The New York herald., 1921-09-21
Calamity Taxes.

ness to-day. these facts OF the tax
situation will stare it straight In
the face:
Unscientific, unsound and danger
GUS revenue schedules, particularly
the excess profits tax, left by this
session OF Congress In the statutes
as applying to business Of 1921, but
payable in 1922, are going to be as
heavy a drag on such business all
through next year as they have been
all through this year.
1t has been a disheartening and d
desperate struggle for thousands of
American concerns all through this
year OF 1921 under the hard times
and unstable conditions to try to
raise the money with which to meet
the quarterly payments OF taxes
which accrued against them In the
year of 1920. It will be a desperate
and a ruinous struggle for them
during all Of 1922. rake and scrape
as they may. to find the money to pay
similarly taxes for 1921 after all they
have gone through this year.
Congress can lift this back break
ing load of American business with
out sacrificing the national treas
ury. 1t can do it by applying sales
tax which will begin to turn in reve-
nue. to the Government almost as
early as the day the law goes into
operation.
With the sales tax collected all
over the country as the transactions
take place all over the country it will
be case of pay as you go, so that
the United States Treasury will not
have to wait virtually three months
to get a part of what is due 1t, six
months to get another part, nine
months to get still another part, and
year to get the final part. Indus
try and business will be better off for
the relief. The national treasury
will be better of for the constant
inflow of revenue.
Two infirmiies of brain and OF
spine seem to inflict Congress in re-
spect of the profits tax, which still
stands, and of the sales tax, which
ought to take it's place. One Is the
illusion that If any business has
earned in 1921 the profits which make
II subject to the profits tax it must
have the money to pay the taxes that
will be due next year.
But what has been the difficulty
this year will be the difficulty next
year. While business houses made
money last year and their books
showed the profits, they could not
collect from their debtors. In 1922
they will find 1t still slower and
harder to get in the money that is
due them from all those with whom
they did business in this year of
1921 at book profit.
The other Congress infirmity is
the hallucination that II sales tax
is adopted here as in various other
countries and the demagogues set Ut
the cry Of shifting the load from
the few to the many" something
dreadful is going to happen at the
election one year from now for the
House OF Representatives. Well
THE New YORK HERALD can be as
plain spoken when the occasion de
mands as any shivering statesman
who Is afraid of his own shadow
So we ask, what do these faint
hearted gentlemen think Is going tC
happen to them in the Congress-
elections of 1922 IL by that time they
have earned for themselves the ma
tionaI title Of the Calamity Congress
Could any SNUG legislative grour
stand up under the national thun
derbolt that would fall on them in 9
political situation like that?
The proof OF the pudding is in the
eating OF 1t. The sales tax is a good
tax, because Il is a sound tax. an hon
est tax and tax which bears heavily
on no one. II would not take the
American people many weeks, with
their natural wits and their common
sense, to know they we're better of
with the sales tax than they had been
before with the other taxes, no mat
ter what the clamor OF the profes
sional ranters. But, in plain Eng
lish. when they found the soup house
lines grown larger under the pro
longation OF vicious tax consequences
they would wipe the floor up with
the Calamity Congress responsible
for them.