The Washington times., 1922-10-08

the national wealth.
On the; hypothssis thet the ''eor-
rectsd" vaips o. the British ~
ti9nal weeith per head of the
population An 1871 Wa ,the came
~ the pre-war vsslth-.A pure ~
sumption made solsly Tor the saks
of some cemparipep--the British
national debt psr HEAD Of fhs
population d lp31 was % per cent
Of the natisnsl wealth which. On
this hypothesis. Has s7k pounds
Il shilliass Per hss& Of the poppls-
tiop. - Ri. n
so. opr incr,assd burden on o.
count OF the war would, evan on
this hypothesis, BE- hSayier than
the French, since the propsrtisn
Of the French pre-war debt to the
national wealth. per head sf the
population. vas 1sl par cant high
or than that Of tho British, OF
course. ,if the "cerrscted" value
Of the British postwar national
wealth, has decreased. the 6tfSer.
ence to our disadvsntass win ~
even greater. ',f.7 ~ ss'>.'i'
METHODS UNs0uND. = =.
: IN one respect. however. cur
situation h much better than that
Of France. The proportion Of fund.
Cd debt to the whole British debt
In 1871 was II per cent. where's
the proportion in France was only
Is Per cent, ThSs again 10 acon-
sequence Of the unsoundness Of
French financisl methods.. Even
20 poor Q country a. Italy has sue
ceeded in funding SO per cent Of
its total debt--including loans
from foreign governments.
Further. the French national
debt is Increasing at the rate Of
at least $4,000 million francs Q
year. whereas the British debt
diminished 3.21 per cent between
March 81. 1920 and March 81. 1921.
Every French budget shows an
enormous deficit because the
revenue from taxation 10 made
quate in France. for the reasons
already given. -
French taxation 10 not merely
inadequate. It 10 not properly col
lected--at least the direct taxes
are not. At the end Of 1890 only
Sc per cent Of the whole direct
taxation had been collected and
the arrears for the year amount.
cd to 2.s70 million francs. At the
end OF 1921 onlyrl per cent of the
Income tax had been collected and
the arrears Of income tax for the
year amounted to 1s42 million
francs in the pre-wAr territory
alone without Alsace-Lorraine)
Since the income tax was first
levied in 1916. not half Of 1t has
ever been collected and the &C.
cumulated arreers must now Sc
enormous. Moreover, It's yield 10
reduced by the. exemption Of
about two-fifths of the active
population-the farmers.
Since farmers themselves pro.
duce most Of what they consume,
they contribute much less to In.
direct taxation than the rest OF the
population, 90 they. more than any
other class. should pay direct tayes.
Until 1920 they were entirely ex.
empted from income tax. ~
Since then they have nominatiy
had to pay It. but their assess.
ments are ridiculous. In 1890 the
whole amount Of the income tax
assessments on agricultural profits
was S,3s1. 900 francs. whereas the
assessments on Industrial and com
mercial profits amounted to 3s1.-
Sa2.b0o francs, those on salaries
and wages to s7.ss7.5 500 francs. and
those on professional earnings to
12.06s,5o0. francs. ;. d.. ''.''.. .
FARMERS MADE RICH.
Yet the French farmers, who
were entirely exempted from the
excess profits duty, have !, made
fortunes during and since the war.
Small ss their holdings are. the
number Of them that can afford to
drive about in motor cars is sur.
prisinS.
To what extent, thanks to pro-
lection. they are able to exploit the
rest Of the population Is shown by
the fact that food prices are rela-
lively higher in France than the
general cost Of living. whereas
they are lower In England. Yet
France Is capable Of producing all
her own food and England is not
Az for the declarations OF income
made by the rich In France, the
wretched yield of the income tai
shows what thcS>sre worth. The
total income tax collected in France
In 1921 worked out the magnificent
sum Of 1880 francs per head Of the
population. '.''