The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-08-18
THE SQUANDERERS

The merchants and other business
men of North Dakota-and doubtless
of every other state-are being har-
assed these days by focks Of special
tax collectors sent out by the federal
government. They check up the mer-
chants books and generally manage
to dig up some obscure special tax
which has been overlooked or of which
the merchant had no knowledge what
ever. When a man pays tax at the
required rate on his income for the
preceding year, he quite naturally as
sumes that the obligation is fully dis
charged; but in many cases he has an.
other guess coming. There are all
sorts of special taxes, and the whole
system is so complicated that it is
enough to give even a Philadelphia
lawyer the delirium tremens. =,
There are comparatively few men
who are not willing to pay their share
of the tremendous cost of winning
the war;" But they would like to
have some plan worked out which
would enable them to know with some
degree of certainty the amount Of tax
they owe from year to year and when
the obligation covering a given period
has been fully discharged. These be-
lated check-ups, undreamed-of special
taxes and fines for deferred payment
Of them are trying, to say the least.
Not only that, but the average tax
payer would find more satisfaction in
paying his federal taxes if it were not
for his knowledge Of the fact that so
large a part of it had been and still is
being wasted and criminally squand-
cred. He reads with horror of the
shameful and heartless neglect Of the
disabled ex-service men, many of
whom have died while the abominably
inefficient public health service was
twiddling it's thumbs of unwinding
miles of red tape. Perhaps he may
have read the statement of Chairman
Lasker of the U. S. Shipping Board to
representatives of the press at Wash
ington, from which we quote a few
typical paragraphs:
"The books are in deplorable
condition. In any commercial in
stitution they would not be called
books at all. Any of our great
corporations would have been in
receivers hands long ago had it's
books been kept as those of this
organization have been and are
kept, and the operations of the
Fleet necessarily must be just as
incompetent as the books are, be-
cause it is impossible to operate
any business if there isn't a figure
on which remote reliance can be
placed.
"In the presence of the men who
I. L Il IL - - 1oo $4~n Y {.
fifteen months / want to say it is
inconceivable that an institution
like this could be in existence and
be turned over to men to admins
ter in the shape it is. Had the
books been kept with view of 4
cheating and deceiving Congress
and the country they could not
have been kept in much different
shape than they have been-and
measure the words am using.
Mr.. Lasker then went on to explain
that while the records show that Con-
gress appropriated only 500, 100000
for the maintenance of the Fleet last
year, yet the Shipping Board in fact
expended $380,0OO,00O, and this he
characterized as IAN astounding case
Of deception Of the country and Con-
gress."
There is good reason to hope that an
end Of criminal governmental waste
and extravaganza has been reached
The present administration appears to
be getting hold Of the loose ends pref
ty we'll. and President Harding and his
cabinet seem to mean business.
tt. =, view of Chairman Lesker's
disclosures. the country merchants
who had innocently overlooked an OBJ