Reviewed by Janice Reeder University of Delaware
Langenderfer, in this publication of his 1954 doctoral dissertation, presents a detailed discussion of a federal individual income tax which predated the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution. As the title indicates, this two-volume treatise examines the income tax levied on the American people during the Civil War and the recon¬struction period which followed. Generally, the first section of this work reviews the historical events, political attitudes and fiscal poli¬cies which preceded enactment of the Civil War tax (Chapters 1-4). The second section describes the revenue acts passed between 1861 and 1870 including extensive coverage of the related Congres¬sional debates and subsequent administrative problems (Chapters 5-9). The final section gives a critique and summary of this short¬lived, but important revenue generating device (Chapters 10 and 11).
The United States had existed as a nation approximately seventy years when the trauma of the Southern Secession arose. The na¬tion’s fiscal policies until that time reflected the influence of the mother country, Great Britain, and an overt distrust—if not dislike— of anything British. The author chose to begin his study by outlining the events which helped shape these political and fiscal attitudes. He recounts the British fiscal experiences, especially with income taxation, and focuses on the American reaction, antagonistic and yet imitative, to Great Britain’s tax system. The several individual state income taxes which had existed at various times before 1860 are discussed along with a detailed review of the revenue measures employed by the U. S. during the period since becoming a nation. As the author completes the background material for the Civil War tax, one is struck by how unsuspecting the country’s leaders were of the monumental taxing policy upon which they were about to embark.
The initial revenue measure creating the Civil War income tax was passed in 1861. A major segment of the author’s work consists of presenting an exacting, chronological outline of the Congressional debates preceding this revenue act and those which were to follow. Extensive excerpts from the legislative oratory are included. For the various prominent speakers highlighted in the coverage, brief biographical sketches are footnoted. The author also interjects timely military and political updates. These historical interludes en¬able the reader to gain a clearer understanding of the influences forming a particular speaker’s stand. (Under consideration were such important philosophical issues as direct versus indirect taxa¬tion and an operational definition of income.)
The Civil War income tax was as susceptible to revision as ours is today. During the period 1861 to 1870, eight revenue acts were enacted. For each of these, the author reviews the Congressional debate, outlines the statutory requirements, and analyzes the new bill in regards to (1) Concepts of Income, (2) Deductions, (3) Ex¬emptions, (4) Rates, (5) Capital Gains, (6) Administration, (7) Special Corporations, and (8) Miscellaneous Provisions. This presentation, although at times tedious, does allow the tax scholar to quickly de¬termine the specific contents of a given revenue measure.
The end to this emergency taxing experiment was dictated by a sunset provision inserted in the Revenue Act of 1867. The descend¬ant of the initial 1861 tax was phased out in 1873. Even the exit of this controversial measure triggered disagreements. Congressmen from agricultural regions lauded the income tax as more desirable than any of the alternatives suggested to replace it, while those delegates from industrial areas demanded the tax’s demise. The au¬thor details the removal arguments in the same manner as he re¬corded the discussion surrounding the tax’s stormy existence.
Langenderfer completes his treatise with a critique of this early U. S. income tax. In a broader sense, however, the book itself is a critique of the tax. It furnishes an exhaustive scrutiny of the Civil War tax and thus allows the reader to make an individual critical evaluation. As a thought provoker for an individual income tax or tax policy course the book supplies an excellent background source. Many of the hotly debated issues of the 1982 Tax Act, such as with¬holding at the source on interest and dividends, were common fea-tures of the Civil War tax. Perhaps this work’s real value, then, is its ability to stimulate thought and to remind the reader that viewing the past often helps put current developments in proper perspective.
The Federal Income Tax: 1861 to 1872 gives a detailed presenta¬tion of a technical, legal area. The book is sometimes overly de-tailed and repetitious. The detail can be traced quite properly to the subject matter; the repetition reflects its dissertation origins. These flaws, however, in no way impair the value of this treatise as a useful and more-than-adequate reference text.
