Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-12-21

J. W. FOLEY HIT
TWICE BY u. S.
TAX COLLECTORS
Los Angeles, Cal. Dec. 21.-1n .
letter made public here 1v Collector
Rex 3. Goodcell,, addressed to him
by James William Foley, known as
the North Dakota poet, philosopher,
banquet speaker, and MEM
Der OF the Pasadena Evening Express
staff. the latter describes in pictures
que language the manner in which his
purse was scuttled by Mr.. G%oodcell's +,
system.
Mr.. Foley's letter followa:.
Dear Judge:
You will be pleased to learn that
OF your certified highwaymen call
upon mo yesterday morning, leav-
ing mo a much poorer and not any
wiser man. One Of them was the ,
gentleman I net in your office when
I, got YOU u Of bed at dawn and
told you l. feared the. worst. He sooth-
cd me, III you remember. with that
gentle anesthetic that is administered
w Ola R0AASAAtS oe4O1c LAko lIAtJOT OpOI-
alton, The other was a Mr.. Artery.
who is ntly' named, as he drew a lot
OF my ltfe-blood. l will say for them,
Judge. that they were mild and gentle,
as mild-nnannered men as ever Scut-
tied q poets purse. I have only pleas
Ing recollections of them personally.
Financially, tho SCAT they left will
remain with me always.
You win also be interested to know
that I had innocently failed to pay
the government enough money back
some aeons aEo-I think in the jur-
assic or paleoEoic period. 1t Is 50 long
ago / had forgotten 1t. But the gov
eminent IL never forgetting and age
less. and l discovered that when they
drew out documents yelloyed with
much age and with stains OF the car-
boniferous era upon them, and pro-.
ceeded to confuse me with explana-
tons. ::
Tho trouble was this, Judge: I sold
some real property for a little less
than it had cost me, considering men.
tai wear and tear, because 1t vas up
in the Nonpartisan League regions OF
North Dakota, and to sell 1t I made q
hat price Of a dollar down and a dol
lar 4 week. If I live till the next geo
logical epoch. I may get back as much
aA9A Ab SNo 8cu
ms. Your. investigators. or painless
EXTRACTOR, reasoned with. me in this
wise: your property deprecated
thirteen hundred dollars In the time
between your acquiring Of 1t and the
sale. That being the case. you were
able to sell it for q few hundred dol
lars more. Now you have paid taxes
:, on the profit, but not on the deprecia-
ton. 6oswe charge you four per cent
on your loss by depreciation" Do
you follow me, tudge?,
Having lost your thirteen hundred
dollars by depreciation. we find that
that loss puts you in the ten forty A
class. That increases the pro q
Of your tax as it We're. Being worth
! thirteen hundred dollars less, you are
| worth more to us. So we nall you
again." Again, judge, do you follow
me?..>
depreciateds 5by $1,000, we charge you
! four per. cent on your loss by depreci-
alton. TO that wa add four per cent
on, the profit you were able to make
becauge your property was worth less
And then we add the premium for put
ting you in the A class" And SO ii
was figured out that I owed the gov
! eminent something more than SEQ. ]
may say hat your extra ctors figured
it. I wa lost in a blue haze of illogi-
cal prob and loss.
Judge. I paid it. Your representa-
tives left, me, carrying my bank bal
Ance within q few cents. 1 sat hollow.
eyed, Bolshevik and bursted. And
then what happened. judse? Your
lord high executioner. Jack Wright
appeared with his still dripping cut.
lass and smoking musket he appeared
and said: a"Jinn,s my representative.
have made a mistake, and it Is not II
your favor. 1 have bad news for you
You owe me $40 more. They miscal
c~ulated." And again, >3udge, stood
and delivered.
Today I am waiting with fear.ant
>relnhling for the next Of the khan
Are there any more. 5udge7 How d.
en- tachelon:.- or how? Do you aim t
Eexhaust by q. series Of frontal attacks
What 10 the system. anyway? Wher
It IL ali over I want you to have m.
Recommendation as 4 collector.
want the government to know. Suci
loyalty to ideals should not 60 un
rewarded. Broke, and bleeding as
am I still have a high admiration To-
an official who. can make p double
cleanup. in one forenoon. Captain
kidd was . ~four-nushsr beaide you
1Judge. Ny hat 10 of. ~ my purse he!
been open to you.
One time 4 book agent called on
man on ths~third floor OF q, building
with a book. The man kicked hin
downstairs. Az ne struck the secon,
night . comer1up saw . good thin
and helped him along to the first
Night. And there . chance custome
\ hit himsaGAinNf for good LUCK. And .
the aren't iih~allyIStrnck the sidewalk