“A hand from Washington will be stretched out and placed upon every man’s business; the eye of the Federal inspector will be in every man’s counting house… The law will of necessity have inquisitorial features, it will provide penalties, it will create complicated machinery. Under it men will be hailed into courts distant from their homes. Heavy fines imposed by distant and unfamiliar tribunals will constantly menace the tax payer. An army of Federal inspectors, spies and detectives will descend upon the state… Who of us who have had knowledge of the doings of the Federal officials in the Internal Revenue Service can be blind to what will follow?” – Richard E. Byrd, speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, arguing against the 16th Amendment which authorized the Federal Income Tax
Hugh’s Quote of the Day:
