Abilene weekly reflector., 1916-01-13
SORT OF TAX 1T WOULD BE

President Wilson along with 9th
er Democratic leaders undoubtedly
desires to serve the people. In his
suggestions as to the objects to be
taxed in order to provide the rev.
enue necessary to carry out his pre-
lparedness program, thb president
doubtless intended to recommend
that which would be fair to all and
burdensome to none. In suggesting,
therefore, that a tax of a cent a
gallon be levied on gasoline and fif-
ty cents per horse power on auto
mobiles, he no doubt believed he
was asking nothing which would
impose a hardship or result in dis
elimination.
But those two things are exactly
what would result il the presidents
recommendation were carried into
effect. A tax of one cent gallon on
gasoline would impose heavy bur-
den upon millions of people who are
least able to bear it, and the tax on
Automobile horse power would dis
criminate against the poor and in
favor Of the rich.
The president honestly believes,
no doubt, that only the rich or the
well to do use gasoline. He does not
know that 1t is heavy item of ex-
lpense in many households that have
hard work making both ends meet.
And the president honestly be-
Ilieves, in all probability, that only
the rich or the well-to-do use auto
mobiles, and that the value of the
machines is measured by their horse
power. He does not know that more
than half the autos used in the
United States are owned by farn-
ers, that thousands are owned by
poor men who use them as means
of livelihood, and he does not know
the horsepower is one of the most
negligible factors in the cost of a
motor vehicle.
There are at present approximate
ly 2,250,000 motor cars In this coun-
try, and the average mileage per
year Is computed in the trade at ]
COCO. With a mileage Of twelve ,
miles to the gallon, which is a fair l
figure, this means consumption of {
500 gallons per car, or about L. &
1876, 100000 gallons of gasoline .
consumed in this country year In |
motor cars alone. There Is doubt I
less as much more consumed In sta c
Lionary engines and for domestic I
purposes. A tax of cent a gallon. q
would produce approx [
mately $20,000,000 a year-and 1t 1
would all be paid by the consumers, a
never doubt that, and not by the I
n
Consider again the matter of dis b
in the horse power tax. t
some of the finest cars, manufac- n
ured exclusively for use on paved e
treets, are of very low horsepower.
The Renault, for example, which
osts $4,000, carries an engine of
My IS horsepower. And yet under +
he presidents proposal the gov Il
tax on this $4,000 machine g
fould be only SO a year while the d"
ak on the despised but generally Il
sed Ford, with its 20 horsepower, d
Tould be $11. The Fiat, another ri
town car, costs $2500, but 81
s engines are only 10 to IA horse nj
over. And innumerable others IL Ell
lstrations might be given, showing al
lat the value of car is not in W
roportion to its horsepower, so hi
lat a tax which considers power to
lone would be discriminatory to
lie last degree. NJ
As remarked in the beginning the ra
resident doubtless means well. The fl
ouble with him, as with Demo- G,
attic statesmen generally, is that W
> lacks information and he lacks W,
telligence of the right sort. He tn
ants to govern the country wise at
, but he doesn't know how.-Iola tr
egister. ha
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