St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1916-04-19
stephen e. Roxce,s Reply.

stephen e. Royce's Reply.
stephen E. Royce Of St. Adams has
replied to The Caledonian's challenge
of the accuracy of his figures regard
ing the average amount of taxes paid
by the small salary Garner and his let
ter is published elsewhere. AS we
suspected he figures as taxes things
that are not taxes at all and makes a
per capita division of the enormous
amounts quoted. This we cannot ac-
cept as a correct statement.
In the first place, everyone knows
that the burdens of taxation are not
distributed per capita. Direct taxes
are assessed upon a property basis and
indirect taxes upon the gross produc-
ton of the article taxed. The indi-
vidual pays the proportion of these
indirect taxes that the amount he
purchases is of the gross production
of the articles assessed. That man
whose average expenditures are $2S5
year pays anywhere near as much
of the indirect taxes as the man ex-
pending an average of $1,000 year
cannot be shown by any truthful sta
tistics. The man who expends only
1886 year can buy only the barest
necessities OF life. 1t is well known
that the tariff has been removed from
nearly all necessities and is levied al
most wholly on luxuries. The man
who can not buy luxuries is paying
no part of the tariff tax.
Mr.. Royce claims that the people
are paying $s76. Ss7,OOO a year
three times the amount of customs
collected''-'inc prices of do
nestle products due to the protective
tariff and gives David A. Wells as
his authority Although Mr.. Wells is
one of the best authorities on econom-
ic questions we state that such de-
claration has no foundation in fact
No one can show that three times the
amount of customs collected are add
ed to the prices of domestic products
protected by tariff. The present adj
ministration has removed or reduced
many tariff duties but in no case has
the price of domestic products been
reduced three times the amount of
customs collected. To say that prices
of domestic, products are increased
three times the amount of customs
collected is pure bosh.
The 259o increase in prices of do
nestle products due to internal reve>
nue. taxes seems to be divided by Mr..
Royce per capita The chief item of
internal revenue is the tax on alco-
holic products. They do not fall on
any man unless he is a purchaser of
these goods. Therefore if the poor
man pays more than his share Of these
CROOKED" taxes it must be because he
uses more of this kind of goods and is
nothing the system of taxation is
responsible for.
Mr.. Royce acknowledges that eek
cessive profits on goods and service
produced or handled by corporations
having special privileges under the
law, over what they could obtain
without such privileges is not a tax
but claims it 'is a direct outgrowth of
the system of crooked taxation" and
is exactly the same thing as a tax"
We cannot see it that way. So far as
it may exist it is robbery and not a
tax. Mr.. Royce says he has selected
an even figure to represent this ex-
pense and ne has divided it up so
much per person. Now this exaction
from the people is not SO much per /
head but a certain percentage of the
cost of the article. If the poor man
is paying ESQ booty on every dollar
he expends the rich man is certainly
paying the same percentage and the
man whose expenditures are $1,000
year must certainly be giving more to
the "baron robbers than the man
spending only 1885 per year.
The discussion of taxes is endless,