The Little River news., 1918-04-13
1.-THE RICH MANS WAR 4 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.

NOlnlnS IS plalneI lHan 'lat Duoi- ness and business men had everything to gain by preserving the conditions which existed during the two and T half years prior to April, 1917, 1nder which many of them made "ery large profits by furnishing supplies, provi- sions and financial aid to the allied nations. Taxes were light, and this country was rapidly becoming the great economic reservoir of the world.
 Nothing Is plainer than that any sane business man in this country must have foreseen that, if America en.crcl the war, these profits would be i-1- mensely reduced and some of them cut off entirely, because our govern ment would step in and take charge; that it would cut prices right and left as, in fact, it has done; tha enolnoi Us burdens of taxation would have 10 be imposed, the bulk of which would nat uraly be borne by the well-to-do; in short. that the unprecedented golden flow into the cotrers 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 loancd by them to the allied nations might hn lost if these nations were de fea.ed, and therefore they maneuvercd 10 get America into the war in order to save their investments.
 Proof That the Charge is Absurd.
 X moments reflection will s' ~. | utter absurllty of that c','sr., !.ci us allies had been defe,s,ed. Let us make tie wildly improbable assumption that they had .iefaul cd for the time c'n5 upon these foreign deDts, the srea;ei. art of which, by the way, is secure by he deposits of collateral in the shape of American railroad bonds and stocks and of bonds of neutral com tries, asgregating 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 oy rich men in New York and the east instead of being distributed. as it Ia, throughout the country.
 Js 1t not perfectly manifest that q single years American war taNatlOn 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 .o mention the heavy taxation which is bound to follow the war for years to come and the shrinkags of fortunes through the decline of all American securities in consequence of our en- trance into the war?
 Not only is the "rich mans war; an nbsMrd myth; the charge Is . hateful calumny.
 Business men. great or small, are no different from other Americans, and we reject the thought that any Ameri. cnn, rich or poor, would be capable of the hideous and dastardly plot to bring rpon his country the sorrows and sufferlngs 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 America | neutrality, from which they drew su much profit during the two and hal 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 lgnoble reasoning: they rejected that at!illation; they stood for wal 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.
 (1.) The largest incomes are taxed far more heavily here than anywhere else in the world.
 The maximum rate of income taxa tion here Ia 6Y PCT cent. In England 1t Is 42h per cent Ours is therefore So per cent. hisAss tlAA Angland's. and the rate in England 10 the highest pre- vaIling anywhere in kurope. And in addition to the federal tax we mus,