Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-16
n,liionaires In orea. Britain. II not

AseeSe EXTRAORDINARY 60 - 49,
NJ. Bcwley was supported by Mr.. 0ayier.
CHIEF Inspector Of the hoard Of inland rev.
cns . .ols tss e ~ no = sns
people. although he gave II as his opinion.
generally speaking. that mankind Is more
honest than It gets the credit OF being.
The only way In which the ofncials OF the
revenue department can judge OF the ac-
curacy Of the returns from citizen II by
Observing his manner of life. but in that
they are often deceived. He alluded 10 the
case of Chicago smith, an American
millionaire who died over here some years
ago, leaving an estate of twenty-five or
thirty millions to silent Smith,. his
nephew, now living in the whitney house
In New York He said Chicago Smith
lived In one room, for which he paid E4O
year rental. and was waited upon by
charwoman to whom he gave a few shill-
ings a week. His wealth was unknown
to the revenue officers. and when he re-
turned his income thousand pounds
year they naturally accepted 1t as accu-
rate and perhaps excessive. He related the
case OF q man who lived next door to the
assessor of taxes In house for which he
paid f65 o year rental and returned an in
come of E300. When he died his estate
was appraised at nearly two million dol
lars. Another man living in house for
which he paid ECO a year, keeping one
servant and paying on an income of GSo0.
was found to be worth more than a
million. Such instances. he said. were
There has been decided increase in the
tax rate. A few years ago the income tax
was sixpence on the pound: then 1t was
advanced to eight pence then to shilling
and three pence during the South African
war. Now 1t is back to a shilling-that Is,
every man having an income Of more than
$500 Is required to pay a tax of 25 cents
upon every IS.
The public revenue from that source has
doubled during the last ten years. In 1884,
95 the receipts were f15.649.362 while last
year they were 931 .263654 In 1929
when the tax was shilling and three
pence to the pound. the total collections
were 38,659. 846.
Inheritance Taxes.
President Roosevelt has recently sug-
gested division Of large estates between
the heirs and the public. for which he
was severely criticised in several quar-
ters. There was good deal of alarm for
fear he would try to get legacy tax law
passed such as we had during the Spanish
war. There Is death tax in several of
our states, but in none of them Is 1t so
high as in England. Every child or de-
scendant OF a child, or father mother
receiving legacy over here is required
to pay tax of FL in every 900; brothers
and sisters and nephews and nfeces are
required to pay f3 in every f100; uncles
and aunts and cousins. f5 in every f100,
and other persons, f10 in every f100.
There is also a rising scale in the amount
Of duty until the legacy reaches fl ,OOO.-
OOo. when the direct heirs have to pay
instead Of per cent. and other indirect
or collateral heirs corresponding sum.
For instance. If a son or a daughter re-
eeises 100000 they have to pay per
cent: 100000. per cent; $750.000. per
cent. and $1,O00.000, 8 per cent. Death
duties have been increasing year by year.
as well as the income tax Last year the
government received a revenue of more
than $15,000.000 from that source, or, to
be exact. g. IA. 900. while ten years ago
the receipts were f2,SOS.967.
Last year 63.918 estates were settled
from which this revenue was received.
There was one estate of more than So
o0O0. The following table shows the
size of the different estates: