Evening star., 1920-06-23
PAINLESS" TAX,
HIDDEN IN SELLING
PRICE, ADVOCATED
Editor Says Income and Ex-
cess Profits Taxes Burden
SmaII-SaIaried Men.

A sugar coated" consumption tax.
to be paid by the merchant, but in
cluded in the selling price. rather than
the present system of levying taxes
on incomes and excess profits. was
advocated by Theodore H. Price of
New York city, editor and proprietor
of Commerce and Finance, in an ad-
dress this afternoon at the weekly
luncheon forum of the, City Club.
Mr. Price said he once was heartily.
in favor of the income tax. but that
actual experience had convinced him
that both it's angle of incidence and
it's angle of reflection are too acute.
that it is a tax which weakens the
incentive to success because 1t makes
the government partner in the prof
it's of one year and leaves the tax
payer to bear the losses of the next
year alone, and that because of it's
'unfairness" in this respect it leads
to an increase of overhead charges to
manufacturer and dealer.
'It is for this reason" he said, that
II advocate the abolition of the tax
not in the interest of the few, but of
the many. upon whose energies and
the constancy of whose employment
and welfare the progress of the coun-
try depends.
Income Tax Raises Prices.
at appeared at first to be abso-
lutely fair that those who had big
incomes should pay more than their
that it cost the govern
ment more to protect the property
of the man who was worth 100000
than it did to secure the life and lib
erty of the pauper.
But experience has taught us that
= Of ha ie,
to raise the cost of the things that
the poor man must have because
those who have the ability to earn
large incomes, being small minority,
are able to demand higher prices for
the services they perform and SO pass
the taxes that they pay on to the
large majority by increasing the cost
of living.
The same statement is even more
true of the excess profits tax, which
really tends to protect monopoly and
gives a tremendous advantage to the
large manufacturer or merchant who
is willing to use his excess profit in
smothering his small competitors by
expending it for selling and adver-
tisins campaigns. instead of paying it
to the government.
TRANSLATED into it's equivalent in
energy. the excess profits tax also
bears very heavily upon insurance
corporations and savings banks, in
whose earnings millions of people are
interested as stockholders or de-
poSltorS.
Cannot Kill Initiative.
"1t is all very we'll and it seems
very Just to insist that those who
have the most should pay the most,
but the difficulty is to make them do
it without confiscating property and
killing the initiative of the very small
number who have the enterprise. in
telligence and ability that are requi-
site for leadership in the development
of the country.
.There were only 161. 1896 persons in
the United States, or less than two
tenths of one per cent OF our popula-
ton, who reported incomes of over
$40. 900, and while the number may
have been slightly increased since, it
is a question whether we are wise in
raising the general cost of living as it
has been raised by the income and
excess profits tax in an unsuccessful
effort to make the two people in every
thousand who are successful or for
tunate pay heavier takes than the
other 99S. 80
mo scheme of taxation can be alb
solutely equitable. The income tax
and the supertaX as now leFled are
but an approximation. and a very
rough APPROXIMATION. TO JUSTICE IHey
are inquisitional. provoke resentment,
throttle ambition and give an enor-
nous advantage to the man who is
able or willing to stop working and
nut his capital in non taxable bonds.
."That taxation should be painless,
or, rather. that we should be in
sensible to it's pain, it is necessary
that it should be paid in small
amounts and automatically. 1t is far
easier for most of us to pay l cent
a dav than S3.65 at the end of the
year. and if we pay the cent a day
! in the process of buying something
that costs more than penny we are
almost unconscious of the contribu-
tion that we make.
Cigarette Tax Painless.
There are few who realize or re-
sist the tax that we pay on the
cigarettes or cigars that we smoke
or the taxes that We used to pay
on the beer and whisky that we
drank. The tax paid on freight bills
is another contribution of which We
are unconscious because We don't see
it. although we grumble at the tax
on passenger tickets because it is
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