The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1918-03-21
Mr.. SIMPKINS PAYS
HIS INCOME TAX
BY RosERT McBLAlR.

On fhe Wall TIL his eyes filled witt
tears. II was g portrait Of his father
Colonel slmpkins, who had four time
been promoted for valor dlsfng III,
Civil War and had died bravely on IN,
held Of action. Mr.. simpkins' throa
ached now for two reasons: First, b.
revereDced and adored the memory o.
bis father; secondly. his age and hI,
eyes and his game leg wouldn't let hin
90 10 war himself And as he observed
the martial bearing and uneompromIs
ing gaze Of Colonel Simpklns he saw,
IN imagination, the khakl-clad lads Of
the new generation marching forth and
crossing three thousand miles Of sea 70
eight. maybe die. for liberty.
Mr. Simpkins peered around to make
sure that neither Bess nor John (who
were at the teasing ages Of sixteen
and sevenfeen) were where they could
see him. then he Strengthened and
threw his right arm up for a salute.
But his equity shoulder winged, and he
groaned. He couldn't even salute.
~Damni" said Mr.. sImpklns, and
with HIS other hand fiercely fwirled his
white musfachios
He turned and llmped into the H.
brary and sat down creakfly before the
mahogany desk on which were living
the blanks for his Income tax state
menf. blanks which he had rather
grnmpily got from the Internal Reve-
nue. ofiiceF only thar day after lunch
nnr, ~. A,Eo awaw. f.s....n &c.. -, ..4..A
Air. SImpkins' income for 1917 had
amounted TO Just about SIS. 700. and he
had been rather snappy on the sub
5ecf OF taxes ever since he had discov-
cred that the more income a man has
the greater the percentage OF II he
pays In taxes. He could think OF sew
eral men who, like himself, were mar
ried and had two children. and vet.
although their incomes were nearly
half OF HIS they would pay only q
small fraction Of the amount he paid.
he gloOmily drew the blank nearer
and began filling In the information
that Il asked for.
As Mr. Elmpkins' income was $4,000
be had 70 figure out the amounts pay
able on each Of the successive smaller
classes OF incomes In order to arrive
at the total due from himself. He
passed over the first class who must
pay taxes. that Is. single men making /
over 1000. His calculation for mar /
ried men then showed up as follows:
First. they pay 2 per cent. (under
the 1916 law) on all income over
$4,000. deducting 500 for each or their
children under eighteen years In Mr..
Slmpkins' case this was s212, which he
put down IN the payable column.
He saw next that, under the 1917 i
law. married men pay an additional .
per cent. on all over S2.000-with the
same allowance for children. This
added S252 to his payable" column.
He then observed that for every
g 500 jump In his income over 5000
he had to pay a Surtax. the percentage
growing larger with each jump. This
was $3.50 more added to his burden.
And on top Of all this came an HEx.
cess Profits tax OF s per cent. on all
occupation" income over $4,000, max.
Ing S720 more
The total. then. be must pay was four.
teen hundred and thirty-four dollars. II
-whewg" exclaimed Mr.. Slmpkina
sngrily. There's young Henry WI
sins. who married Jake Johnson's girl.
he makes $1,000 and he doesn't pay
sent OF taxes. guess this is his war
Is well as miner
Thinking OF young Henry wilkins.
le remembered that Mrs. wilkins went (
very afternoon to make bandages for [
he Red Cross and that Henry. who
vas a lawyer. was aiding the Local | I
Draft Board with Its questi0nnalres.
aWell," he admitted 70 himself. I;
that makes a difference"
He thought next Of Judge willough.
y. whose Income was about $1,000
He only pays $40" commented Mr.
'smpkins. not quite SO angrIly this I
line: and then a thought struck him
nd he sat up rigidly In his chair.
Judge Willoughby's son had been
rowned on the Tnscanla when II was
ubmarined with the loss Of two hun.
red soldiers.
Judge Willoughby gave his son 70
.merlca. muttered Mr.. Simpklns.
He leaned forward suddenly and put
Is face in his hands.
For a long time Mr.. Slmpklns sat
cry stln in that position. There was
o sound In the library except the
ckIng OF the tall clock and an occa-
onal trill OF laughter from the chill
rem skylarking upstairs The square
T light on the carpet gradually with.
rev itself through the window, and
rst twilight and then darkness settled
J. about the quiet. white haired, some
mes irascible old man.
sir. Slmpkins was thinking thlnes
hlch he would never afterward speak
!. he was thinking things that were
20 sacred ever to be put into words.
ut some inkilng OF his thoughts may
} found IN his rejoinder to Mrs.
mpkins when that placid lady came
and turned on the lights. and asked
m whether he was ready for dinner.
Judge Wllloughhy's only son was
orth as much as fourteen hundred
ID thirty-four dollars. wasn't hep
r. Simpklns demanded OF her.