The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1921-07-22
In a Fools Paradise.

Congress is ever going to start on
the new tax system, but does not
begin. Meanwhile, the national mis-
chief of such delay is incalculable.
The United States Government is
living to-day very largely on taxes
which we're accruing year ago, even
q year and half ago. Profits made
early in 1920 did not undergo tax
accounting until after the close Of
the year. No taxes on them were
collectible until near the end Of the
first quarter of this year, the ma
jority much later. The last Of them
will not be payable until the fourth
quarter Of this year. Thus taxes
going into the Treasury late in this
year may have been earned by the
Government, so to speak, in the very
first month OF last year.
The same thing is true of corpora
ton income taxes. 1t is true Of indi-
vidual income taxes.
In other words, industrial COM
panies, railroads, business houses,
individuals may be paying into the
Treasury throughout 1921 large
amounts of taxes on profits and In
comes made long ago, though they
are not now making a dollar, have
not made dollar in the first half of
this year and, when December 81
comes around, will not have made a
dollar for the whole year.
What. then, is the United States
Government, now living on it's finan-
cial past, going to live on next year
1e22-when all the taxes accrued in
1920 and collected End spent in 1921
are cleaned up? Nobody knows.
Nobody knows because, aside from
the proposed customs revenues which
are and long will be an uncertain
quantity, Congress has not yet lifted
finger in the matter of general tax
revision to provide revenue after the
new tax schedules go into effect, when
ever they do go into effect.
Nobody would know even IL it were
intended to continue in effect the ey-
listing profits and income taxes to APP.
ply to profits and incomes Of this
year, because nobody knows what is
now left to business and to individ.
uals of the profits and earnings and
incomes of the year Of 1920 on which
the United States Government is liv-
ing in this year OF 1921.
All that anybody does know is that
the profits and earnings and incomes
of business and of individuals made
in 1920--largely made in the early
part OF 1920 at that--have gone up in
smoke by billions OF dollars. There
fore the chance for the Government
to get taxes on those vanished profits
and earnings and incomes has also
gone up in smoke.
To catch merely a glimmering OF
how those profits and earnings and
incomes have vanished into thin air,
consider what IL means to have
100000 workers out of employment
in this country. IL moderate salary
good salary and high salary of those
5.000,00 workers averaged no more
than $4,000 a year their shrinkage OF
earnings counts total of ten billions
of dollars.
But they did not lose their employ
ment without the mills and factories.
the mines and utilities, the big stores
and little stores, the trades and pro-
fessions In which those 100000
workers had been employed losing
the profits and earnings and incomes
that had been made through having
the business that kept those workers
at work.
Those 100000 workers did not
lose their employment and their EN-.
ployers did not lose the business on
which those workers had been EN-.
gagged without other profits and earn
ings and incomes being lost by such
industries as had provided the mate.