kept a separate and distinct account of their different transactions. Again, if a worker in wood repaired a wheelbarrow worth one dollar, and by so doing added ten cents to its value, the increased value was taxable. But if, on the other hand, he repaired a carriage or pianoforte worth five hundred dollars, no tax accrued unless the value of the repairs exceeded ten per cent, or fifty dollars. The following absurd case was presented for adjudication under these statutes:
A wheelwright repaired a carriage to the extent of eight per cent. The owner then passed it successively to a blacksmith, a painter, and an upholsterer, neither of whom added repairs to the extent of ten per cent, or knew the value of previous repairs or the value of the carriage before it was repaired. The question then was, shall the repairs, however extensive, go untaxed, or shall the owner be taxed? The construction of the law was, that the tax must be assessed on the manufacturer, or persons receiving pay for the work, and that the owner could not be the manufacturer unless he furnished the materials, in whole or in part, for making the repairs; and then the further question arose, whether the subject of repair in the shape of the old carriage furnished by the owner was a material for making the repair, and thus constituted the owner a manufacturer, and as such liable to taxation.
In another case the question came up whether the publishers residing in one assessment district and having their books printed and bound by contract in another, were to be regarded as manufacturers of the books; or whether the printers and binders who executed the work were to be so regarded and taxed. And in two instances, in two contiguous districts in the State of Massachusetts, the law was interpreted in both ways, or in one way in one district and another way in another district; and the parties interested submitted rather than incur the trouble and expense of contesting the matter before the courts.
In fact, it is safe to say that no more complicated and absurd questions have ever seriously occupied the minds of educated men since the discussions of the schoolmen in the eleventh and twelfth centuries (as, for example, as to how many angels could stand at once on the point of a fine needle), than were evolved from the tax system of the United States during and for some time after the war period.
We have said that the people of the United States submitted to such a system. They did more. For such was the fervor of patriotism and the determination to push the war to a successful issue, that they rejoiced in it; and during the continuance of hostilities there was no movement or protest against the system which found any notable response among the masses. The country was
