Evening star., 1924-11-03
LITTLE VALUE SEEN
!. IN TAX SPOTLIGHT
Unpublished Details Far More
Vital Than Total
Amounts Paid.
Enecial ni.natch to The Star.

NEW YORK. November 3.-The |
making public of income tax pay |
Inents. says George T.. Roberts in the
National city Banks weekly letter. !
Is sign OF the increasing strength |
of the movement for the suppression !
of individualism and the extension |
of mass authority over what in the !
paSt have been considered private |
affairs. 1t is improbable that the |
publication will be of any Importance |
in aiding collections. The com |
petitors, acuuaintanceS and relatives I!
who scan the lists are much more |
likely to be interested in the in
formation for what it may be worth !
10 themselves than from any interest
TO aid the Government. Moreover,
. in view of the amount of tax-eXempt
income and the various lawful offsets
against income in any given year.
hgures that are unexpectedly low
have little real significance to read
ers who do not know the details of
. report.
The probabl intent of those who
advocate this publicity is to foster
envy and class hatred and stimulate
the agitation for Il leveling of in
comes. why should a few have so
much when the many have so little?"
Heal Destination of Large Incomes.
The answer is that in reality the
Few do not have what is represented
As gong To them at least in any
such sense as commonly understood.
The United States Steel Corporation
heads the list of income taxpayers.
but it has 100. 600 stockholders who
snare that portion of its income
which is distributed, while the i'm
Portant portion which is not distrib-
uted is used for improving the in
austrE' to the advantage of the public.
The second largest taxpayer is the
Ford Motor Co, ownership of which
happens to be almost entirely in one
family, but this company furnishes
an even more striking demonstration
OF the fact that these incomes do not
signify great sums devoted to a few
The portion of its income which is
. devoted to the Ford family is in
significant the great bulk of it from
the beginning to this day having. been
devoted to the development of an in
dustry giving livelihood to thou
sands of families and supplying hun
dreds of thousands of people with a
convenient and helpful means of
transport.
Personal Share Is Slight.
The implication throughout the
agitation against large incomes is
that the owners are without good
right to them, that they are with
= u Il " II lloIl d common 1unQ, ana
that the taxation aimed al them only
partially accomplishes a just distri-
button. An analysis of the real dis
trlbution of almost any one of the
large incomes Will show the falsity
ol all this The Ford income ills
trateS 1T with unusual effect because
the nominal beneficiaries are so few
and their personal share is slight
The Ford Motor Co. and the members
OF the Ford family paid something
over 100000 in Federal taxes last
year, and this may be compared with
what was withdrawn from the in
dustry by the Ford family for per-
sonal expenditures.
What would have become of the
$l9,000.000 if it had not been taken
by the Federal Government? Would
the Ford family have increased their
personal expenditures? Probably not
Most likely the Ford industries would
nave gotten it, the Ford pay rolls
would nave been that much larger
and the Ford plans for revolutioniz-
ing industry would be that much
farther along. Is the fact that s19.-
Voo'ooo were lost last year to these
purposes a matter for public con-
graduation? Would it have been ad-
Vantageous to the public if taxes
running up to one-half his net in
come had oeen levied upon Mr.. Ford
Ac'ii eiiC otS OF MS career
And so it Will be found as individ-
ual cases are examined that the aei-
tatlon to equalize incomes is. in it's
erect, an agitation to euualize the
power, the efficiency and influence of
individuals upon a common level
Whlch' OF course. would have to be
the level of the lowest 1t is an ,oi
lation to destroy leadership by de-
prlvlng 1T not only of its legitimate
rewards, but of the means by which
1t accomplisheS it's service
me PUBIC is more familiar with
"hdt MT. ford does with his surplus
income than with what most otbor
men do with theirs, but whether sur
pluS incomes are large or small ana
,v;e ether they are invested in indus
tries owned and controlled by them
serves or invested in the bonds or
STOCKS or a corporation like the
thlted states Steel Corporation or
lhe American Telephone and Tale-
graph Company which has $40. 900
S.ochholders, or the pennsylvania
Railroad Company. which has 145 OOo
stockholders, or in any of the thou-
SANDS or enterprises, corporate or in
dlFldual, which are carrying on the
business and developing the indus
tries OF the country, the principle is
the same. The surplus incomes are
devoted to public purposes as truly
40 tiloUSH tHeS were owned hV "a
StatA
Use of ROckefeIIer's Millions.
The third taxpayment in size as
reported was that of Mr.. John ID
Rockefeller, Jr. Ills fortune is closely
associated with that of his father.
and the general uses to which IT is
ultimately dedicated are we'll known.
In the history of private benefactions
those coming from this source have
been unequaled for the scope of their
benefits or the wisdom of their man
agement. 1t is quite certain that not
one dollar of the S7,000,000 tax col
]ected in this case was taken from
that portion of this income which
was destined to serve the personal
wants of the recipient. The effect
inevitably was to reduce the sum-
available for public purposes.
MOVING, PACKING & STORAGE