The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-02-03
Chapter Ill.

mOnd that was given to you, you may
think you are exempt from taxation
buy why? Wouldn't you call for the
police in a second if you were as
saulted on the street? Don't you ac-
cept all favors and protection of the
government that you need? If some
rowdies interferred with your free
passage along the street or road
wouldn't you say in minute that
they" ought to arrest those rowdies
Do you know who you mean when
you say they" Why, you mean
the government, that invisible insti-
tuition that is kept up by the taxes
that you pay on that diamond OF
yours or what other property you
have. You have no right to the pro-
lection of the government If you do
not do your part in supporting it,
whatever that part is. If you haven t
a dollars worth of property on earth
you owe some support to the govern
ment because you are a human be-
, ing. You owe the government good
conduct and right attitude towards
the country and it's institutions. If
you are wearing diamond ring or
have it laid on your dresser at home
or put away for safe keeping and
are trying to find some excuse or
some reason why you should not pay
| taxes on that diamond, then you have
not the right attitude towards your
country and your government. You
are a Stacker and a dodger. There is
nothing personal about this; we. are
speaking to the whole public, but to
make the lesson clearer and because
it applies in more cases we are say
ing Suppose you are one of the
younger set" 1t does not matter if
you are middle age or one of the
older set and have diamonds or other
luxuries that you are unwilling to
pay taxes on you had better get rid of
them or become willing to pay your
| taxes. ...
When we speak of diamonds we
are speaking of all kinds of luxur-
les; all the unnecessary things that
| people have wealth invested in. 1t
is an accepted principle of govern
ment that people should pay more
taxes on the luxuries than they do
on the necessities. That is because
they can better afford it; just the
same as the man who makes mil
lion dollars year can afford to pay
so per cent of his income to the gov
eminent just as we'll as the man who
makes $4,000 a year can afford to
pay per cent of his income to the
government. 1t deals largely with
the problems of how much he has
left after he makes the payment and
| there is left. If you have diamonds
or other luxuries put away that you
are not needing you could pay a tax
of so per cent on those luxuries and
still be as we'll situated as the fellow
who has no diamonds, no luxuries
and has hard time paying the taxes
on his necessities.
If you want to be exempted from
paying taxes on your diamonds and
jewelry, go to the assessor and make
the right kind of showing and you
will probably get exemption, but
how would you feel about it to have
the record showing that you are not
willing to pay the taxes on your lux.
uries? How would you feel about it
to bear the knowledge within your
own bosom that you are not taking
the right attitude towards your
country and your government. How
would you like to have the press
representatives know that you were
that kind of a tax dodger; how
would you like to know that they
think of it every time they look you
in the face and every time they write
a news item about you; every time
they write something about your So
cial affairs and how you entertained
at whist, bridge or five hundred
or whatever other social activities
you took part in. Suppose you lose
your diamonds, wouldn't you report
it to the police right away and make
an effort to have them found again at
government expense? If those dia-
monds are afforded protection why
should they not help support the gov
eminent that protects them? How
would you feel if you lost your dia-
mOnds and it was reported to the Of
ficers and mentioned in the news
paper columns and the press repre-
sentatives went to the records and
found that you did not pay taxes on
the diamonds? If they found that
you had not even reported them to
the assessor or that you had reported
them and then had gone to the as
sesslr's office and made application
for exemption from paying taxes ON
them? How would you like to have
your friends and the press represen-
tatives know those facts? Seriously
now, If you did not list your dia-
monds to pay taxes on them and /
somebody stole them and you had a |
clue as to who got them, would you
have the cheek to report the matter |
to the officers at all and ask for the |
aid of the government in recovering |
some property that you were dodg- |
ing the taxes on? When we speak of |
diamonds as we do here, we mean |
all kinds of jewelry and luxuries and |
the same principle applies to any
kind of property. If you had eight |
work horses and saddle horse and |
you reported to the assessor that you
just had eight horses and then some
body should steal your saddle horse,
would you have the cheek to ring up
the sheriff and tell him that some
body had stolen this horse that you
were doding the taxes on? Why
IL no y,r,,N rr;xy