Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1919-05-28

glossy and twice as thick and abund-
ant. Try it!-adv.
they will be welcomed as friends
rather than dis dreaded antagonists.
/, America has a great and honorable
service to perform in bringing the
commercial and industrial undertake
ingS Of the world back to their old
scope and swing again and putting
+: solid structure Of credit under
! them All our legislation should be
friendly to such plans and purpose.
! Our credit and enterprise alike will
be quickened by timely and helpful
/ legislation with regard to taxation. |
+ hope that the Congress will find it
possible to undertake an early re-
consideration of Federal taxes in or
der to make our system Of taxation
more simple and easy Of administra-
ton, and the taxes themselves as lit
tie burdensome as they can be made
aud yet sufficient to support the gov
ernment and meet all its Obligations
!; The figures to which those obliga-
tionS have arisen are very great in
! deed, but they are not SO great as
to make it difficult for the nation to
mt ct them, and meet them, perhaps.
in single generation by taxes which
, will neither crush nor discourage
( These are not SO great as they seem,
n t1,n t,,,,
we have had to borrow, added to the
; immense sums we have had to raise
by taxation. would seem to indicate,
for IL very large proportion Of those
sums were raised in order that they
might be ia ,ed to the governments
with which :: c were associated in the
war, and those loans will, Of course.
constitute assets, not liabilities, and
will not have TO be taken care OF by
OR taxpayers.
The Matter Of Taxation.
+ The main thing we shall have to
care for is that our taxation shall
rest as lightly as possible on the pro-
ductive resources Of the country, that
its rates shall be stable, and that it
! shall be constant in it's revenue
; yielding power. We have found the
main sources from which it must be
! drawn. take 1t for granted that the
mainstays will henceforth be the in
come tax, the excess profits tax. and
| the estate tax. All these can be so
| adjusted to yield constant and ade-
Quate returns, and yet not consti-
tute too grievous burden on the
taxpayer. A revision of the income
tax has already been provided for by
the act Of 1918, but think you will
| find that still further changes can
be made to advantage both in the
rates OF the tax and in the method
Of its collection. The excess profits
| tax need not long be maintained at
| the rates which were necessary
while the enormous expenses Of the
war had to be borne; but it should
| be made the basis Of a permanent
system which will reach undue prof
| its without discouraging the enter
| prise and activity Of our business
| men. The tax on inhcritanccs ought,
no doubt, to be rcconsidered in it's
relation to the fiscal system Of the
several States, but it certainly ought
| to remain a permanent part OF the
! fiscal system of the Federal govern
| mcnt also
Hardly JustiGablc.
Many OF the minor taxes 1.rovlucu
for in the revenue legislation Of 1917
and 1918, though no doubt made ne
ccsSary by the pressing necessities
OF the wartime, can hardly find suf-
| ficient justification under the easier
| circumstances of peace, and can now
happily be got rid OF. Among these,
! hope you will agree, are the cxcises
upon various manufacturers and the
taxes upon retail sales. They are
| UNEQUAL in the incidence on different
industries and on different indiyidu-
ais. Their collection Is difficult and
| expensive. Those which are levied
upon articles sold at retail are large
ly cvaded by the rcadjustment Of re-
tail prices. On the other hand,
| should assume that 1t is cxpedient to
intoip n noo T.,