The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1921-08-04
Campaign for Collection of
Sales and Luxury Taxes
Inaugurated Here.
KEEP FIVE MEN BUSY
Charles J. Elmer Declares 1t
Will Take Month = Warrants
in District Held Up.

The United States government this
morning opened an intensive drive in
Kenosha for the collection of special
taxes and the operatives of the gov
eminent will continue the "clean up"
of these taxes for a month, being busy
here until September 3rd The cam
paign is in charge of Charles ]. Elmer,
internal revenue collector for the dis
trict and he has five experts on the
job. The range Of collections will eX-
tend from the collection of manufact-
urer's tax down to the collection Of
the penny tax charged to the children
on the ice cream cones. It is said
that the men employed by the govern
ment will visit practically every place
of business in the city and if neces-
sary will visit practically every place
of business in the city and if neces-
sary to provide for the proper collec-
tion of the taxes will force the open
ing of the records of stores and COR
porations in order that the govern
ment may be certain that the proper
taxes have been paid.
Campaign of Education.
It is declared that for a part the
campaign is an educational movement
with view of showing the men
in business how to properly keep their
books so that the government can be
convinced that the proper tax has been
paid. However, it is not entirely an
educational movement and when it is
shown that deliberate effort has been
made to defraud the government of the
tax penalties will be promptly assessed
and collected. The agents of the gov
eminent have full powers to examine
the records of every store with view
to seeing that full payment of luxury
taxes has been made. They have full
power to demand collections and to
make estimates of the amount due in
cases where the bookkeeping has not
been done in method to show just
what may be due the government.
Today the men were busy checking
rapidly as possible other lines will be
taken up until every one of the lines
from which tax is collected has been
visited. 1t is admitted that claim
that no books have been kept will be
no defense and that in such cases the
government agents will be able to find
way to secure the taxes which may
be due to the government.
Warrants in Distraint Here.
Collector Elmer admitted this morn
ing that he had a large number of war
rants in distraint for the collection
of federal taxes from men who have
been active in the illicit sale of liquors
in Kenosha, but he said that these col
lections would be held in abeyance
pending the completion of the inten-
sive drive for the collection Of the
luxury tax.
"Some of these men who have been
found guilty of dealing in liquors have
already paid the claims of the govern
ment," said Mr. Elmer. 81 haven't the
records with me and I can not give ex-
act figures of the amounts here in Ke-
nosha. My memory is that the total
runs somewhere about forty-fve dol
/ lars and l can't say how much has been
paid AS the claims are a first lien
on all property of the people named
in these warrants we are not much
afraid of losing the amounts. They run
from five hundred to six or sever
thousand dollars in Kenosha and that
is about all l remember about them"
Mr.. Elmer said that he could not re.
call just how many Kenosha men Were
mentioned in these warrants of dis.
traint but he indicated that it was {
considerable number 1t was indicated
that the collection of these large
amounts would follow directly the com
pletion of the campaign inauguratec
this morning.