The Mount Holly news., 1918-03-19
Mr.. SIMPuNS PAYS
HIS INCOME TAX
sy RoBERr MeBLAiR.

on the wall TIL MS eyes niieo WIN
tears It was a portrait OF nus Ihtner'
Colonel Simpklns, VINO nao tour ulnes
peen promoted for vaior curing tne
CavH war ana nad died bravery ON the
Asia OF action- Mr. SimpKhs tnroat
acned now Tor two reasons: first' ne
revsfeneeo ana adored the memory OF
MS rather; secondly. his age ana MS
eyes and his game leg wouldn't let MIN
20 70 wsr himself. And as ne observed
tne mart1ai bearing ana uncompromis-
inS gaze OF Coionei Simpkins 10 saw.
ID maginafon, the KHAKI Gao koe u
crossing three thousand miles OF sea 70
nghG maybe die. Tor liberty
Mr.. 6impkins peered aroupA to make
sure that neither Bess Dor John (who
were at the teasing ages Of sixteen
and seventeenl were where they could
see him, then he Strengthened and
threw his right arm up for salute.
But his gouty shoulder twinged, and he
groaned. He couldn't even salute.
.Damnf" said Mr.. Nmpkins. and
with his other hand fiercely twiried his
white msstachios.
He turned and ,imped into the IL
brary and eat down .reakily before the
mahogany desk on which were lying
the blanks for his income tax state
ment. blanks which he had rather
Rrumpily got from the Internal Reve-
nue. officer only that day after lunch
con on his way home from the club.
Mr.. Simpkins' income for 1917 had
amounted to iust about $4,000. and he
had been rather snappy on the sub
1ect Of taxes ever since he had discoy.
ered that the more income a man has
the greater the percentaee of II he
nsys IN taxes He conld think of sev-
eral men WIN like himself. were mar
ried and had two children. and vet.
sIthoueh their Incomes wore nearly
han OF his thew would nav only
smaII fraction Of tbe amonnt he na,d
He e,oom,lv drew tho blanh earar
and heean filling In tho informal t,on
that n asked for
Az Mr. s,mnk,ns. ,ncore was s1s ooo
he had 70 f,anra ont tha amounts nov,
sh,. IN aacb ~ tho s,cooss,ve sr,a,,ex
classes OF Incomes IN order 70 arrive
At the total due from himself He
passed over rhe frst class who mnst
nav tsres that Ia .,nola mon nah,ro
over 1OOo H,s calcnIatton for NOR
rfed men then showed mn as follows.
rtr.t tbsv nov n.r cs,t r,,naa~
the 1g1e lawl ON ali income Owe,
a ooo daduct,no soo0 for !. - 80 mi.
ehuaran undar e,ghtaan vao-s Ir ~.
simnlrins, On 90 tbis waa fo1o witch ha
nut down In the anavahIs,, co,pmp
He .aw nert that pnder the ,o,7
law ma rr,ad mon nav on add,,tona, 0
nor cant on ou ovar 60 ooo ~,,,,t,, - !.
same aI,owanca for cb,,drar THE
ADDED sono 10 his navohIa" co,,,mn
Ha. then observed that for ava~v
81 500 hmm in his income over s5 0Oo
no had 70 nav a s,ntax tho porcartoyo
growing larger with each ,nmn This
was $3.50 more added 70 M. burden
And ON ton Of all this came an aEx-
cess Profits" tax OF a mar cent ON all
aoccuna tion" incoma over ca ooo n,ah
ing s72O more
The total then. he must nav was to,,r
teen hundred and thirtv-four dollar.
.Whewr exclaimed NJ c,,nnh,ns
angrily. .sThere,s vouno Henry WI
kins. who married lake Johnson's or,
he makes &. 1000 and ha doesn't nev
cent of taxes guess this is h,s mo-
as well as mine r.
Thinking Of vouno Henry w,,r,rs
he remembered that Mrs wi,k,ns Won,
every afternoon m mate horaaoas g..
the Red Cross and that Hanrv ,ha
was a lawyer was aiding tba 600, |
Draft Board with ITS ouest,onna,ros
sWelI" ha admitted ~ h,,,,aa,.
..rhat makes a difference"
He thought next of Judee w,,lopoh.
by, whose income was about "a ON
He only pays 500" commented NJ
Eimpkins. not quite 40 anerflv th,s
time; and then a thought struch him
and he sat up rfRidly In his chair
Judge Willoughby's son had haap
drowned on the Tuscania when n was
submarined with the loss OF two bun.
dred soldiers
Judge Willoughby Raye bis sop n
America" muttered Mr. Simnkin.
He leaned forward suddenly and mt
his face In his hands.
For q long time Mr. Simpkins sat
very still In that position. There was
no sound In the library except the
ticking of the tall clock and an occa.
sional trill of laughter from the chill
dren skylarklng upstairs. The souare
Of light on the carpet gradually with
drew itself through the window. and
first twilight and then darkness settled
In about the quiet. white haired. some
times irascibIe old man.