portation companies within her borders, while at the same time she demands protection from the national government against the competition of other coal, the product of foreign countries, yet, owing to the monopoly which the State possesses of this article, the tax imposed on it is paid, in the main, by citizens of other States, rather than by her own population.*

"

In forty-three out of the sixty-five counties of Pennsylvania, "all mortgages, judgments, recognizances, or moneys owing upon articles of agreement for the sale of real estate are exempt from all taxation, except for State purposes; while the maximum of tax at present levied by the State upon this species of property, in common with all other moneys loaned at interest, is only three-tenths of one per cent.

Shares of national banks, located within the State of Pennsylvania, and of banks and savings institutions incorporated by the State, are taxable for State purposes at the rate of threetenths of one per cent per annum, and are also liable to taxation for school and other local purposes at the same rate as is imposed on other moneyed capital. But in case any bank or savings institution shall elect to collect from its shareholders a tax of one per centum on the par value of all its shares, and pay the same annually into the State treasury, then all the shares, capital, and profits of such banks shall be exempt from all further taxation under the laws of Pennsylvania. As a tax of one per cent on the capital of the national banks alone, of Pennsylvania, exclusive of all State banks and savings institutions, would have yielded a revenue to the State in 1869 of over $500,000; and as only $187,000 was paid from this source during that year into the State treasury, it is evident that the actual taxation on the banks of Pennsylvania was much less than one per cent; and, in fact, in all the principal money centres is known to have been but the minimum provided for by law, viz., three-tenths of one per cent.

*It is proper here to state that the tax on anthracite coal was imposed by the state of Pennsylvania as a compensation for the abandonment in 1867 of a tax on tonnage carried from a point within to a point without the State: which tax, by a decision of the courts, was declared to be in violation of the Constitution of the United States, and released several of the great mining and transportation companies supplying coal to the Northern markets from a tax which was paid by similar companies operating exclusively within the State. But Pennsylvania, with a shrewd regard for her own interest, was careful not to impose this tax upon "bituminous" coal, of which the State has not a monopoly, and the incidence of which might therefore fall upon her own citizens, and work to the advantage of foreign producers; and she also exempted the companies concerned from all tax upon the anthracite coal consumed in their own business.

The amount of revenue derived by the State of Pennsylvania from the tax on anthracite coal in 1869 was $159,577; while the amount of revenue derived by the national government from the tariff on all imported coal for the fiscal year 1869-'70 was $526,190.

The

The revenue of the State, for State purposes, is derived mainly from the following sources: 1st. A tax of one-half of one mill on each one per cent of all dividends which may be declared by the corporations of the State, except banks, savings institutions, and foreign insurance companies; and in case that no dividends are declared, then a tax of three mills on the valuation of the stock. Building associations, plank-road, and turnpike companies, are not liable to any tax when no dividends are declared. The receipts to the State treasury from this source, for the year 1869, constituted the largest single item of the State revenue, and amounted to $1,037,172. 2nd. Taxes on tonrage carried over the lines of the various transportation companies operating exclusively within the State: viz., two cents on the product of mines, three on the product of forests and agriculture, and five on manufactures and general merchandise. The receipts from this source for the year 1869, and certain commutations of the same, amounted to $659,900. 3rd. Taxes on personal property, which are made up mainly of the following items: Money at interest, furniture, horses, and cattle, three-tenths of one per cent; pleasurecarriages, one per cent; gold watches, one dollar; silver watches, seventy-five cents; other watches fifty cents. inconsiderable nature of these taxes may be inferred from the circumstance that the whole revenue derived from the same for the year 1869 was $454,873. 4th. A tax of three-fourths of one per cent on the gross receipts of every transportation company of the State liable to the payment of a tonnage tax. The income from this source in 1869 was $373,420. 5th. A tax of five per cent on every dollar of interest paid by the corporations of the State to its bondholders or creditors; in lieu of which the principal sums from the interest of which the said tax is deducted are exempt from assessment and taxation for State purposes, as personal property. The revenue from this. source for 1869 was $340,816. 6th. A tax of three per cent. on the annual net earnings of every private banker, broker, incorporated banking and savings institution, express company, and all other corporations of the State, except those paying a tonnage tax, incorporated banks, and insurance companies, and foreign insurance companies. The revenue from this source for 1869 was $310,895. 7th. A license tax of five hundred dollars per annum on every foreign insurance company doing business in the State; and a tax of three per cent on the entire amount of premiums or commissions received. The receipts from this source for 1869 were $226,226. 8th. Taxes on the enrolment of laws, by which is to be understood a taxation imposed on the enrolment of all acts of the Legisla

