460 



FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



these circumstances the Secretary, June 9th, 

 being pressed for money, exchanged $3,000,000 

 3 year bonds for $3,000,000 old demand notes at 

 3 per cent, premium. In other words, he funded 

 the old notes in 7-pv 3 year bonds. This trans- 

 action was a private one, and it was asserted 

 that had it been public the Secretary could 

 have obtained a much better bargain. 



While these issues of paper had been pushed 

 to such an extent in the service of the Govern- 

 ment, the utmost reluctance existed on the part 

 of Congress to impose necessary taxes, on the 

 ground of such impositions being injurious to 

 the political party making them. The tax law 

 that had been levied, August 5th, 1861, and 

 which was estimated to yield $20,000,000, was 

 repealed July 1st, 18C2, in the following terms : 

 "And be it further enacted, That so much of an 

 act entitled ' an act to provide increased rev- 

 enue from imports to pay interest on the pub- 

 lic debt, and for other purposes,' approved 

 August 5, 1861, as imposes a direct tax of 

 twenty million dollars on the United States, 

 shall be held to authorize the levy and collec- 

 tion of one tax to that amount ; and no other 

 tax shall be levied under and by virtue thereof 

 until the 1st day of April, 1865, when the same 

 shall be in full force and effect." 



The objections to the tax were, that it 

 would Aveigh heavily upon the western far- 

 mers. It was, however, evident that some tax 

 must be imposed in order to maintain the 

 credit of the Federal Government, and that tax 

 was devised so as to give an apparent revenue 

 to sustain the credit of the Government, while 

 really it exacted nothing directly from agricul- 

 turists. The bill that with this object was in- 

 troduced into the House, provided for taxes upon 

 the profits of trade and industry, and upon the 

 incomes of individuals. The profits are reach- 

 ed by stamps upon each transaction as express- 

 ed in any description of paper used in the 

 transfer, and by a tax of 8 per cent, on all 

 manufactures. The act imposing the taxes was 

 very long and minute in its details. It was 

 carefully reviewed and amended by the House 

 in Committee of the Whole after it had been 

 reported from the Committee of Ways and 

 Means, and was first passed by that body on 

 Friday, April 4th, 1862. It was then sent to the 

 Senate, where it was referred to the Finance 

 Committee, by whom it was in due time re- 

 ported, with many amendments. The Senate, 

 after long consideration, passed the act on Fri- 

 day, June 6th, 1862, after having rejected two 

 substitutes, offered respectively by Senators 

 Simmons and McDougall. The act was then 

 returned to the House for concurrence in the 

 amendments made by the Senate, and referred 

 to a conference committee of both houses. On 

 their report it was finally passed June 23d, and 

 received the signature of the President, July 

 1st, 1862. 



The law by its terms was to go into opera- 

 tion on the 1st of September, but in conse- 

 quence of the unavoidable delay in preparing 



stamps, and the details of the inspectors, it did 

 not go fully into operation until toward the 

 close of the year. As a consequence, the pen- 

 alties in respect to legal and other documents 

 were remitted until after a suitable time. On 

 the 17th of November the Commissioner issued 

 the following notice : 



TTEASURT DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF INTERNAL REVENUE, I 

 WASHINGTON, D. C., l?ov. 17, 1862. f 

 The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is prepared 

 to supply the following stamps in quantities sufficient 

 for the use of the people of the District of Columbia, 

 and of the States east of the Rocky Mountains, viz. : 

 "Playing Cards," "proprietary", " express," " tele- 

 graph," "insurance," "life insurance," "fire and ma- 

 rine," " passage tickets," and " protest." 



The use of the stamps herein specified is hereby re- 

 quired in the District and States above described, on 

 and after the first day of December next ; and persons 

 guilty of wilfully neglecting to use said stamps will 

 be subject to the penalty provided in the law. 



GEO. S. BOUTWELL, 

 Commissioner of Internal Revenue. 



The following table shows the number and 

 value of revenue stamps sold during the week 

 ending Nov. 21st, by the Commissioner of In- 

 ternal Eevenue : 



1 Cent Proprietary 8,139,500 $81,895 00 



1 Cent Express 1,680,000 16,800 00 



1 Cent Playing Card 661,500 6,61500 



2 Cent Playing Card 798,000 15,960 00 



2 Cent Bank Check 3,402,000 68,040 00 



2 Cent Proprietary 2,751,000 55,020 00 



3 Cent Telegraph 578,000 17,84000 



4 Cent Proprietary 589,750 21,590 00 



5 Cent Express 221,000 11,05000 



10 Cent Contract 51,000 5,10000 



10 Cent Power of Attorney .... 51 8,500 51 ,850 00 



15 Cent Bill of Lading 510,000 51,00000 



15 Cent Inland Exchange 229,500 84,425 00 



20 Cent Inland Exchange 284,600 46,920 00 



25 Cent Life Insurance 102,000 25,500 00 



25CentBond 828,950 82,33750 



25 Cent Insurance 821,300 80,325 00 



25 Cent Certificate 469,200 117,300 00 



50 Cent Life Insurance 55,250 27,625 00 



50 Cent Mortgage 267,750 183,875 00 



50 Cent Original Process 84,000 17,000 00 



50 Cent Probate of Will 255,000 127,500 00 



50 Cent Conveyance 144,500 72,250 00 



50 Cent Entry of G oods 131,750 65,875 00 



60 Cent Passenger Ticket 180,625 90,312 50 



50 Cent Bond 144,500 72,25000 



$1 00 Conveyance 207,000 207,000 00 



1 00 Power of Attorney 279,000 279,000 00 



1 50 Inland Exchange 324,000 486,000 00 



Herrick'sDie. 1,870 1870 



Total 18,561,045 $2,317,17870 



These of course do not represent the number 

 used in the week, but the supplies purchased 

 for distribution and future use. The Assistant 

 Treasurer of New York reported for the three 

 last months of 1862 the receipts from internal 

 revenues at that port. These were for Octo- 

 ber $435,101, for November $751,286, for 

 December $1,539,525; together $2,725,912. 

 These payments embraced the taxes, licenses, 

 &c., payable "under the law by dealers and pro- 

 fessions in New York, 



The principle of the law seems to be to tax 

 capitalists, traders, and manufacturers, and as 

 far as possible exempt agriculturists. This is, 

 however, fallacious, since all the taxes, no mat- 

 ter by whom paid, fall ultimately fully upon the 

 producers. The heads of taxation under the 

 law are : stamps upon every species of paper 



