Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1912-05-24
"BEGINNING TO sQUAWK-

taxation when he said it was 1.-The
art of getting the m ost feathers out
of the goose without it squawking.
III the people of the United States
could once realize the amount of in
direct taxes they are paying on near
ly everything which they buy, and
then could further realize that the
great bulk of these indirect taxes do
not go to help defray the expenses of
the government, but to increase the
vast fortunes of the beneficiaries of
special privileges, they would set up
such squawking that the clamor of
the infant and overgrown industries
FOR more protection would be COM
pletely drowned out. The average
American citizen is so proud of his
country that he does not object seri-
ously to paying high taxes to support
the government, even though he
knows that the government is run on
a needlessly expensive basis. Vast
appropriations mean little to him ex-
cept as an evidence of the wealth and
power of the nation. But let him
once learn that the taxes which he
thinks he is paying to the govern
ment are in reality going into the
pockets of the men who control the
steel, the lumber the cotton. the
wool, the leather and the other great
manufacturing industries of the
country, and he will begin to kick
like mule.
A tariff is an indirect tax. A tariff
for revenue is framed to turn these
Indirect taxes into the treasury of the
government. A protective tariff is
framed to turn these indirect taxes
away from the government into the
pockets of the manufacturers. A sim
pie local illustration will make clear
the difference. Suppose the commits
sioners of this country had the power
and wanted to raise more revenue
and should impose a tax of five cents
upon every pound of coffee brought
into the county. This would increase
the cost of coffee five cents pound
to the consumer and would be an in
direct tax upon every coffee user in
the county but it would go to help
defray the expense of the county gov
eminent
But suppose that the commission
ers should decide that they wanted to
protect the flour mills of the county
and should impose tax of 81 a sack
upon every sack of flour manu-
featured outside the county and
shipped into it. This would be a pro-
h1bitive tax which would prevent the
importation of any flour and there
Iore the county would not receive one
cent of revenue. But it would en-
able the flour millers in the county
to raise the price of their product 81
or so cts. sack for the people would
nave to pay even more for flour
manufactured outside of the county.
The increase in price would be an
indirect tax upon the flour consumer
but instead of going to defray the ex-
penses of the county it would go into
the pockets of the millers. For a
time they might compete against
each other in the quality and price of
their flour, but it would not be long
before they would get together and
organize combination to keen IN
the price of flour to the highest point
possible. The protective tariff estab-
lished by the county conn issioners
would thus enable the millers of the
county to levy an indirect tax upon
all the people, which would go into
their pockets and make them so rich
that whenever an election came
around they could afford to finance
the campaign of the candidates for
commissioners who would promise to
maintain the tariff and would be able
to browbeat the people of the county
by threatening to shut down their
mills, withdraw their money from
circulation and bring on hard times
if these candidates were not elected.
The people of the United States are
paying enormous indirect taxes upon
the clothing, the stoves. the machin-
cry, the sugar, the lumber, the thread
and nearly all the necessities of life
which they buy and these indirect
taxes are not going into the United
States treasury, but into the Golfers
of the opponents of organized greed
But back in the Middle West the
geese are beginning to squawk and
their squawking will cause the geese
in other parts of the country to wake