The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1918-03-19
''THE RICH MANS WAR
A HATEFUL CALUMNY"
American Business Men Ready to
Make Sacrifices With
out Stint.
TAXES HERE AND ABROAD.
American Taxation the Most Demo
cratic In the World.
TAXES HERE AND ABROAD.
BY OTTO H. KAHN.

ond business men had everything to
gain by preserving the conditions which
existed during the two and half years
prior to April, 1917. under which many
VI them made very large profits by fur
nishng supplies, provisions and fnan-
mciHl aid TO the allied nations. Taxes
Ewore light, aud this country was rap
Nldly becoming the great economic res
erYoir Of the world.
\ Nothing Is palmer than TINT any sane
business man IN this country must have
forescen that, IL America entered ne
aOr. these profits would be immensely
reduced and some Of them cut on On
llrcly, because our government would
step in and take charge; that It wotld
cut prices right and left, as, I'm fact, IT
bqs done; that enormous burdens Of
tayation would have TO be imposed. the
bulk Of which would naturally hc horne
by The wen.to-do in short, hat eIe uu-
mcccdcntod Golden flow into the Golfers
OF business WIS bound tostopwithour
Joining the war, or, at ANY rate, 10 be
much diminished.
But It is said the big dnauclcrs Of
New York were afraid that thc money
loaled by them to the allied nations
mirht be lost Il these uatons were de.
fea.ed, ana therefore they manouyercl
TO get America into the war in order 10
save their investments.
rrooi That the Charge Is Absurd.
a moments reelection viii show The
nttrr absurdIty Of that charge Let MS
ass me, for arguments sake, that the
allies had been defeated. Let us make
The wildly improbable assumption That
they had dcfaultcd for the time being
upon these foreign debts, the greater
part Of which, by the way is secured
by the deposits of collateral in the
shane of American railroad bonds aud
stocks and of bonds of neutral coun.
tries, aggrcgatng more Than sufficient
In value to cover these debts. Let US
assume that the entire amount of al
lied bonds placed in America had been
held by rich men In New York and the
eas instead OF being distributed, as 1t
is, throughout the country.
Is 1t not perfectly manifest that
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
los they could have suffered by a 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 shrinkagc Of fortunes through the
decline OF all American securities in
consequence of our entrance into The
War2
Not only is the "rlch mau's war" an
absurd myth; the charge is n hateful
calumny.
business men, great or small, are no
different from other Americans, and
We reject the thought that any Amcri-
can, rich or soor, would be capable Of
the hldeous and dastardly plot to
bring upon his country the sorrows
and suGerInss Of war in order to en-
rich himself. Business men are bound
10 be exceedingly heavy financial losers
through Americas entrance into the
wRt. Every element of selfmtorest
should have caused them to use thoir
utmost efforts to preserve Americans
neutrality, from which they drew SO
much profit during the two ana Il half
years before April lol7 Every con.
slderation Of personal advantage com
mat ded men Of affairs TO stand with
and supper. the agitation of the peace
ulany-price' party. They spulncd
such ignoblc reasoning; they rejected
that nniliation; they stood for war
when It was no longer possible with
safety and honor, TO maintain peace.
because they arc patriotic citizens
frst and business men afterwards.
our Income Tax and Taxes Abroad
O. The largest incomes are taxed
Gar more heavily here than anywhere
else in the world
The maximum rate of income taxn.
ton here is 81 per cent. In England II
is 42la per cent. Ours is therefore 30
per cent. higher than England's. and
the rate in England Is the highest pre-
vailing anywhere in Europe. And IN
addition 10 the federal tax we must
bear IN mind our state and municipal
taxes.
(2) Moderate and small Incomes, on
the other hand, are subject to far
smaller rate of taxation here than In
England.