The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-03-19
Mr. sIkPnNs4 RlYs
HIS INCOME TN.
, 800
~ ROBERT MeeLAiR.

tears. It was . portrait OF Lis father
Colonel Slmpk1nK, whe had fenr ttmes
been promoted for valor during tAs
Civil War and had. Died bFsFefy On ~
Aeld Of action. Nh. Stnpkins' throat
ached new for twA reasons: First h
re~verenced aud mored' the memory -
his father; secsndy, his ags and his
eyes and HE gsrss les wouldn't let hfm
70 to VIZ himself. And % he observed
Tho martial bearing and ,uleompromb
tng gaze Of Colonel 9tmpkins he san,
In imagination, the khaki clad lads tof
DO new generation msrching forth end
crossing three thousand miles Of ssaVte
fight, maybe die. for liberty.
Mr.. simpkias peefed around to make
surs that neither Bess nor John twhS
were ut the teasing ages ct sixteen
and seventesa) were where they could
see him, then hss Strengthened and
threw his right arb up for ~saluts.
But his equity shoulder twinsed, and b;
groaned. He couldn't even salute.
damn" said Mr.. simpk1nS. and
with his other hand Aereefy twfrled his;
white ~mustachios.
he turned and hpped into the u.
brary and sat down creaktly before the
mahogany desk On which were lying
the blanks for his income tax state
ment, blanks which he had rather
grumpily got from the Internal Reeve
nue. oGacer only that day after luneAe
eon on his way hsme from the club.
Mr.. Simpkins' income for 1917 had.
amounted to jest about $4,000, and he
had been rather snappy on the sub
ject Of taxes ever since he had discov.
cred that the more Incomes man has
the greater the percentage Of It 10
pays in taxes. he could think Of sew,
eral men who, like himself, were q
ried and had tive children, and yet
although their. incomes were nearly
half Of his, they would pay only q
small fraction Of the amount he paid
he gloomiIy drew the blank nearer
and began filling In the informatiA
that 1t asked for.
As Mr.. .Simpkins' income was $4,000
he had to figure out the amounts pay
able on Zach Of the successive smaller
classes of incomes in order to arrive
at the total due from himself He
passed over the first class who must
pay taxes, that is, single men making
over 1000. His calculation for mar
ried men then showed up as follows:
First, they pay 2 per cent. '(under
the 1916 law. on all income; over
$4,000, deducting $500 for each Of their
children under eighteen years. In Mr..
Simpkins' case this was $212, which he
put down in the payable" column.
He saw next that under the 1917
law, married men pay an additional 2
per cent. on all over $2,OO0-with the
SAM allowance FOR children. This
added s252 to his payable" column.
He then observed that for every
$500 jump In his, income over 5000
he had to pay a Surtax, the percentage
growing larger with each jump. This
was $3.50 more added to his burden.
And on top Of all this came an "E1-
cess Profits" tax Of 8 per cent. on all
occupation" income yer $1,000. max
ing S720 more.
The total, then, he must pay was four
teen hundred and thirty-four dollars
"Whewr exclaimed Mr.. Simpkins
angrily. There's young Henry VIII
| kins, who married Jake Johnson's girl,
he makes 5000 and he doesn't pays
cent. Of taxes. I guess this Is his war
as well as miner :,
Thinking Of young Henry Wilkins,
he remembered that Mrs. wilkins went
every afternoon to make bandages for
the Red Cross and that Henry, who
was a lawyer, was aiding the Local
Draft Board with its Q~uestionnaires.
SWELL" he admitted to himself,
that makes q difference"
BE thousht next Of fudge Willoush.
By, whose income va about 5000.
HE only pays So" commented Nh.
Simpkins, net quite 50 angrily this
time; and then a thought struck him
and he sat up rigidly In his chair.
Judge Wiloughby's son had been
drowned on the Tuscania when 1t was
summarized with the loss Of two hum
dred soldiers.
"Judge Willoughby gave his son to
America" muttered MIR. Simpkins.
He leaned forward suddenly and put
his face in his hands.
For a long time Mr. Simpkins sat
very still in that position. There was
no sound in the library except the
ticking of the tall clock and an occA-
sional trill Of laughter from the chill
dren s~kylarking upstairs. The square
of light on the carpet gradually with
| drew itself through the window, and
first twilight and then darkness settled
in about the quiet, white haired, some
times irascible old man.
Mr.. Simpkins was thinking things
which he would never afterward speak
of, he was thinking things that were
too sacred ever to be put Into words.
But some inkling Of his thoughts may
~ fo,p6 In hfa reminder to MrA