Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-08-26
THE GERMAN ADVANCE
. The Burden of Taxation.

BERLIN.-The German people are
crying out in painful protest against
the ever-increasing burden Of taxation
imposed upon them. by the imperialis-
tic policy Of their government. The
political control OF the nation is in
the hands of the property-owning
classes, who heartily support the world
empire campaign initiated by their en-
peror. They are willing to instruct
their deputies in the federal Reichstag
and in the several state diets to vote
the necessary taxes to maintain Ger
many's magnificent army, to build a
German navy which will challenge the
power Of Britain, and to carry on the
German program of aggressive diplo-
macy in the near east. The property
owning classes vote these taxes with a
fervor Of patriotic devotion which
would be sublime II 1t were not for
the fact that they vote these taxes al
together upon the Industrial classes
and not upon themselves. 1t is just
the same thing that exists in Great
Britain. where the tory Iand-owning
party Is uuOSI lnSISI0nI upon Dig SX-
penditures for a bigger navy, but is
wholly unwilling to contribute toward
paying the bills. In England Nj
Lloyd-George. for the time at least, has
forced a small measure OF the taxa
ton upon the property-holding classes,
but in Germany they still have COM
plete control Of the governmental ma
chinery and therefore they have pro-
tected property and have placed the
burden upon industry.
AS in the United States the reve-
nues of the federal government of
Germany are derived from indirect tax
alton, and the state governments raise
money by means Of direct taxes The
imperial revenue is derived from Gus
toms and ex(tse duties, and from che
profits derived from the comparatively
few imperially-owned productive en-
terprises. In the states the direct
taxes, for the most part, are levied
in the form of income taxes. The sys-
tenn differs from that of the American
union in that the federal revenues are
not sufficient to meet the requirements
of the imperial government, and the
In the first few years of the life OF
the empire, the federal revenues, al
though amounting to less than a hun
dred million dollars annually. were
more tina sufficient to meet all de-
mands and the surplus actually was
divided among the states in proportion
to population, just as was the surplus
of the federal American treasury I'M
der Andrew Jackson. But 1t was not
long until the empire embarked upon
broader policy Of both domestic and
foreign enterprise which increased the
the revenues were able to meet it,
This necessitated levying contributions
upon the several states. This year the
total revenue of the empire will
amount to S712,000,0O0, of which the
several states will contribute directly
more than S57.000.000. Last year the
state contribution amounted to more
than $780, 900. These federal con-
tributions are assessed according to
population at a rate per head fixed in
the annual imperial budget This pow
er is exactly the same as that given
TO the American congress by the con-
stitution, but which never has been ex-
ercised.
The greater portion of the federal
revenue, in fact practically all that is
applicable to military and other gen.
eraI expenses, is derived from the GUS
toms and excise duties, precisely as t
is in the United States. OF course the
defcit made up by tate contributions
comes from the income taxes levied d.
rectly by the, states. The people do
not know how much they pay toward |
the federal revenues. since the taxes /,
are indirect. But they are keenly alive I
to the burdens of the direct taxation. !
Strangely enough, the direct taxes in
all the principal states are about the |
same. regardless of the character of
the particular local government
In Prussia the income tax system is |
we'll night all-embracing. The gross
taxable income includes all receipts of
money, all payments in kind, the rent
value Of houses occupied by the own /
ers, and so on.
Liability for the payment Of the tax
begins when the annual income reaches
1925 a year, and all of the incomes OF
every member of the family is counted
together in assessing the taxes upon
R.. nA1N q re