84 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



tipon the basis of transactions at Shockoe Ware- 

 house, where about 16,000 hhds. are annually sold. 



PRESENT RATE OF CHARGES AT RICHMOND. 



Fee on delivery of tobacco, (to inspector,) 

 Auctioneering, average, " 

 Pee when it leaves warehouse, " 

 Storage, - 

 Insurance, cooperage, &c, lumped, 



- 50 cts. 



- 124 



- 25 



- CO 



- 30 



$1 77i 



PROPOSED RATE OF CHARGES, 



Upon the basis above indicated, and believed to 

 be fair charges by gentlemen familiar with the 

 trade, and not interested in inspections. 

 Salaries of two active inspectors, at $1500 each, $3,000 

 Do. do. clerks, at $1000 each, - 2,000 



16 active hands for coopering, sampling, &c, at 



$250 each, hire and maintenance. - - 3,750 



Storage 50 cts., insurance 10 cts. per hhd. - 9,000 



amount of his borings not to injure their flour by 

 inspection. All the other items are actual charges 

 incurred by them, or an estimate in money of labour 

 actually performed by them. The filling and ac- 

 count for storing sacks is taken from the experience 

 of one of them. The charge of 1£ cents for inspec- 

 tion is an average on the supposition that all other 

 places which inspect flour— at a charge of two cents 

 perbbl. the fee everywhere but in Richmond, where 

 1 cent only is allowed— inspect as much as Rich- 

 mond does. With this explanation we proceed to 

 give the items of inspection tax on flour, dividing 

 it between the Inspector and the law. 



Total, 



- $17,750 



This shows an average of SI IB per hhd, or a 

 tl*ar loss ef 59 cts; making a total tax $29,500, or 

 <J5 cts on the hundred dollars of value, being more 

 Ifaan three times the State tax.* 



It is difficult to estimate the quantity of flour an- 

 nally made and inspected in Virginia, and still 

 more so, to state the coastwise and foreign export. 

 A laborious calculation, which it it is not necessary 

 to set forth here, leads us to estimate this latter at 

 700,000 barrels, and the following statement of the 

 tax upon it will be based on that assumed amount. 

 As some of the items may excite surprise, it is proper 

 ki say that they have been obtained in conference 

 with millers of high standing, and fully aware of the 

 recoil of unfair or improper statement. 



The amount of flour taken out in boring — and 

 without any warrant of law that we know of for the 

 second boring, and none for keeping either — is stated 

 ©n the authority of a measurement recently made at 

 the mills of Messrs. Crenshaw & Fisher, in the pres- 

 ence of the Inspector, The damage is measured 

 by the declaration of the above mentioned gentle- 

 men that they would gladly give an Inspector the 



* We have not introduced into the above calculation the 

 «harges which are tolerated on loose tobacco, of which we 

 learn there are about ! 5,000 hh is. annually sold. The 

 following specimen, takjsn from a merchant's books, will 

 show the nature of this tax : 



To the inspector : 

 Inspector's fees, - 

 Borings, 0.55 lb. per barrel, - 

 Damage done thereby, - 



Tax by legal requirement of barrel : 

 Barrel 50 c; 2 sacks, each 10 c. ; difference, 

 Cooperage at leaving port, - 

 Lining of barrel heads, - 

 Packing in barrels, - 



Storage and labor of arranging for inspector, 



Storage of empty barrels, - 



Mill sweepings from good flour, 



Freight of barrel to N. York, (less than ave- 

 rage distance of ports,) 35 cts.; 

 same place, 20 cts ; difference 



Cooperage on entering port, 



Total, 



By storage and filling of sack?, 

 Difference, say, 



of sacks to 



1| c«nte. 



30 

 S 



b 



2| 



IS 

 63! 



61 c-enta. 



Lbs. 



Value. 



Weighing. 



Storage (less 

 than a day). 



1734 



$7 25 



St 75 



61 15 



2514 



6 87i 



2 75 



1 15 



1900 



8 00 



1 75 



1 15 



1988 



6 25 



1 75 



1 15 



1 ISO 



5 50 



1 25 



1 15 



An average proportion of $2 45 on the hundred dollars 

 of value. These charges may be thrown in to support the 

 allegations of excessire charge in the text, if they are 

 disputed. 



This is a charge on wheat of 12| cents per bushel, 

 of which li cents is due to the inspection ; or rating 

 flour at 12 barrels to the $100 value, it is a charge 

 for inspection alone of four times the State tax, or 

 78 cents on the $100 of value, or $45,500 on 700,000 

 barrels. 



The sum of the above items of charge on the 

 three selected articles is $81,550: a tax, therefore, 

 on an imaginary assessment of $40,775,000. Those 

 who are subject to it are taxed as if they were 

 worth that much more. As has been recently ob- 

 served in reference to another feature of taxation 

 in Virginia, ''they are taxed on what they are worth 

 and they are taxed on what they make." 



The tax then lacks uniformity of proportion. So 

 it does uniformity as to place or persons. There is 

 no State inspection of guano or gypsum at any other 

 points in Virginia than Petersburg and Richmond 

 City; Fredericksburg, Norfolk, and Alexandria, all 

 escape this tax. 



There is no inspection of flour west of the Blue 

 Ridge. 



2. As inspection taxes bear no proportion to value 

 so they bear none to ability to pay. Thus 

 rich lands need no guano; poor lands do; and the 



ll'JWUfcr > >T Zt 



