Evening star., 1925-03-22
of Estate Tax
Is Urged as Needed Reform
Called Con,n,unistic and Vital
BtoW TO ambition, to Haze Large Busi- +
ness or Property Interests.

to stay, and must be regarded as an
abiding source of revenue because of
It's convenience as a fund-producer
for governments that "need the money"
there Is no gainsaying its commonistic
origin.
The basic theory is that the
ancestors energy and thrift have
brought the property into being and
the heir receives 1t as gift and
not as matter of individual right.
Accordingly, at the moment of trans
fer, the Government. State or Fed
eral. steps in and says to the
heir: 1--WE represent the community
whose trade and protection have
made possible this accumulation of
money ana property. 1t belongs to
US as much as to you, for you have
not earned it. We will, however.
consent to the passing Of the title
TO you, If you pay us a toll of so
much per cent on the property's
value" At bottom it is a grab game
with the Government in the COM
manding position because through
Congress or the State Legislature il
hxes the conditions with which the
heir must comply or lose his share
in the estate.
Quotes Old Fable.
There is a well known fable at
tributed to Acsop, wherein a hon
upon beholding a statue of Hercules
tearing apart the jaws of a lion, re-
marks: ut is easy to see the statue
was made by a man. Had a lion
made It, the lion would be the de-
stroying party" And so the death
tax clearly indicates the exercise of
a power which circumstances rather
than right have given to the legislat-
ing body and which it exercises in
some instances in an oppressive man
ner.
But even conceding the principle
of a paramount title In the people,
there Is a limit of taxation which
cannot be exceeded without injury to
the public interests. Unlike income
| taxes, a death tax is an assessment
against the capital of the estate and
is paid out of the principal itself
from which future income must be
derived. One tax is to a measurable
extent destructive of the other. If
the tree is cut down. future crops of
fruit are destroyed, and the State can
look for no continuing benefit in taxes
derived from that particular source.
How imminent Is that peril may
be seen by assuming that father and
son die in successive years. If the
tax is SO per cent only one-fourth
of the estate will remain to be dis
tributed to the grandchildren. The
income from three-quarters has
necessarily been destroyed. Radicals
and reforfners of the destructive
school look upon this result with
complacency even where they do not
publicly urge 1t as an advantage
to the community. To their minds
it tends to create toilers rather than
drones in the human swarm.
Removes Inspiration.
Here. however, President Coolidge
again takes issue sharply with the
advocates of those communistic ideas
In his address before the Tax Asso-
citation he finds occasion to remark
how such a policy of public appro-
priation of private funds tends to
take away the inspiration to work
in order to build up a business or
create a property. 1t Is difficult to
over estimate the contribution to the
progress of this country made by
the man of ability actuated largely
by this motive to protect the future
of his family
Where this tax is imposed to pro-
duce a reasonable measure Of revenue
for the Government, and not as
means for accomplishing supposed re-
forms by a redistribution of prop
erty. it may be justified, at least as a