Evening journal., 1918-02-14
AN AWFUL MESS
LFrom Lhe New York SUD.

4 in Eugene Fields tale He and his wife
were hungry for information about the
cultivation Of one Of the most highly
esteemed Of American fruits. Turning
eagerly 10 Apple" in the volume for
A when IL arrived, they were met with
the stern command, "See Pomology,
and Pomology, at the promised rate OF
/ publication, was years away.
Under the circumstances aforesaid,
we are bound TO say that the decision
Of the Internal Revenue Bureau TO ex-
tend the time for flling returns from
I February % to March 81 is a conces-
sion 10 the bewildered taxpayer prop
erly TO be described as Just rather than
as merely generous Before the begin
ming Of April, il the excess profits form
and regulations initiate the leisurely
gait Of their predecessors another eX-
tension OF time for filing may become
neces airy.
This state of affairs would be almost
ludicrous II so much Of uncertainty, OF
/ inconvenience and Of delay were not in
ficted upon the taxpayer. The blame Is
not with the Collectors, who have been
and. are more anxious than anybody
else to get the return blanks in order
to circulate them among their fellow
citizens Nor can the blame be put upon
the authorities in the Office of the Com
missioner Of Internal Revenue in the
| Treasury Department at Washington.
We venture TO say that those unfor-
tunate gentlemen have been struggling
day and night for many months, with
the aid Of a small army Of legal coun-
sellors tax experts, certified account
ants and business men OF plain sense,
TO reconcile conflicting requirements OF
the law, TO solve insoluble questions or
construction, to make the unintelllgible
clear to the taxpaying mind Of the
common or garden variety; in short,
to bring order and simplicity and
homogeneity out Of the chaotic mass
of unrelated parts and doubtful or
confused provisions which were
dumped upon them last year by the
CONGRESS.
The responsibility for all this hodge
podge Of Interpretation and formulation
goes back TO the looseness Of thought
and the sleazine-s Of expression with
which the lawmakers in the two houses
OF Congress did their part Of the work
at the outset The trials Of the taxpay-
ers as we'll as Of the tax collectors flow
directly from the methods Of Senators
and Representatives in framing tax
laws: their WILLINGNESS to impose on
the public any scheme that seems to
promise revenue even if 10 comes half
baked from the oven; their habit Of
substituting for the precise and sclen-
tlnc composition that ought to be done
in committee room the haphazard pro-
ducts Of political compromise in con-
ference There are features Of the pres
ent income tax and extra profits tax
laws which belong only 10 the courts ;
there are featurl> which are not legis-
lation at all, in any proper sense Of
the term
The income tax law and the extra
profits tax law which superadds real
and serious ineqWtes Of impact TO
confusion and Uncertainty Of phrase
ology. ought alike TO be Overhauled and
rewritten and re-enacted before anoth-
er experience like the present is pos
sible The taxpayers have Just cause to
complain Of the present state Of things.
Meanwhile, like the good Americans
most Of us are, the taxpaying public
will swallow these real grievances,
their sense Of injustice, their indigna-
ton over obvious inequalities and un-
necessary vexations. and address them
selves with patriotic patience to the
task Of making up the returns-that is
when they get the blanks on which to
make them