bonds, rents of farms, when the rent exceeds $2,000 annually; and on all contracts with the Federal, State, or municipal governments. Every inhabitant of the republic who sells goods to the value of over $20 must give to the buyer "an invoice, note, or other document accrediting the purchase," and affix to the same, and cancel, a stamp corresponding to the value of the sale. Sales at retail are exempt from this tax; and retail sales are defined to be "sales made with a single buyer, whose value does not exceed $20. The reunion, in a single invoice, of various parcels, every one of which does not amount to $20, but which in the aggregate exceed that quantity," remains subject to the tax. Retail sales in the public markets, or by ambulatory sellers, or licensed establishments whose capital does not exceed $300, are also exempt. Tickets of all descriptions—railroad, theatre, etc.—must have a stamp, as must each page of the reports of meetings; each leaf of a merchant's ledger, day or cash book, and every cigar sold singly, which must be delivered to the buyer in a stamped wrapper. Sales of spirits at wholesale pay three per cent; gross receipts of city railroads, four per cent; public amusements, two per cent upon the amount paid for entrance; playing-cards, fifty per cent—paid in stamps—on the retail price; and manufactured tobacco a variety
