Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1918-03-21
Mr.. SIMPNNS PAYS
HIS INCOME TAX
By ROBERT MeBLAlR.

been promoted for val0r during the
Civil War and had died bravely on the
field Of action. Mr.. Simpklns' throat
ached now for two reasons: Firs'' ne
reverenced and adored the m OF
his father; secondly, his age ana MS
eyes and his game leg wouldn't let nm
10 to war himself. And as he observer
The martial bearing and uncomprom's-
ing gaze Of Colonel Simpkins he saw.
IN imagination, the KHAKI! clad lnds o.
the new generation marching forth ana
crossing three thousand miles OF sea 10
fight. maybe die. for liberty.
Mr.. Simpkins peered around to make
sure that neither Bcss nor John (who
we're at the teasing ages OF sixteen
and ~seventeen) were where they could
see him, then he Strengthened II
threw his right. arm up for II salute.
But his equity shoulder twinged, ana he
groaned. He couldn't even salute.
'.pamn!" said Mr.. Simpkins, n
with his other hand tiercely twirled MS
white m%ustachios.
He turned and .imped into the IL
brary and sat down 'reakily before the
mahogany desk on which were lying
the blanks for his income tax state
ment, blanks which he had rather
yrumpily got from the Internal Reve-
nue. officer only that day after lunch
ION on his way home from the club.
Mr.. Simpkins' income for 1917 had
amounted to Just about Sl5,ONO. and he
l-l h.no ,,tb,r cponnv M rho SllN-
iect of taxes ever since he IA uiSco''
ered that the more Income a man has
the greater the percentage of 1t he
laws In taxes. He could think of sew
eral men who, like himself, were mar
ried and had two children, and yet,
although their Incomes were nearly
half of his, they would pay only n
small fraction of the amoun he paid.
He gloomily drew the blank nearer
and began filling in the information
that 1t asked for.
AS Mr.. Simpkins' income was la,oo'
he had to figure Out the amount pay
able on each Of the successive smaller
classes OF Incomes in order TO arrive
at the total due from himself. He
DtSSSu OScI lHS us IL "'' ''
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 1915 law) on all income over
$4,000, deducting 5000 for each of their
children under eighteen years. In Mr..
] Simpkins' case this was S2l2, which he
put down in the payable" column.
!. He saw lex that, under the 1917
! law, married men pay an additional =
per cent. on all over 81 ,OOO-with the
same allowance for children. This
added 1852 to his payable" column.
He then observed that for every
81, 800 jump In his income over So!oH
he had to a 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 "ES
cess Profits" tax Of 8 per cent. on nj
e .Occupation" income Over $4,000. max
ing $72O more.
The total, then, he must pay was four
II teen hundred and thirty-four dollars.
t. 1Whewl |" exclaimed Mr.. Slmpkin
angrily. "There's young Henry VIII
r kins. who married Jake JohnsOn's girl
u he makes $1,000 and he doesn't pay
cent. of taxes l guess this is his wa
I'D rs well as mine!"
o Thinking Of young Henry wilkins
he remembered that Mrs. wilkins wen
Or every afternoon to make bandages TO
e the Red Cross and thai Henry, VIII
was a lawyer. was aiding the Locs
y, Draft Board with Its questlonnalres.
"Well," he admitted 10 himsei
THAT makes a difference"
He thought next Of Judge Willong'
by, whose Income was about $1,000.
"He only pays 500" commented NJ
a. Simpkins, not quite so angrlly TN
mt time: and then a thought struck hi
In and he sat up rigidly In his chair.
lot Judge Willoughby's son had bee
drowned on the Tuscania when 1t WI
ITS summarized with the loss OF W 'hn
re- dred soldiers.
ay- Judge Willoughby gave his son
op- America" muttered Mr. Simpkins.
md He leaned forward suddenly and p
his face in his hands.
his For a long time Mr. Simpklns S
lip. ror, .t,l1 in that posItion. There W
M sound In the library except t
Ills ticking of the tail clock and an oct
sional trlll Of laughter from the ch
dren skylarking upstairs. The sqna
ms, ~ I,oht nm tho "a rpet gradually wi
ich Jraw itss,f through the window, a
Hrst twilight and then darkness settl
on in about the uuiet, white haired, son
or times irasclble old man.