The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1918-03-11
BY OTTO H. KAHN.

gain by preserving the cOnQltlonS WHICH
existed during the two and half years
prior to April, 1917, under which many
OF them made very large profits by fur
nishing supplies, provisions and finan-
eial aid to the allied nations. Taxes
were light, and this country was rap
idly becoming the great economic res
ervOir Of the world.
Nothing is palmer than that any sane
business man in this country must have
xoreseen that, if America entered the
war, these profits would be immensely
reduced and some of them cut off en-
drely, because our government would
step in and take charge; that it would
cut prices right and left, as, in fact, it
has done; that enormous burdens Of
taxation would have to be imposed. the
bulk of which would naturally be borne
by the well-to-do; in short, that the I'm
precedented golden flow into the Golfers
OF business was bound to stop with our
joining the war, or, at any rate, TO be
much diminished.
But it is said the big financiers of
New York were afraid that the money
loaned by them to the allied nations
might be lost if these nations were de-
feated, and therefore they Unanswered
TO get America into the war ill order to
save their investments.
Proof That the Charge Is Absurd.
A moments reflection will show the
hitter absurdity of that charge. Let us
assume. for arguments sake. that the
allies had been defeated Let lis make
the wildly improbable assumption that
they had defaulted for the time being
npon these foreign debts, the greater
part of which, by the way, is secured
by the deposits of collateral in the
shape of American railroad bonds and
stocks and of bonds of neutral coun.
tries, aggregating more than sufficient
In value to cover these debts. Let us
assume that the entire amount of al
He'd bonds placed in America had been
held by rich men in New York and the
east instead of being distributed, as it
is, throughout the country.
Is it not perfectly manifest that a
single years American war taxation and
reduction of profits would take out of
the pockets Of such assumed holders a
vastly greater sum than any possible
loss they could have suffered by de-
fault on their allied bonds, not to men
ton the heavy taxation which is bound
to follow the war for years to come and
the shrinkage of fortunes through the
decline of all American securities in
consequence of our entrance into the
"a ~
war?
Not only is the "rich mans war" an
absurd myth; the charge is a hateful
calumny.
Business men, great or small, are no
different from other Americans, and
we reject the thought that any Ameri-
can, rich or poor, would be capable of
the hideous and dastardly plot to
bring upon his country the sorrows
and sufferings of war in order to en-
rich himself. Business men are bound
to be exceedingly heavy financial losers
through Americas entrance into the
war. Every element of self-interest
should have caused them to use their
utmost efforts to preserve Americas
neutrality, from which they drew so
much profit during the two and half
years before April, 1917. Every con-
sideration of personal advantage COM
manded men OF affairs to stand with
and support the agitation of the peace
at-any-price" party. They spurned
such ignOble reasoning; they rejected
that utilization; they stood for war
when it was no longer possible, with
safety and honor, to maintain peace,
because they are patriotic citizens
first and business men afterwards.
Our Income Tax and Taxes Abroad.
a. The largest incomes are taxed
In America incomes of married men
up to $4,000 are not subject to any fed
eral income tax at all.
In England the income tax is:
Az per cent. on $1,000
ga " 15O0
7A 1000
fThese are the rates if the income is
derived from salaries or wages; they
are still higher if the income is derived
from rents or Investments
The English scale of taxation on in