Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1922-01-20
THE BURDEN OF TAXES

the Treasury Department.
These figures include interest on the
public debt which amounts TO about
one billion dollars, but include moth
Ing for sinking fund or other debt re-
demption. Including both interest and
sinking fund, the government will
| spend more than four times as much
the fiscal year 1922 as it spent yearly
before the war.
These expenditures and these heavy
charges are part of the price of vic
| tory. Your whole present problem is
10 curtail them. 1t concerns you to
know just how these immense sums
We're gathered and how much you paid
and are paying toward them, for of
course we, the tax payers, the men and
women with jobs. the men and women
who have what the census calls gain
ful occupations, paid every cent of it.
1t was our money until the govern
ment took it.
Let US examine the fiscal year 1920.
have not the detailed account for
1921, but it was slightly less than the
year previous, as the year ending June
~, 1922, will be a slightly less burden
on us than the year preceding. Ac-
cording to a careful analysis made by
the late DIR. e. B. Rosa, of the United
States bureau of standards, a govern
ment scientist who was deeply and in
telligently interested in the subject,
every man, woman and child in this
country contributes an average Of
fifty-three dollars in taxes to the sup
port of the national government. Ac-
tually it is nearer fifty-four than fifty
three dollars, but l am taking the
smaller sum for the sake of the round
number. That is, the average family
Of five persons pays $3.50 a year out
of IT'S earnings to the federal govern
ment alone, In addition to what is
paid for state county and city taxes
The estimated average yearly income
of family of five is something more
than $500. But before any of that 500
is spent $265 must be turned over 10
the general government to run the
business of the United States.
The actual amount that each one of
us paid was $53.77. We paid it through
the medium Of internal revenue taxes
and customs duties on imported ar
ticles divided as follows:
Per
Capita
Income and excess profit. .S37. 20
Cigars and tobacco. 2.77
70
IleS .................. 2.7Z
Autos, candy, furs, jewelry, etc. 2.52
Beverages 1.86
Special taxes on capital stock,
etc. ........... ......s.s.sss w
Estate inheritance ............ OF
Stamps on legal papers, etc.. 70
Admissions to amusements, etc. ~
Insurance and miscellaneous. %
Total ................... .S53.77
The taxpayer is next of kin to the
treasury. At any rate he is the first
person notified when the treasury
needs money, and he always has to dig
down into his jeans for whatever is
needed. Taxpaying, even more than
charity, begins at home. The boys
best friend Is his mother. but the tax
PAYERS only friend is himself. The
only thing that can be done for him is
to disclose as wildly as possible how
much his government is costing aad
let him decide what he Will do about
1t. 1t all comes down to this: Tho
more money the government spends
through defective organization or ex-
travagance, the less you have to spend
or save.
So much for the cost of the national |
business we support. We are all mi |
nority stockholders. The concern has |
no other source OK revenue than our
contributions. 1t doesn't make any |
money. In times like these, when al !
most everybody feels that he gets too
little for what he sells and has to pay |
too much for what he Buys, 1t seems |
TO me the least we can do is to take /
an active and intelligent interest in |
this great common enterprise Of ours I
and make sure that 1t is well organ |
lied; that 1t doesn't waste or spend /
extravagantly; that the employees are
paid an adequate wage and have /
proper working conditions that their
morale is kept high and their enthu- /
siasm in our interest undated in fine, |
that as a business 1t shall be conduct
ed as efficiently and economically and /
on as modern scientific principles az /
any large nriyate business.
Is It'll
That is a question you must answer
for yourself after have acquainted
you with the actual situation and con-
dition.
Your Life Prospect.