Newport daily independent., 1918-03-08
1.-THE RICH MAN'S 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.
By OTTO Fl. KAHN.


 ness and 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 of them made very large profits by furnishing supplies, provi-s 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 entered the war, these profits would be i-a- mensely reduced and some of thelG cut off entirely, because our govern rnent would step in and take charge, that 1t would cut prices right and left, as. in fact, it has done tha enormous burdens of taxation would have to be imposed. the bulk of which would nat urally be borne by the well-to-do; in Snort, that the unprecedented golden flow into the coffers of business was bound to sop with our joining the war CT. at any rate, to be much diminished.
 But it is said the big tinanciers oi New York were afraid that the money loaned by then to the allied nations might be lost if these nations were de feataa, and therefore they maneuvered to get America into the war in order to save their Investments.
 Proof That the Charge Is Absurd.
 A moments reflection will sI CIV the utter ahsur,ity of that charge. Let us assume, for arguments sake, that the allies had been defeated. Let us make the wildly improbable assumption that they had defaulted for the time being upon these foreign debts, the greater part of which. by the way, is secureI by he deposits of collateral in the shape of American railroad bonds and stocks and of bonds of .leutral coun- tries, aggregating more than sufficient in value to cover these debts. Let us assume that the entire amount of. d. lied bonds placed in America had been held oy 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 70 mention the heavy taxation which is hound to follow the war for years to come and the shrinkage 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 absurd 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- 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 America's entrance into the war. Every element of self-interest should have caused them to use their utmost efforts to preserve America s neutrality, from which they drew so much profit during the two and a half years before April, 1917. Every con sideration of personal advantage com mandeel men of affairs to stand with and support the agitation of the. peace at at-any-prioe" party. They spurned such ignoble reasoning; they rejected that aftiliatien 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.
 Q.) The largest incomes are taxed far more heavily here than anywhere else in the world
 The maximum rate of income taxa tion here Is CT per cent. In England it is 421h per cent. Ours is therefore 50 per ceat higher than England's, and the rate in England is the highest pre- vailing anywhere in Lurope And in addition to the federal tax we must bear in mind our state and municipal taxes.