The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1918-09-27
Who Will Pay the Increased Taxes?


Secretary of the Treasury, announces
that to properly finance the Govern
ment for the fiscal year ending June
80 1919, it is necessary to raise by
taxation, in addition to the amount be-
ing raised under existing law, $4,000
100000, of total taxation of $8,00O,-
100000.
When one contemplates the enorm-
Gus amount of bond issues which, with"
out this larger tax levy, must become
necessary and the immense burden
which their annual interest charge
alone would entail upon this and fur
Their generations and the danger of in
flation of credits and rise Of prices
which large bond issues involve, the
wisdom of the ADMINISTRATORS in
sistence upon such increased tax col
lection becomes at once apparent.
The closest estimate of Secretary
McAdoo is that we shall have to eX-
pend for the war at least $24 900 ,000,-
600. If, with new revenue measure,
we raise in all the desired $4,000 00,-
900, we will have to issue for the
finance requirements of the year $751;
000,000,000 of bonds.
We have already issued and sold
$4,000 100000, totaling $4,000, ooo,-
900, issued and to be issued, exclusive
of ,000,000,000 of war savings GER
tificates provided for.
The annual interest charge on these
bonds, at the Az per cent rate, is ST.
105,000,000, requiring more than one
eighth of the contemplated amount of
taxes each year to pay.
Should we make no further tax levy
and content ourselves with the col
lections under existing laws, our bond
issues by the end of the year would
amount to 100000, 100000.
This would entail an annual interest
charge, even if we can keep the inter
est rate at AZ per cent, of $1,275,-
100000, and it would take more than
one-fourth of the collections from tax
es each year to pay it.
From this it is not difficult to con-
clude that not only is the Admins
tration's determination to insist on
such increased taxation economic wis
dom but an economic necessity.
Eight billion dollars is twice as
much as this country or any other ma
ton in the world has ever attempted
to raise by taxation in one year. 1t
is nearly three times the total amount
of collections from the taxes and
bonds during the four years of the
Civil War
Hardships in Taxation Inevitable
1t goes without saying that to pro-
vide for the raising of this huge sum,
Congress has most difficult and ap-
palling task. But the duty is clear,
the responsibility is vast. The Con-
stitution imposes the duty and re-
sponsibility of originating such reve-
nue. measure upon the House of Rep
resentatives, and, under the rules,
they, in the first instance, are trans
ferred to the Ways and Means Com
mittee. The Committee has already
assumed the responsibility and begun
the first steps towards the perform
ance of the duty and will go forward
determinedly and as rapidly as pos
sible. Protest and condemnation are
inevitable, especially from those who
have neither duty nor responsibility in
the matter.
To frame any bill imposing high
taxes which will have the approval of
all the taxpayers is impossible, nor is
it possible to write a bill without i'm
posing hardships on many taxpayers
or with inequities and inequalities in
many particular cases. There never
has been and never will be tax law
perfectly equitable. Indeed, every
law, civil or criminal, however clear
and just it's provisions may seem,
works in its operations hardships and
inequalities in cases that sometimes
arise. 1t shall be the effort of the
Committee and Congress to obviate as
far as possible such inequalities and
inequities. To aid US in the effort we
have before US the experience of the
operation and enforcement of the pres
ent revenue acts.
Instead of a bill additional to the
two or three existing acts, the Com
mittee proposes to embrace in one
comprehensive bill all the tax legisla-
ton with respect to internal revenue,
including the income tax, excess of
war profits tax, the estate tax and all
other excise taxes. 1t may be said
here, too, that no doubt in order to
ease the payment of the colossal
amount of taxes a reasonable install
ment plan will be provided for.
Where the Huge Taxes Will Fall
How shall we go about it to get the
$4,000, 100000? Congress and the
country are in entire agreement with
the President in the declaration in his
revenue message that the big increase
must come chiefly from incomes, ex-
cess of war profits and the luxuries.
Wealth, therefore, must be taxed in
stead of poverty, Injuries instead of
necessities. We shall have to retain
the list, including the luxuries and
semi-luxuries, subject to the excise
tax of existing statutes and increase
the rates in most, if not all, of them
and shall have to add many articles to
the excise tax list. After doing this,
it is evident that the larger portion of
the increase must be derived from in
comes and excess of war profits. The
requirement of such large increased
revenues necessitates, of course, large
ly increased rates.
We should proceed along the con-
cretely practical rather than the abb