The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1909-07-07
CORPORATION TAX Ex-
CITES DISCUSSION.
Stockholders Bear the Entire
Burden.
FINANCIAL NEWS NOTES.


tax, has the following;
Zone point made against the
plan to tax corporate net earnings,
and which seems to be gaining
ground with the public, is the in
justice and inequality of taxing
the owners of the corporations,
while it's creditOrs-the bOndhold-
crs-go scott free. and with them
all who engage in business as
partners. A man may risk his
capital through purchasing stock
in corporation producing GER
tain commodity and his earnings
will be taxed; he may be a bond
holder in that concern and his re-
turn is certain; and he may risk
his money in partnership pro-
ducing the same commodity and
the tax will not apply to his in
vestment."
The New York Journal of Com
merce says:
"A straight tax on corporations
would not incite opposition in
high financial circles. Indeed, the
world wide tendency to lay in
creasing burdens upon wealth has
reconciled our men of large affairs
to something of this nature.
France was the first to arouse the
indignation of capitalists by her
onerous taxation; Great Britain
followed with revolutionary legis-
lation that mulcts the wealthy
classes in what has been denounced
as extortion calculated to sap the
country's sinews; Germany, in her
extremities. has not overlooked
security holders, and now the
United States contemplates similar
action. A tax of 9 per cent. on
dividends would probably be &C
copied by financial interests with
little demur; leading bankers and
heads of corporations privately
admit they would not fight such a
charge. How, it is asked, could
legislation be honestly and thor
oughly enforced without the full
lest investigation of every concern
in the country? Without ade-
quate supervision, honesty would
suffer and dishonesty wouid pros
per. Obviously, each company
could not be left to fix its own
Twenty-Five thousand wornout
or Anticipated freight cars are to
be destroyed by the Pennsylvania
railroad system during the coming
year to make way for more mod
ern equipment. The total original
cost of the $4,000 cars amounts to
approximately $17,O00,000. ..
Orders have been issued by the
Chesapeake & Ohio Railway
Company that, beginning July
/, the shops, employing 1900
men, at Huntington. W. Va, are
to be run with full force, on a
full-time basis.
Statistics show that electric rail
ways Jared much better than
steam railroads during the late de-
preston. Returns from 2O3 cleo
;ric systems show an increase in
Doth gross and net earnings in
1908 over 1907. The gross earn
ngs for 1908 were reported at
$3.50, 1852, 6S1, against S27S,3 1897, 557
n 1907, and net earnings $l17,-
i41, 1872, as against STA, 406, 399
n 1907. Returns from 164 steam
railroads for 1908 show a decrease
from 1907 of over 1901, 100000,
)r nearly II per cent. IN gross
earnings, and over S53, 900, 900 or
more than Z per cent. in net earn
ngs.
A call on national depository
banks for return to the Treasury
If government funds to aggregate
approximately $4,000, 900 was
made June 81, by Secretary of the
Treasury MacVei9h. OF this
$4,000 have been called
'or July Is, and SIC, 100000 for
Is.