Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1917-06-24

Ire definitely established:
 How Taxes Should Dc Apport,oned 0 Tlzc burden of taE,s must he spread as far as possible over thc Whole community so "S to cause each Individual To share in tIc sacrifices ac- cordin: to his ability to pay and ac- cording to his share in Government t2) Taxes on consumption, which a-e necessarily borne by the community at large. should be imposed as far as pos s:b'c n articles of qNaaj-lix,iry rather than on these of n2rcs>iti,, :,
 l c0 EXciscs should bc ;:a,5nscd as far :S possible upon commeditics ;n the hands of the final conSslncr rather ;han upon thc articles which serve pri- marily as rnw material for further l production.
 th Taxes upon business should be Imposed as far as possible upon net earnings rather than upon gross re- ceipts or capital invested
 @ Taxes upon income which will necessarily be severe should be both differentiated and graduated. That is, l there should be a distinction between earned and Iinnarncd incomes and there should l}e a higher rate upon the larger incomes. It Is essential. however, not l to make til" income rata so excessive as to load to evasion. admins. ra tive | difficulties. or to the more fundamental objections which have been urged abo*e.
 
 | co The excess profits which are duo l to tllc war constitute the most obvious l and reasonable sourcc of revenue dur ! ing war times. But the principle upon which these war-profit taxes are laid must he equitable in theory and easily 1 calculable fin practice.
 l & The Proposed Income Tax.
 The additional income tax as passed l by :hc House runs np to q rate Of 60 l per cent. This is a sum unlieard of in l tho history of civilized society. It must | be remembered that it was only after | tho first year of tho war that Great | Britain increased her income tax to the l maximum of 3i per rcnt and that even now in the fourth year of the war tine income tax does not exceed 42l: per cent
 1t "olld easily be shown that tax with rates on moderate incomes sub- stantially los" than in Great Britain. and on the larger incomes about as high. would yield only slightly less thnn tue $1,:;'o. .HG0.G01 originally estimated in tho House bill.
 If is to be hoped that the Senate will reduce the tctal rate on the highest in- comes to ::;4 per cent. or at most to 40 DOT cent. and that at tho same time it will reduce the rate on tho smaller in comes derived from personal or profess sional earnings.
 # the war continues we shall have to depend more and more upon tho in- cor1e tax. By imposing excessive rates now we arc not only cnJanlering tho future. kut arc inviting all manner of difficulties which even Great Britain has been able to eneepe. .+t
 cona!psiosn. I
 The House Jill cnntains other funda- mental defects which may he summed up as follows; <
 (1) It pllrstles an erroneous principle in imposing retroactive taxes.
 e, It selects an ul,jMst and unwork- able criterion for tho excess-pro:its tax.
 @ It pr"ccds to m mhcard-of height in the income tax.
 (4) It imposes unwarranted burdens upon the consumption of the commit nifty.
 
 (5) It is calculated to throw business into confusion by levyiny taxes on gross receipts instead of upon commodities.
 co It fails to make a proper use of stamp taxes.
 @ It follows an NmScientific system in its flat rate on imports.
 (S) It includes multiplicity of pct ty and unlnciHtiyc taxes, the vcyAtiOus- ness of which Is out of all proportion to tho revenue they produce
 The fundamental lines on witch the House biH should be modified arc sum med ,,l, herewith:
 (1) The amount of new taxation should lm Limited to $1.:5O. .O00. .N0-or at tiic outset to 3O.OJ0.0G0. To do more than tlls would bc as unwise as it is unncrcssary. To Go even this would l,e tO do more than has eve, been done by any civilized Govern mcllt in time of stress. e, Tho cyccss-proiitS tax based upon |, sound system o;l-ht to yield about !! $,IC0. .Cc0NOa. C, '"",ln i'ro,y,e-tax schedule ought to be revise, with q lowering of the rates o,l carmel incomes hc!ow $1OOO0. and wif.l :,, annlo:-olc; lowering of tho l ra!cs on t.le hi.:her incomes. so as not to exceed 3l per cent. \ careful cal 1 c,k,tion shows that an income tax of this kiM would yield some S55O.OO.- | N0 additional. q, The fax on whisky and tobacco uus:.,t t, ramnin approximately as it is. : with yield of about $:.,3OG30.O0O. These three taxes. to@ethhr with the stamp ta: :,t even tho low rate of the Housh biH, and with an improved Al-