Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1913-08-13
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1918

WEDNESDAY, AuGUsT 10, 1918
PENDING TARIFF BILL WILL
MAKE GREAT CHANGES.
The passage Of the pending revi-
e nue. bill will for the first time in
/. more than a generation, obllgel.
wealth to pay a fair share Of the
taxes collected by the Federal Govern
ment. 533 q: II
Under the present system the Ma
I tional Government raises the money
II necessary to run the government by.
taxing, by means Of tariff and in
ternal revenue taxes, the things
that the people eat, wear and use s.
Wealth alone goes untaxed
In order to make it perfectly
plain how it happens that q man
with q large family. orking on the;
4
section Of a railroad is actually pay
ing more toward running the Ma
sEtional Government than millionaire
+ bachelor who is to proud TO marry
and raise children, let this
illustration out Of a multitude which
could be given, be cited. n u
The ayne-Aldrich: traiff tax on
suger is approximately 2 cents
pound !. Eeye cry time the American a
&. housewife buys pound Of sugar
5st at in reality worth but 4 cents
she pays s cents for it, not know
ing that the sugar is worth but a
cents and that she is paying 2 cents
+ as al tax to the National Government.
That the price of an & article is
u enhanced by the amount Of the tar
ife tax, is evidenced BY the fact that
In England, where there is no p p
cent tax " on sugar, @ the v average
wholesale price Of sugar the year a
f round is approximately 2 cents (the
4 amount Of the Pay e-A1drich tax) less
Il than in the United States.
The average tax on all articles
S under the Payne -Aldrich law is APP
proximately 40 81 per cent. y n early
Il everything one must buy at the gro
Gerry, the hardware store. and the
\. dry goods store carries tariff tax
which means that the local merchant
acts in the capacity Of tax collector
"A for Uncle Sam without being paid
for it, and he is unc conscious Of
the fact as are his customers that
II making purchases 5 they are
paying taxes. !i5 MS: n III
!. 70 show, finally, THAT under the
& present fiscal system the mil lion
ARE bachelor does not contribute as
n mach toward maintaining the Nat
ional Govermen as the average work
Is ingman with a family it is necessary.
but to point out that the million
s aire does not eat as much sugar as
the entire family Of the worklngman,
( and, as the tax Is wholly on con
1 sumption, it is obvious that the
iworkingman with family buys more
pounds Of sugar in a year, contri-
I buting his 2-cent sugar tax to the
q Government a greater number OF
" times than the millionaire, and thus
actually paying a larger tax than
the millionaire.
This illus tration need not be con
fined to the purchase Of sugar, for
It applies with equal aptness to any
I protected article, and there are 400
I items in the ayne-Aldrich law.
The Payne-Aldrich law, however.
taxes neither wealth nor income "A
man may have a million dollars in
gold and he is not asked to con
tribute anything whatever to the
National GoYernm but if be is
hungry or cold and must buy food
or clothing to satisfy his needs, he
must pay tax Of more than 40 per
cent
Wealth and incomes should prop
erly be the first things to be taxed,
and as soon as the pending tariff |
taxed and the price Of many necess
aries of life viii be reduced.