French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1916-1919, 1918-03-14
1.-THE RICH MANS WAR
4 HATEFUL CALUMNY"
american Business Men Ready to
Make Sacrifices With
out Stint. !,
TAXES HERE AND ABROAD.
IAmerIcan Taxation the Most Demo-
cratic In The World.
BY OTTO II. KAHN.

q.
Nothing Is palmer than that business
land business men had everything to
iRaIn by preserving the conditions which
iexisted during the two and a half years
Iprior to April, 1917, under which many
IOf them made very large profits by fur
finishing supplies, provisions and fnan-
Icial aid to the allied nations. Taxes
Iwere light, and this country was rap
idly becoming the great economic e 3
iervoir Of the world.
: Nothing is palmer than that any sane
business man in this country must have
if~oreseen that, if America entered the
war, these profits would be immensely
reduced and some Of them cut of en-
;;tireIy, because our government would
istep In and take charge; that it would
cut prices right and left, as, In fact, it
has done; that burdens Of
taxation would have to be imposed, the
bulk Of which would naturally be borne
by the well-to-do; in short, that the un-
Iprecedented golden flow into the Golfers
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 1nanciers Of
New York were afraid that the money
loaned by them to the allied nations
might be lost If these nations were de-
.feated, and therefore they Unanswered
to get America into the war In order to
save their investments.
Proof That the Charge Is Absurd,
A moments reflection will show the
utter absurdity 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 defauIted for the time being
upon these foreign debts, the greater
part of which: blythe way, is secured
by the deposits Of collateral In the
shape of American railroad bonds and
stocks and Of bonds Of neutral coun.
tries, aggregat1ng 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 by 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
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 a de-
fault on their allied bonds, not to men
ton the heavy taxation which is bound
70 follow the war for years to come and
the shrinkage of fortunes through the
of all American securities in
consequence of u entrance into the
Not only is the "rich mans war;. an
absurd myth; the charge is a hateful
calumny.
Business men, great or small, are no
different from other Americans, and
reject the thought that any Ameri-
can, rich or poor, would be capable of
the hideOus and dastardly plot to
bring upon bis country the sorrows
and sufferings 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
efforts to preserve Americas
neutrality, from which they drew so
much profit during the two and a half
years before April, 1917. Every con-
of personal advantage COM
manded men of affairs to stand with
andsupport the agitation of the peace
a~t-any-price" party. They spurned
such ignoble reasoning; they rejected
that utilization; they stood for war
when 1t was no longer possible, With
and honor, to maintain peace
because they 6 patriotic citizens
6rst and business men afterwards.
Our income Tax and Taxes Abroad.
a. The largest incomes are taxed
Tar more heavily here than anywhere
else In the world.
The maximum rat OF income taxa.
ton here is 81 per cent In England It.
is 42h per cent Ours is therefore so
per cent. higher than England's, and
the rate in England is the highest pre-
vailing anywhere in Europe. And in
addition to the federal tax we must
bear in mind our state and municfpaI
taxes.
ca Moderate and small incomes. on
the other hand, are subiect RI q For