Lieut Gover- nor Dewduey also described in glowing terms the visit he had paid to the Crofters' settlement south- west of the Moosomin last week. All the crops appear in splendid condition, while many of them were raising stick very successfully. The settlement as a whole appears in prosperous and comfortabe cir- cumstances. —blr. Joseph McArdell died et his residones it Romeo ward Strat- ford Friday after a short illness at the age of 71 years. Mr. McArdell, came to Canada front County Down, Ireland, in 1830, and settled in South Easthope, where he continued to reside until last winter, when lie removed to this city ,where he has eine° resided. Ito was a livelong Conservative aLd a member of the Church of England. He leaves a widow and five sons to mourn his loss. t 1