I860.] 



induce tlie small retail dealer to purchase from 

 a jobber in another State rather tlian burden his 

 stock, if purchased at home, with accumulated 

 taxes levied in transitu as an increase of their 

 cost? Will he not wisely go to purchase where 

 his goods when brought into the State, will be 

 liable to the payment of no other tax than his 

 own? and does not this show that our laws as 

 eifectually oppose direct importation as if they 

 had been most cunningly devised to accomplish 

 that very object? "The law," says Mr. Lon- 

 don, "has been almost completely successful 

 in expelling all wholesale or package mer- 

 chants, as there are but few, if any, exclusively 

 foreign traders, or properly speaking wholesale 

 merchants in Virginia. The Jobber is truly 

 permitted to purchase of the Virginia importer 

 in conformity with the provisions of law, with- 

 out tax, but the retailer who buys of the Vir- 

 ginia Jobber must pay the Jobber's tax even on 

 the articles of Virginia production, or directly 

 imported, for certainly this disadvantage exists; 

 but upon all other articles, the retailer in Vir- 

 ginia, if he buys in Virginia, pays the State tax 

 on each sale, — thus delivering the goods, bought 

 and sold, in Virginia three times taxed to the 

 consumer, with three separate State taxes." 

 * * * "If, then, as may be seen by the li- 

 sence act itself that the largest dealers pay the 

 very least percentage upon their sales, and the 

 smaller dealers more, as their operations de- 

 crease, then the plain consequence must be 

 that the exemption to foreign commerce with 

 which the action is sought to be molified, is in 

 fact too insignificant to overcome the harshness 

 of the measure in other respects; and as it can 

 only confer a benefit in any event to the extent 

 of the tax which the importer escapes upon his 

 sales of articles directly imported, we can only 

 find upon the most libera-l basis, that it will 

 reach one-fourth of one per cent.! as the Au- 

 ditor's Keport declares that to be the highest 

 sum which the average of the large merchants 

 of the State would pay. We then affirm that 

 in the license act of the last General Assembly 

 there is another announcement of warfare upon 

 all independent commerce, as the tax bill spe- 

 cially continues in force the bounty to the job- 

 bers and retailers of the State of from three- 

 fourths to two per cent, on each $100 of their 

 operations to go out of the State, and of course 

 into some other State, to transact all the busi- 

 ness they can." But he hero introduces the ac- 

 tion of the corporate authorities of several of; 

 our chief commercial cities, as greatly aggra- 



507 



vating the' evils complained of. In the action 

 of Norfolk, Alexandria and Petersburg, "one 

 sees the same outright and undisguised assault 

 on the foreign and domestic trade, and in so 

 far as they can drive oft' and prevent commer- 

 cial intercourse amongst their own citizens 

 they do it; as the sales only, and that upon each 

 sale of the same article is taxed about three- 

 eighth of one per cent.; the grading being 

 slightly difierent from that adopted by the State. 

 But superadded to all this, these corporations 

 tax all monies and personal property about the 

 same with real estate. In Richmond a class 

 scale tax of 50 cents on the $100, bottomed upon 

 the capital in trade, (it was at one time 1.10) 

 has been adopted in lieu of sales ; besides, 

 there is a tax on incomes. But in each of all 

 the other towns the most unqualified evidence 

 is furnished of a determination of these corpo- 

 rations, so far as their action is concerned, that 

 they will prevent the wholesaler from residing 

 in Norfolk, Alexandria, or Petersburg, for the 

 jobber cannot escape the tax of the city, which 

 is paid by the wholesaler; and if he does that, 

 as few jobbers as possible shall buy of them ; 

 and then, again, that the retailer shall not buy 

 of the jobber, for they offer him two city taxes 

 to go into some other town, in another State, 

 and buy them, so that we shall have State and 

 city together, saying to the jobber: We will re- 

 lease you from one city and one State tax, 

 together at least three-eighths of one per cent, 

 to go out of our State and buy; and to the re. 

 tailer they hold out two taxes each — that is, the 

 State will give the 



Wholesaler's tax, 25 



Jobber's tax, 50 



[The city will give — ] 



Wholesaler's tax, 13 



Jobber's tax, 25 



1.13 



That is, we will release the retailers these four 

 taxes of about 1.13 on each $100 if they wiiS 

 oblige us by patronizing somebody other than 

 one of our own citizens. But let the retailer 

 buy, and what is the condition of the co'nsumer? 

 Why, he absolutely pays six taxes — three to 

 the State of Virginia, and three to the corpora- 

 tion of Norfolk, or Alexandria or Petersburg," 

 as the case may be. 



"But this is not alone the case with this State 

 and the Virginia cities. Our Sontliern friends 

 in other States come up like men to the samo 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



