Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-05-10
MIR. AVERAGE MANS BET"


MR.. AVERAGE MAN will not go to
A'A war because there are 2O,OOO,OOO of
him. and to get an army of 2,0OO,O it
will he necessary to take but one in ten
from his ranks. Yet he wants to edo his
bit"
The debates in Congress and in various
corner grocery shops are beginning to
make it clear what his bit" is going to
be. 1t is going to appear at first in the
form of higher taxes and higher prices,
which are pretty much one ana the same
thing. He knows that he will he repaid
for his sacrifice through the permanent
effect of the victory which America must
win at any cost But he also knows It is
very often easier to face bullets than bills
II is not so easy to save civilization when
the task prevents one from saving any
thing else
In many cases the married man just
past the age Of those called first to the
colors has deliberately put wife and chill.
drcn before the call Of all The rest Of the
world, and in most of these cases he has
made the right choice. If he is asking
what compensation he will get for paying
higher taxes, his wife. If she have an
Imagination, will give a quick answer.
He will he safe at home for the duration
of the war. unless it Is to be n very long
war; for Xeppeins cannot cross the At
lantc and probably will not learn how.
! To put it bluntly, he may be taxed to the
skin; but his skin will be safe And it is
only an accident that leaves his sons in
| 10 l. plt N - rt,
! camp.
| II is not necessary for him to walk i'm
! trance of patriotism and forget his rights.
| He knows that nothing can keep wheat
| down. But there is no reason for him to
| let the coal bill mount from cellar-to-attic
| prices while coal barons indulge in an
| orgy Of unpatriotic manipulation. \ coal
| shortage is at the worst a temporary
| affair, because our coal mines are vir-
| tually incXhaustihlc. This is crop that
cannot fail. 1t is a patriotic duty to in
vestgate tho causes of this Eouging and
to stop it, because the best way to make
America lose interest in the war by next
winter is to let Americans Toe robbed now.
Perhaps the greatest compensation that
the sorely pressed taxpayer is going to
earn is what his colleagues are earning
in every Allied country--a tirmcr clutch
| upon the mechanism of government.
| People who do not realize they are being
| taxed do not realize they are being gov
| erned. But when the English Govern
| ment, for example, went down on its
| knees to the populaCe for money IT in
| vited the people to think for themselves
and to be their own politicians. The con-
sequence was that before the war was a
year old men began to talk about "the
English revolution that was coming after
the war" Labor has broken the ice of
English indifference and will be n power
full political factor henCcforth, because
the workers have felt the strain of high
taxes. Women will get the franchise
because they have been heavily taxed and
must therefore be repaid.
SO. in America, with every increased
burden the average man has to bear to
help government the more will the
average man demand his share in govern
ment There is a lot coming to him that
his taxes, paid in former years, never
brought him. In the future he Will see
to It that his taxes are returned to him IN
the form of civic improvements and n
! more equal opportunity and not go into
| ia pockptS of pOlit tiCiaOS