The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1922-09-15
(By Mrs. John J. Blaine in La Fol
lpttp'e MAGAZINE

ed in the same subjects as are thu
/ men. | think that holds true wher
ever women have studied politics
! Women are interested in the home
But men are also interested in thu
home. That is their primary inter
est. When they talk money, financ,
or taxes, it is because they are in
terested in the real things of lif,
that lead to comfort and happiness
| And where do the men as a rule lool
for comfort and happiness but in the
home? When men toll early anC
late, is it not to maintain the home
and family? Is it not in devotion t.
parents, wife or children that mer
find their inspiration for their great
est endeavors?
When man goes to war, does he
not think of mother, sister, or sweet.
heart he leaves behind? We women
may approach the subject from q
different angle, but the subjects that
we think most about are the same
subjects that men think about. If
| am right, then we may expect
women to vote about the same as
men. What is the fact? When wom-
en- first voted in Chicago, their votes
were taken in separate ballot boxes
from those of men, and it was found
that on most issues they voted very
much as did the men. My appeal then
is quite as much to men as to wOm-
en-.
Happiness and Comfort
There is but one thing that we
happiness and comfort. Different
4 I, inc
sons. But no one can be happy with
out health First, health for self
that we may serve those we love, and
then health for those we love that
they may be happy.
| have been deeply interested in
this thought since | have come close
ly in contact with the governors of
flee. | made tour of the state in
situations with the governor last
year. | was panied by the evidence
of suffering l witnessed on that tour.
What brought most Of the patients
into the insane hospitals? Ill health.
What brings little children into the
Sparta home? Mostly i'll health
This is largely true of all the chart
table and penal institutions, including
the home for the feeble minded. One
of the most important problems of
government is the improvement of
the health of the state.
Taxes in Wisconsin
1 think most women consider taxes
dry subject to talk about. But in
reality taxes are very live sub
ject when we consider the part they
play in every phase of daily life.
We can't have hospitals, nurses and
general health services without taxes.
We must raise money by taxes to
support the schools and pay the
teachers. There are the courts, the
officers of the law, the jails and the
asylums. They cost money which
must be raised by taxes. And most
of all, there is the general govern
ment, costing billions of dollars to
pay for army and navy and the vast
cost of war. Of all the expenses of
government, war and preparations
for war are the greatest burden. We
pay out more to kill our innocent
brother-man than we pay to live. 1t
is a horrible thought that the poor
and innocent of all countries are be-
ing trained to kill each other at an
enormous expense, to be paid large
ly by these same common masses of
men and women. Yet it is so. And
FOR WHAT?
There is a genarally accepted rule
of taXation-accepted by the courts
and economists alike-that taxes
shall be paid in proportion to ability
to pay, and the protection afforded
by government to life and property.
Professor King of our university
has found that two per cent of the
people of this country own IS per
cent of the wealth of the country.
His findings have been generally ac-
cepted as correct. That means that
two per cent of the people owning
that great proportion of wealth
should pay at least 65 per cent of
the taxes. But taxes are not so gen
erously distributed. The owners of
great wealth cluster in a few great
cities and hide much of their wealth
from the assessor, while much of the
taxes has to be raised in the country
districts to meet the local expense.
1t is the rural people and the peo-
pie in small cities and villages who
pay largely for good roads, for edu-
cation. and general government. They
pay far more than their Just proper
ton. These taxes for state, county,
city. village, town, and school dis
tricts we see and appreciate when
taX-paying time comes around. The
housewife feels these taxes the same
as the husband. She knows that as
the time approaches to pay taxes,
she, too, has to economize and save
to meet the -gatherer's demand.
Some Taxes Hidden
RIt the t1XQC of Tho otaT1 oyn1 ,rn1t
eminent, even greater, take toll
more silently though no less oppres-
sively. To these in large measure
we owe the high cost of a poor liv-
ing. Nearly everything we consume
or wear or use, from the cradle to
the grave, bears the burden of these
silent, secret exactions. The little
baby's wear that the mother prepares
with such loving care is taxed, and
the shroud and coffin, wet with tears
taxes. The tariff is much in the
public eye. these days down in Wash
nigton, where the privileged classes
are demanding huge profits by fav-
ortism in the law. Demanding and
getting favors at the hands of
congress which was elected by the
profiteering class is favorite bust
ness in Washington. Millions and
even billions of taxes are to be
wrung from the poor by taxes on
their necessities. At the same time
congress, with its members with pur-
chased seats. relieved the rich from
the luxury taxes and the taxes on
excess profits. The excess profits
tax exempted a reasonable profits
from the tax. and taxed only the I'M
reasonable profit-the excessive prof
it. 1t was a most just tax. And yet
the wealth of the country, largely