The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-05-23
so ARE TAXES
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
By Frederic j. Haskin. Director
washington, d. G.

Washington. d. c.
washington, D. c., May 23--Sher-
man adequately described war, but ne
forgot to say anything about paying:
for it. Every morning the ways ana
means committee receives iarea
mailbag full of remonstrances, snow
ing that war taxes are also-paln1ul-
I'VE are in entire sympathy with
| the preparedness program, writes
large moving picture corporation: put
why tax the film-the poor mans one
great means of entertainment!
s'The rest of the bill is all right" de-
| clare the nations soap-makers in uni
Son but soap is a sanitary necessity
! that should be kept within reach OF
the poor For Heavens sake, don
make gasoline any higher!' telegraphs
a distressed middle westeIner, VINO
was evidently laboring under the I'M
preston that a tax on gasoline was
included in the bill
From the poor man himself-suo-
denly become the conscientious re-
! sponsibiIity of all large manufacturers
no protest has been heard, aitho
! 5 per cent of the taxes included in the
bill directly affect him. This fact mas
naturally created a great deal OF COM
| ment in congress, which has tired 10
! account for it One representative
suggests that it is because the poor
man is too busy earning nVlns 10
pay mucn attention to congressional
he is too patriotic, but another reason
given by a Philadelphia labcring man
doubtless is nearer to the truth ON,
what's the use of kickln! y he asked
| We've got to pay it anyway
A statement which leaves no room
! for argument. A modern war is eX-
pensive ard we have got to expect
! taxes of every kind. Our last greatest
/ war-the Civil war-cost The nation
only s619O,OOO,00O; now, for the first
! I,jS r1x
dollars will be needed. OF this, nearly
two billion must be raised by taxa
ton. and seven billion by bonds.
1t costs a great deal every year to
run the machinery of the United
States government. With the excep-
ton of the United States patent
office, no bureau of the gov
eminent is self-supportlng. This
year the amount required to cover
current expenses is estimated at
$3.50, 100000. billion dollars is n
tremendous sum of money. If you
were paid dollar minute for work
ing night and day for every day Jur-
would take you two thousand years
to accumulate a billion dollars. Yet
one yeaf of war will cost this nation
nine billion dollars.
The United States now owes a debt
of 100000, left over from the
Spanish-American war, while the ag-
gregate bonded indebtedness of our
states, counties and municipalities is
nearly four billion dollars. Add to
this the new seven billion dollar bond
issue, and you have a total national
debt of nearly twelve billion dollars.
Congress has decided that il is fair to
make the present generation pay its
share of the expenses.
Hence, the war revenue bill pro-
vides for the collection of nearly two
gress considers are luXuries. These
include incomes over one thousand
dollars in the case of single persons,
and over two thousand dollars in the
case of married persons; excess prof
it's of partnerships and corporations
above five thousand dollars; bever-
ages; cigars, tobacco and manufac-
lures thereof; public utilities, adver-
Using and insurance manufa ctures in
GLIDING automobiles, trucks, motor
cycles, tires, musical instruments. pi-
ano players, graphophones, records,
| jewelry, pleasure boats, sporting
goods, games, perfumery, cosmetics,
proprietary medicines, chewing gum;
notes and estates.
! The trainers of the bill admit that
there are some items in it which are
not particularly desirable. or even
eqUable, but it is the best that can be
done on short notice. The secretary
of the tred sury reported to the COM
mittee on ways and means of the
house of representatives the approx
mate amount of money needed to car
! ry out the preparedness program
planned by the government, and it was
! up to the committee to laiSe the mon
| ey. The question was: How? The
committee had the legislative bureau
| of the library of congress gather to-
gether all the information concerning
| the war revenues of other nations
and with this information on it's desk
it planned its financial campaign.
! OF all the belligerents Of Europe.
| Great Britain's system of war revenue
seemed 70 be the most favorable for
this nation. At the beginning of the
war. England still owed SO, 800, 10000
debt on its NapOleOnic wars. With d
| large credit, however, it was able to
borrow money at fairly low rates of
| interest, which parliament proceeded
to do up tC nearly twenty billion dol
! lars Some of this money England
reloaned to it's allies. In the mean
time, taxes were increased to such an
extent that the people are now paying
25 per cent of the war expenses.
The American war revenue bill is
/ based almost entirely on the English
plan. England imposed additional
taxes on incomes and excess profits.
! So does the United States. England
also taxes moving pictures, kilograms,
tobacco, iewelry and railroad trans
portatloR. so does the United States.
Quite different from the English
plan is Germany's method of raising
war revenue. Germany is financing
! her war entirely on bonds. At the
| beginning of the war her indebtedness
was S1,172, 100000, altho that of the
German states was So, 100000. She
started floating war loans Immediate
I ly, which she has kept up until her
national debt is now above fifteen
I billion dollars, on which her annual
interest charges exceed s70O,OOO,OOO.
1t is said that Germany's idea in rails