The herald., 1894-03-18
THE QUESTION OF THE HOUR
Evils Of Excessive and Unjust
Taxation.
Tax Reform an Imperative Ne.
cessity.
A Discussion of the Present Conditions
and Those That Ought to Prevail
In Order to Bring About
Equality of Taxation.
[BY RALPH E. HoYT. j

Tax reform is the question OF the
hour. In importance to the people of
this country it dwarfs every other ques.
tion before them. For q hundred years,
more or less, the American people have
been trying to reach the goal of general
prosperity by the rough and thorny road
of taxation idiocy. OF course the ex-
pertinent has proved q failure. Show
me nation that has become wealthy
and prosperous by taxation and l will
show you a man who has lifted himself
over fence by pulling at his own boot
straps.
Almost any PERSONS idea of q popular
or peoples government is government
that provides for the people q maximum
OF benefit at minimum Of cost. That
would be in harmony with the Declara-
tlon OF Independence and the spirit of
the federal constitution. But such ia not
the policy of the men who usually con-
troll the Legislation of the country. In
the federal government and in nearly all
the lesser governments the rule seems
to be to tax the people all they will pay
on everything they produce and need
to scoop in, under the forms of law, all
the public revenue that can pos
seily be collected-and then find
places to put it. And such places are
easily found. The same master minds
that levy the taxes and devise machin-
cry for collecting them from persons
least able to bear the strain, can always
find ways of expending the money,
though the results of such expenditures
are not always visible to the meek and
humble taxpayer himself. The average
taxpayer is considerable of a fool. any
how otherwise he would not quietly
submit to the robbery year after year,
without stopping to find out what the
taxes he pays are really for and where
the money really goes.
And in this connection, it is pertinent
to inquire what the people of Los An
geles county think of the fact recently
made public Though the HERALD that
yearly taxes in this county average
$28.30 for every man, woman and child
who is d resident OF the county.
As the people have the power to right
such wrongs. it is fair to presume that
they enjoy being bled; otherwise they
would arouse themselves and stop the
robbery, by legal methods, at the earli-
est opportunity. In any event. the
HERALD deserves credit for giving the
people the facts.
Official statistics show that the in
crease of public expenditures in the
United States during the 10 years be-
| tween 1870 and 1880 was only per cent.
while the increase during the decade
from 1880 to 1890 was AZ per cent. And
yet the increase OF population for the
last mentioned period was only 20 per
cent above that of the first decade. Such
facts hardly require comment; they
speak for themselves. II the $500, 900 ,0QO
used every year to support the numer-
GUS governments from the huge grab
bing machine at Washington down to
the smallest municipal octopus, were
drawn from the proper source-from
land values alone-leav;ng industry un-
trammeled, extravaganza in expendi-
lures though foolish would not be as it
is now, moral crime; for each COM
munity would be taking and expending
only it's own earnings. But when, with
the official equandering of money is
coupled the fact that the greater portion
of the revenue itself is gathered in by
the robbery of labor OF its own earnings,
the matter assumes a very serious as
pect. That the people, who are the su-
preme rulers, should have tolerated
such system of taxation so long is by
no means creditable either to their in
telligence or their moral courage.
1t ls safe to assert that if, four years
ago, the United States congress, all the
state legislatures, county boards and
city councils in the land had adjourned
for tour around the world at their own
expense, and had never held another
session up to the present time, the con-
dition of the people today would be bet.
ter than it is. Once a year the law
says to every owner OF improvements or
personal property: Hold up your
hands while the tax collectors go
through your pocket" !" And the hands
go up; though every victim who has
ever given the matter one hours careful
investigation knows that he is being
robbed, as truly as if he were in the
hands of professional highwaymen.
The officials who collect these fines are
not to blame for doing their duty. The
wrong is in the system itself. Then
comes in the protective tariff tax and
adds largely to the cost Of living, simply
to increase the profits OF protected
firms, syndicates and trusts. This link
completes the chain of taxation that
has been forged around the neck of
labor, and is slowly but surely strangling
its life out.
The radical tax reform movement ie
spreading in all directions. But it can
not spread too fast nor prevail too soon.
The question of taxation is one that
can never be settled until it is settled
right. Nor will the unemployed
labor problem ever reach a proper
solution while majority OF the people
continue to place saddles on their own
backs, spurs on the heels of monopoly,
and meekly invite monopoly to ride. Ab-
olish such a system OF so-called taxation
as the one under which our present de-
plorable social conditions have grown
up; nothing but removal OF unjust and
needless burdens from industry can
save the government Of this republic
IRON eventually being either swallowed
up by the moloch of monopoly or pulled
down by the red dragon of anarchy.
A severe rheumatic pain in the left
shoulder had troubled Mr.. J. H. Lopar,
a we'll known druggist OF Des Moines, Ia,
-. . 10 -.