Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-09-09
Washington
w LETTER
BY II. = WALKER
INCOME TAX ANOMALIES
Star staf oorrespondent.
Star Bureau,
Metropolitan National Bank Bldg,
WASHINGTON, Sept. 0.

WASHINGTON, sept. y.
Vice-President Marshall, members
of Congress, cabinet officers and the
little handful of Federal government
employees whose salary is more than
$4,000 O. year, are the only ONCE
holders in the United States who will
| be required to pay an income tax,
under the tariff bill as amended by
the Senate.
President Wilson will not be obliged
| to pay the tax during his present
| term His successor, or he II he IS
| reelected, will pay the same tax as
| would another person whose income
| is $4,000 a year.
The income tax law, as passed, does
not say specifically that none but the
few public officials named shall pay
| the tax. It does make exemptions
| which relieve all other officeholders
| from it's payment 1t says specifically
| that President Wilson shall not pay
| the tax during his present term, and
| that all Federal judges and all Of
flcers or employees of State or of
any political subdivision Of a State,
| shall be exempt. This provision at
| once takes out of the tax list all State,
| city and county officers and en-
ployees, regardless OF what their
| salaries may be, and the only
| Federal officials 1t leaves to be taxed
| are the Vice-President, members OF
| the cabinet, senators and represent
atiyes, and the comparatively few as
| siStant secretaries and bureau or
| division heads who get more than
! $4,000 year in pay.
| Whether members of Congress are
| State or Federal officers has always
been a more or les unsettled question,
| but to make certain that they were
| h OY11c oil
put in a provision that the exemp-
lions shall not include State officers
| whose salaries are, paid by the ma
| tional government. This catches the
congressman coming and going and
| makes certain that they will pay
| their income tax, regardless of what
| they may be-
One Of the most drastic features of
| the new tariff law, put in by the
| Senate, is designed to put stop to
gambling in cotton futures. 1t puts
| a tax of one mill pound, so cents
| q bale, on cotton exchange sales on
| which no actual delivery of cotton is
| made. That is, it purports to do so.
| Majority senators are divided in
opinion as to whether or not it will
| be workable. Its direct and plain
purpose is to put the cotton ex-
| change out OIL DuSlueSS.
| The worlds cotton crop has never
exceeded 100000 bales year.
Transactions on the New York, New
Orleans and Liverpool cotton ex-
| changes have shown as high as $780,
| 0OC, 900 bales a year bought and sold.
| 1t is estimated that the brokerage
| alone on the sales not made for de-
| livery amount to nearly 100000, 600
a year., This profit taken by the ex-
| change members, it is charged, comes
| out of the pockets of either the cot
ton planters or manufacturers or
| both.
Senator Ransdell of Louisiana. who
with his colleague, Senator Thornton,
| bolted the Democratic caucus and re-
| fused to vote for the tariff bill be-
| cause of its free sugar provision,
fought hard against the tax on cot
| ton futures.
| "You have ruined our sugar in
| dustry.' he said, land now you pro-
pose to ruin our cotton exchange"
| 1t was common understanding at
| the Capitol that the reason the Demo-
/ cratic caucus refused to agree TO
| tariff commission, an Inheritance tax,
The free listing of trust-produced
| articles and a prohibition of railroad
discrimination against domestic and
| in favor of imported goods was De-
| cause the word had come from the
| White House that the President did
not want the tariff revision further
loaded I'D with drastic measures.
| Many Democrats, realizing that the
present revision is based as much on
| guesswork as former revisions, and is
not likely to be the last word IN tarlf
| making, wanted a tariff commission.
rr1t- Of n
would have won several Progressive
Republican votes for the bill. The
plan generally approved for tariff
| commission, however, is to create
| such a. body to determine the differ
ence between the cost OF production
at home and in competing countries.
and since the President had taken the
| stand that the cost of production is
not a proper basis for tariff making,
it was urged upon the caucus that to
create a commission would be en-
barrassing to the President. so IL was
| left out.
| Senator Kenyon an Iowa Repub-
| lican with progressive ideas, called
attention to the Democratic pledges of
| MANY years past that all trust-pro-
duced goods should be pu on the free
| list. He declared that one of the
wealthiest and most arrogant and
powerful monopolies in the country Is
| the aluminium trust and he proved
| his case, and asked the majority to
put aluminium on the free list. The
caucus was told that the President
did not wish the trust and tariff ques-
lions confused, and the duty was left
on trust-controlled aluminium.
Senator Cummins, another low
tariff Republican. pointed out that the
railroads generally make lower rate
on imported goods originating at
ports of entry than on like goods of
| domestic production, and urged that
| If manufacturers were to be denied
tariff protection they should at least
be protected against railroad dis
elimination that would assist their
foreign competitors in getting into
American markets at lower cost.
|