Republican farmer., 1919-09-05

In q memorandum to "a public man in Washington" given out yes erday by it's author, Otto II. Kahn of the firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Co.,, suggests the appointment by the Gov ernment of a non-political body of experts to study the effects of the various kinds of taxation which have been in force during and since the termination of the war, and to make recommendations to Congress based upon such study. MT. Kahn, who submitted the memorandum in re- spOnse to a request from the un- named official for his views on the high cost of living, makes plain that he believes it to be demonstra ble that 'the unscientific system of tax ation adopted in this country since 1917" has played a considerable part in boosting prices
 Denying that it is his wish to ob- ject to the obvious purpose under lying our war taxation, to impose the greatest burden upon those best able to bear it; and agreeing that taxation must be laid in accordance with the dictates of social justice, the banker concludes that the very extreme of the burden laid upon business and
 
 purpose which the framers of our taxation legislation apparently had in view. and a the same time has given rise to certain unforeseen and troub- lOus developments - as invariably happeHs in the case of extreme measures, especially where economics are involved. Now that the emer- Eency of the war is over, I believe that the entire matter should be sub teCted to unpreiudiced and competent critical review"
 After conceding that the farmer. the wage worker and the salaried man and woman are entitled beCaus" of the diminished purchasing power Cf the dollar to a prOpOrtiOnate in crease in income, the memorandum insists that the owner of industrially invested capital has suffered similar ly. while in addition thereto ne is subject to a heavy excess profits tax and, if his income is large. to an income tax of unparalleled severity Leaving out of account. however. the relatively small number of these In possession of large incomes and de- ining owners of industrially invested capital as, primarily, the storekeeDe-, the average merchant. and the mil lions who derive their incomes, all or in part. from investments in cor poration securities. Mir. Kahn urges that such, 'by the same token as the farmer, the wage worker. and the salaried man, feel the need of a larger return than formerly"
 To emphasize his argument that specta cular earnings of certain indi- vIduaG and corporations afford no just criterion as tO the earnings of husines~ as whole and to show that there are numerous cases where earnings have shrunk since the war. the writer quotes from a recent in yestigatiOn in England. where, he says. conditions appear to be similar This investigator concluded that the increase in cost of certain articles during the past two years as com pared with the two years before the war had been divided so that E7 per cent. went to labor, 40 per cent to the State through taxation, ana 3 Ter cent. to capitei
 Thus it is set forth that the return on industrialIy invested capital ID doubt has been diminished on the whole, Mir. Kahn arguing that if it b. taken into consideration that tho purchasing power of the dollar has shruuk nearly one-haIf, it will be seen that the actual yield is much less than it was prior to the war and that there has taken place ir fact