Show 0 WANT TAX ABOLISHED New York Merchants Petition Congress Con-gress on Subject Washington April 19 Chairman Payne or the House Committee on Ways and Means today received a memorial me-morial from tho Merchants Association Associa-tion of New York which will be presented pre-sented to the committee tomorrow I Is I an appeal for the abolition of the stamp taxes on express shipments railroad and steamboat shipments and telegrams rho petitioners state they represent 1400 business firms In New York city giving employment to several hundred thousand wageearners beside a nonresident non-resident membership of 30000 were business firms diatrlbuted throughout the United States The memorial complains at considerable consider-able length of the oppressive charges exacted by express companies speaking of them In strong lerms HS monopolies of quasipublic function beyond the reach of competition or thu control of the Interstate Commerce commission to which other common carriers are subjected I is stated that charges exacted by the express companies are ruinous to certain classes of mercantile business and that to this tha express companies add the stamp lax placing it on the shipper with the sanction of the Supreme Su-preme court In this Connection the petition says The express charges upon shipments In some cases equal the value of the goods In an average of several thousand thou-sand cases collected by the association the express charges were more titan the profit upon the article shipped and were found to averagw In the classes of goods most frequentlVfshipped by cx press from 6 per cant to lu per cent of the value Our investigations have shown wide I discriminations In the charges Imposed 0 favored classes of shippers who arc p permitted lesser rates than other I classes cumulative charges differing charges for Identical l services and other I variations the effect of wlileh is dc structlvo The petitioners In conclusion ask that thf stamp lax on Express hlp mcnts be either abolished or removed I from the shipper and plafed In removcs sum on the express companies and lhe further request the they rcq abolition of i the stamp tax on railroad and steam wVilo oMpmonU and ojgramj |