C

ture passed for the benefit of private parties; the same varying from $1000 on the incorporation of banks with a capital of $1,000,000; two hundred dollars on the incorporation of manufacturing, mining, or oil companies; and one hundred dollars on transportation companies; down to thirty-seven dollars for acts of divorce and miscellaneous private bills for claims, relief, etc. The revenue from this source for the year 1869 was $21,000. 9th. Taxes on the emoluments of offices, by which is to be understood a tax of two per cent on so much of the salary or emolument of offices of the State, or corporations created by the State, as is in excess of two hundred dollars. The revenue from this source for 1869 was $16,644. 10th. Retailers' licenses, $122,273. 11th. Tavern licenses, $289,555. 12th. Other licenses, i. e., amusements, pedlars, restaurants, etc., $69,800. 13th. Taxes on collateral inheritances, $227,328. 14th. Taxes on wills, writs, and deeds, $99,000. 15th. Auction duties and commissions, $72,000; the sum total of State revenue for the year 1869, from the above and a few other miscellaneous sources being $5,086,679, as compared with $8,138,000, the State revenue of New York from taxes for the corresponding period; or, in respect to population, $1.86% per capita in Pennsylvania, as compared with $1.86 per capita in New York. But the manner in which taxation is apportioned in the State of Pennsylvania, whether intentionally or accidentally, so as to enhance in the least degree the cost of both capital and of production, is better shown by an exhibit of the actual workings of the system for the years 1869 and 1870, in the two great financial and industrial cities of the State, viz., Philadelphia and Pittsburg.

Taxation of Philadelphia.-In the city of Philadelphia, for the year 1870, the taxation for all purposes other than for State taxes was assessed and collected on the following valuation :

Personal property.....

Total...

$470,851,800 8,188,873

$479,040,673

The aggregate valuation of these two items of real and personal property was subdivided as follows :—

The taxation on the valuation of personal property of $8,188,873 was assessed on the following items exclusively :

The whole city revenue, therefore, from direct taxation for the year in question was $8,300,061, to which may be added the sum of $892,000 for water-rents, and about $125,000 for rents of markets, wharves, fees, and sundry small licenses. In addition to the above, the city officials collected for the State during the same year a taxation of $135,840, which was assessed on the following items and valuations and at the following rates :

Taxation of Pittsburg.-In the city of Pittsburg, with a population of 86,255, the municipal taxation for all purposes for 1870, except schools, was returned at $699,700, and derived mainly from the following sources:

1. A tax of eleven mills on the valuation of all property taxable for all State and county purposes, except such portions of the city as are designated as 'rural," in which the tax is as two-thirds of said rate, or at seven and one-third mills on each dollar of valuation. This tax affords a revenue of $184,000.

2. A tax termed the "business tax," or a tax upon the sales and business in the city, which is assessed as follows: Ten mills on the dollar of all sales of retail liquor dealers, and on the commissions of all forwarding and commission merchants and merchandise brokers; one and three-fourth mills on the sales of all goods, wares, and merchandise other than liquors at retail; and on the sales of all goods at auction, except sales of real estate, stocks, and steamboats, on which the tax is at the rate of one mill; one half of one mill on each dollar of the yearly business of brokers, banks, and banking institutions; one and three-fourth mills on the yearly receipts of insurance, express, and telegraph companies, and five mills on the dollar of the

yearly receipts of persons engaged in keeping bowling-alleys or billiard-tables. The receipts from these taxes for the year 1870 were returned at $200,000.

3. Water rents, $140,000.

4. For the payment of the indebtedness of the city, a tax of three mills on all property taxable for State or county purposes, $42,000.

5. Rents of wharves and markets, $66,000.

6. Vehicle licenses, $18,000.

7. Mayor's office, $24,000.

8. City gauger, $5,000.

With this exhibit, therefore, of the amount and apportionment of taxation in Pennsylvania and its principal cities, it cannot be doubted that great and substantial advantages are offered to capital seeking investment in real estate, mortgages, or the business of manufacturing, mining, or shipping, by this State over and above any which are afforded under the existing laws of the State of New York, and in the event of free banking under national laws (a question merely of time), and with the circumstances of relative State taxation remaining unchanged, it cannot, moreover, be a question in what State bank capital, especially if intended to be used in connection with circulation, will inevitably tend to concentrate. The results of the census of 1870 would also indicate that the liberal system of taxation existing in Pennsylvania, as compared to that of New York, had already begun to exercise a marked influence upon the comparative growth of the two States-the comparative growth of New York, the State richest in capital, the most numerous in population, the "entrepôt" of the majority of the foreign commerce, and the centre of the commercial exchanges of the country, having been much less for the last decade than that of Pennsylvania. Thus, for example, while the latter State, starting in 1860 with a population of 2,906,215, has gained 609,778 in population, the State of New York, starting with a population of 3,880,735, has gained only 483,640.

On this point, also, the chairman of the Board of Revision of Taxes of Philadelphia, adds his testimony in the following extract from a letter addressed to the commissioners. He says: "I think you are right in your conclusion that we owe much of our prosperity to the freedom of capital from taxation; and I have argued with our people, ever since it has been my province to execute our tax laws, that Philadelphia owed her prosperity mainly to that, and that her manufacturers prospered under her laws, notwithstanding our citizens complained of heavy taxes. It is natural that New York city (being the chief port of the country and the importing centre) should attract