NEW YORK SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW. January-April, 1866. CONTENTS. ART. I. THE REVENUE SYSTEM OF THE UNITED STATES.. ART. Report to the Secretary of the Treasury on the best Modes of PAGE 1 39 Elements of Political Economy. By Arthur Latham Perry, Professor of History and Political Economy at Williams College. ART. III.-WHAT IS FREE TRADE? (Third Paper.)... 63 81 Statistical Hand-Book for 1866; containing complete Geographical, Political, Social, and Industrial Statistics of all Civilized Countries. ART. V.-TO OUR READERS. 209 ART. VI.-CATALOGUE OF WORKS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY, STATISTICS, AND KINDRED SUBJECTS, published in 1865.. 213 TO CONTRIBUTORS. 1. ALL articles intended for the SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW should be placed in the hands of the Editors at least one month previous to the date of publication. 2. The writer's name will be appended to each article. 3. For accepted matter the highest price paid by any Review in the United States will be given. OPPENHEIM BROTHERS, STOCK BROKERS, No. 20 EXCHANGE PLACE, NEW YORK. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by SIMON STERN, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. THE NEW YORK SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW: A JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY AND STATISTICS.* JANUARY-APRIL, 1866. MR. HAYES' REPORT. REGARDING it as a whole, no official paper that has issued from an officer of the Government, since the inception of the present currency and tax system, can bear comparison, in point of ability, with the following Report. Though not disposed to assent to all the views which Mr. HAYES expresses, nor to all the recommendations which he makes, yet, because the views are sound and statesmanlike, and supported by strong argument, and the recommendations, in the main, judicious, the Editors of this Journal have resolved to publish the Report nearly entire, Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by ALEX. DELMAR and SIMON STERN, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. 250557 omitting only the latter portion of the document, which consists solely of the minutes of evidence adduced from leading bondholders of their approval of Mr. HAYES' proposed measures concerning the taxation of the government securities. By this means we hope to give the Report that publicity, both in this country and in Europe, which its merit deserves; and, in doing so, we are confident that we are serving the interests not only of the freedom-loving people of this country, but of all those to whom republican government has become a necessity of life. That portion of the Report which foreshadows the evils that must flow from a persistence in the present financial policy of the government-favored classes, centralization of power, and the ultimate subversion of our liberties as a people-is the portion to which we desire to direct especial attention. THE EDITORS. OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES REVENUE COMMISSION, January, 1866. TO THE HONORABLE HUGH MCCULLOCH, Secretary of the Treasury: SIR: The Revenue Commission were required by the act of Congress authorizing their appointment, "to inquire and report at the earliest practicable moment, upon the subject of raising by taxation such revenue as may be necessary, in order to supply the wants of the government, having regard to, and including, the sources from which such revenue should be drawn, and the best and most efficient mode of raising the same, and to report the form of a bill." On the 24th of August, 1865, the following, among other resolutions, were adopted by the Commission: "Resolved, That the subjects of the taxation of United States securities, and of finance in connection therewith, tax on sales and incomes, and equalization of tax on manufactures, and tax on petroleum, be committed to Mr. Hayes." "A member having a particular subject in charge, shall prepare a report upon the same, and present it with his signature to the Commission for approval, and if approved by a majority of the Commission, said report shall be made as the report of the Commission, and also signed by the other members approving it. Any member disapproving the conclusions or reports of the Commission may make a separate report." It thus devolved upon Mr. Hayes to examine into the subject of the taxation of United States securities, as one of the sources of national revenue, and of finance in connection therewith, to form an opinion thereon, and to prepare and present to the Commission for approval a report upon the subject, to be made as the report of the Commission if approved by a majority. In compliance with this requisition, he examined the subject, and presented his conclusions in part, with the proposition that the Commission report and recommend the passage of, a bill for levying a special permanent tax upon incomes derived from the interest on any and all securities, and other indebtedness, of the United States, owned at the time of the passage of the act, by any person residing in the United States, or by any citizen of the United States residing abroad, equal to one per cent. of the principal of the said securities or indebtedness, the proceeds thereof to be held and applied as a trust fund for the payment of the public debt. The majority of the Commission, upon a partial consideration, did not accede to the proposition to recommend the passage of the bill, but agreed that Mr. Hayes might present it, with his conclusions and the facts and arguments to support them, in a separate report, and that it would meet the approval of the Commission for him to do so. Under a sense of duty, and believing that Congress are entitled to the results of the examination upon a subject so important, he prepared the following report, and having first presented it to the other members of the Commission, he now transmits it to you. As he dissents in some particulars from the views embodied in the general report, which, however, he approves as a whole, on account of the ameliorations proposed by it in the present internal revenue laws, he has taken occasion to express his opinions briefly upon the general subject of taxation. THE PUBLIC DEBT. The United States Securities are obligations issued by the government under the provisions of certain Acts of Congress, passed by virtue of the following clause of the Constitution: "The Congress shall have power :-to borrow money on the credit of the United States.” U. S. Const., Art. 1, Sec. 8, ¶ 2. The following is the statement and description of the bonds, certificates, and other securities, and other recognized indebtedness of the United States, outstanding and existing on the 30th day of November, 1865, as made and published by the Honorable Secretary of the Treasury: By the last statement of the Hon. Secretary of the Treasury, it appears that the following was the amount of the Public Debt on the 1st day of January, 1866: Amount of Debts less Cash in Treasury...$2,716,581,536 19 90,728,821 80 These securities were issued and sold by direction of the Treasury Department, from time to time, in various amounts and at prices which may be inferred from the following tables: |