The Washington times., 1921-11-25

cess In Canada and II that Is demon
strated to be so, 1 can see no reason
why 1t should not be adopted with
equal success in the United States
as a means Of relieving the taxpay-
ers of onerous tax burdens which
are an aftermath OF the world war"
/ Congressman J. G. Strong of Kan
sas who has accepted the invitation
to make the trip, is strong OPP
ponent Of the sales tax and one who
Is always eager to enter into argu-
ment with proponents of the plan.
Strong visited the office of Chairman
Volk of the committee on arrange
ments today, and stated his exper.
fences with the war tax as applied
in his district.
Soda Tax A Nuisance.
He said
1.-THE tax on ice cream sodas has
been a source OF great annoyance
to my constituents. In attempting
to collect the tax on, sodas from sew
eral druggists in my district. the
Government has assigned young men
who have employed no tact. They
pounced upon one of my constituents
who had been using the best system
he could buy for keeping track of
the amount Of money he owed the
Government on sodas. and threatened
to send him to Jail. They went to
him without credentials or other au-
thority. Another OF my constituents
in the drug business. an Irishman
came to me and asked my advice as
to what he could do II the same
young men called on him. told
him to throw them out. He did so.
with some violence. The Attorney
General next day told me he would
n 30
piled IL he did 30. would go into
court and defend the man. He de.
cided not to prosecute.
MY impression Is that the Govern
ment will have just as much trouble
making collections under the sales tax
law as 1t Is now having in collecting
the tax on sodas. The expense of mnk-
Ing these collections will he enor-
nous. I cannot see that the plan il
at all practical, and I am eager to go
to Canada to ascertain how they do it."
Strong's Objections Answered.
Chairman Volk answered Strong's
objections to the sales tax by pointing
out that II would be stamp tax and
that the cost of collecting the tax
would be practically nothing. The
manufacturer. he explained, would buy
his stamps from the Government, af-
fix them to the articles he offered for
sale. which would be the beginning and
the end Of the tax. Strong said he had
not realized that and would be glad IL
1t was shown to be the fact by the
visit to Canada.
United States Senator James f. Wat
son of Indiana said he would be de-
lighted to make the trip to Canada II
he were not already a strong advocate
Of the sales tax. He said:
Il was one Of the very first con-
verts to the sales tax or turnover
plan. Indeed, I was expounding It's
virtues long before the Hearst paper 9
took 1t up. 1t Is not necessary for me
to go to Canada to see how the law IL
applied. ! want to see 1t adopted
here"
Ever since plans for the trip have
been published Chairman Volk has
been receiving letters from various
parts OF the country discussing the
sales tax. A sample letter IL one from
M. J. Ready. vice president and coun-
sci Of the Soderseine Company Of
North America at Brooklyn. saying:
Thursday afternoon last at the
Commodore Hotel. DIR. d. M. Hanley,
president OF our company. and / met
our Canadian distributor. Mr.. Benn, of
Benn-McLean 4 Nelson, large whole
sale druggists, Of Montreal. We knew
nothing about the sales tax, but
chance remark brought the subject up,
and after two hours discussion we
both became enthusiastic. We are
writing to you to say we hope the
Congressional delegation to Canada
will carry enough weight on its return
to put the sales tax across. We have
spoken to two Congressman, who are
friends of ours, urging them to study
the plan. Anything we can do In the
way of spending our time and money
in advocacy OF the measure. we will
gladly do. We certainly wish you and
Mr.. Hearst every success. You might
say to Mr.. Hearst that we have
learned to believe him to be a real
American and . benefactor of his
country"