210 



CONGRESS. (THE DIRECT-TAX BILL.) 



I venture again to remind you that the brief time 

 remaining for the consideration of the important leg- 

 islation now awaiting your attention offers no margin 

 for waste. If the present duty is discharged with 

 diligence, fidelity, and courage, the work of the Fifty- 

 flrst Congress may be confidently submitted to the 

 considerate judgment of the people. 



BENJ. HARBISON. 



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Dec. 1, 1890. 



The Direct-Tax Bill. This much disc'ussed 

 measure was finally disposed of. It had passed 

 the Senate the first session of this Congress, and 

 the House took it up and passed it Feb. 24, 1891, 

 amended as follows : 



A bill to credit and pay to the several States and 

 Territories and the District of Columbia all moneys 

 collected under the direct tax levied by the act of 

 Congress approved Aug. 5, 1861. 



Be it enacted, etc., That it shall be the duty of the 

 Secretary of the Treasury to credit to each State and 

 Territory of the United States and the District of Co- 

 lumbia a sum equal to all collections by setott or other- 

 wise made from said States and Territories and the 

 District of Columbia, or from any of the citizens or 

 inhabitants thereof or other persons, under the act of 

 Congress approved Aug. 5, 1861, and the amendatory 

 acts thereto. 



SEC. 2. That all moneys still due to the United 

 States on the quota of direct tax apportioned by sec- 

 tion 8 of the act of Congress approved Aug. 5,1861, 

 are hereby remitted and relinquished. 



SEC. 3. That there is hereby appropriated, out of 

 any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropri- 

 ated, such sums as may be necessary to reimburse 

 each State, Territory, and the District of Columbia 

 for all money found due to them under the provis- 

 ions of this act ; and the Treasurer of the United 

 States is hereby directed to pay the same to the gov- 

 ernors of the States and Territories and to the com- 

 missioners of the District of Columbia, but no money 

 shall be paid to any State or Territory until the Leg- 

 islature thereof shall have accepted by resolution the 

 sum herein appropriated and the trust imposed, in 

 full satisfaction of all claims against the United States 

 on account of the levy and collection of said tax, and 

 shall have authorized the governor to receive such 

 money for the use and purposes aforesaid. Provided, 

 That where the sums or any part thereof, credited to 

 any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, 

 have been collected by the United States from the 

 citizens or inhabitants thereof, or any other person, 

 either directly or by sale of property, such sums shall 

 be held in trust by such State, Territory, or the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia for the benefit of those parsons or 

 inhabitants from whom they were collected, or their 

 legal representatives : And provided further. That 

 no part of the money collected from individuals and 

 to be held in trust as aforesaid shall be retained by 

 the United States as a setoff against any indebtedness 

 alleged to exist against the State, Territory, or Dis- 

 trict of Columbia in which such tax was collected : 

 And provided further. That no part of the money 

 hereby appropriated shall be paid out by the gov- 

 ernor of any State or Territory or any other person to 

 any attorney or agent under any contract for services 

 now existing or heretofore made between the repre- 

 sentative of any State or Territory and any attorney 

 or agent. All claims under the trust hereby created 

 shall be filed with the governor of such State or Ter- 

 ritory and the commissioners of the District of Colum- 

 bia, respectively, within six years next after the pas- 

 sag > ot this act; and all claims not so filed shall 

 be forever barred, and the money attributable thereto 

 shall belong to such State, Territory, or the District 

 of Columbia, respectively, as the case may be. 



SEC. 4. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary 

 of the Treasury to pay to such persons as shall in each 

 case apply therefor, and furnish satisfactory evi- 

 dence that such applicant was at the time of the sales 



hereinafter mentioned the legal owner, or is the heir 

 at law or devisee of the legal owner of such lands as 

 were sold in the parishes of St. Helena and St. Luke's 

 in the State of South Carolina, under the said acts ot 

 Congress, the value of said lands in the manner fol- 

 lowing, to wit : To the owners of the lots in the town 

 of Beaufort, one half of the value assessed thereon for 

 taxation by the United States direct-tax commissioners 

 for South Carolina ; to the owners of lands which were 

 rated for taxation by the State of South Carolina as be- 

 ing usually cultivated, $5 per acre for each acre thereof 

 returned on the proper tax book ; to the owners of all 

 other lands, $1 per acre for each acre thereof returned 

 on said tax book : Provided, That in all cases where 

 such owners, or persons claiming under them, have 

 redeemed or purchased said lands, or any part there- 

 of, from the United States, they shall not receive 

 compensation for such part so redeemed or purchased ; 

 and any sum or sums held or to be held by the said 

 State of South Carolina in trust for any such owner 

 under section 3 of this act shall be deducted from the 

 sum due to such owner under the provision of this sec- 

 tion : And provided further, That in all cases where 

 said owners have heretofore received from the United 

 States the surplus proceeds arising from the sale of 

 their lands, such sums shall be deducted from the 

 sum which they are entitled to receive under this act. 

 That in all cases where persons,, while serving in the 

 army or navy or marine corps of the United States, or 

 who had been honorably discharged from said service, 

 purchased any of said lands under section 11 of the act 

 of Congress approved June 7, 1862, and sudi lands 

 afterward reverted to the United States, it shall bo 

 the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to 

 such pe'rsons as shall in each case apply therefor, or 

 to their heirs at law, devisees, or grantees, in good 

 faith and for valuable consideration, whatever sum 

 was so paid to the United States in such case. That 

 before paying any money to such persons the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury shall require the person or per- 

 sons entitled to receive the same to execute a release 

 of all claims and demands of every kind and descrip- 

 tion whatever against the United States arising out 

 of the execution of said acts, and also a release of all 

 right, title, and interest in and to the said lands. 

 That there is hereby appropriated, out of any money 

 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of 

 $500,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary to pay 

 for said lots and lands, which sums shall include all 

 moneys in the Treasury derived in any manner from 

 the enforcement of said acts in said parishes, and not 

 otherwise appropriated. That section 106:3 of the 

 Kevised Statutes is hereby made applicable to claims 

 arising under this act without limitation as to the 

 amount involved in such claim : And provided further, 

 That any sum or sums of money received into the 

 Treasury of the United States from the sale of lands 

 bid in for taxes in any State under the laws de- 

 scribed in the first section of this act in excess of the 

 tax assessed thereon shall be paid to the owners of 

 the land so bid in and resold, or to their legal heirs or 

 representatives. 



The amounts levied, collected, and remaining 

 unpaid under the direct-tax law were given as 

 shown in the table on the next page. 



To these estimates should be added the sum of 

 $500,000 to carry out the provisions of section 4 

 of the bill. 



The following was the vote on the passage of 

 the bill : 



YEAS Adams, Allen of Michigan, Anderson of Kan- 

 sas, Arnold. Atkinson of Pennsylvania, Atkinson of 

 West Virginia, Baker, Banks, Bayne, Belden, Bel- 

 knap, ' Bergen, Biggs, Bingham, Bliss, Boothman, 

 Boutelle, Bowdcn, Brewer, Brosius, Brower, Browne 

 of Virginia, J. B. Brown, Buchanan of New Jersey, 

 Burton, Caldwoll, Campbell, Cannon, Carter. C as- 

 well, Cheadle, Cheathain, Clark of Wyoming, ("V-gs- 

 well, Coleman, Comstock, Cooper of Indiana, Goth- 



