Evening star., 1932-07-31
Small HOards Swell Total
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

The mysterious magnifications Of the
multiplication table constitute the
major therat of money boarding, a
practice which Is responsible. as much
as any other one thing, for the de-
pressed condition in which the United
States and other countries Of the world
find themselves today. The 1-cent piece
seems a trivial part Of the coinage and
currency system Of the land, and yet
the use or misuse Of the penny can
make an sppreciable difference in the
working of the monetary, banking and
credit system.
Perhaps no more forceful method of
explaining what this means can be
found than the statement that little
children of the United States, along
with persons waiting for street cars or
merely lettering spend $50, 900 900 in a
single year, very largely In the form Of
pennies, for candy.
Some of these coppers are spent at
the little neighborhood or school stores
which children patroniZe. Some go into
the slot machines which sell penny
candy, put there not only by children,
but by adults. 1t Is, however, a penny
business, and yet amounts to the huge
total Of $50, 1000, 900.
II mere pennies can count up so
rapidly, 1t is obvious what multiples Of
the penny can do The man who boards
81 Is not boarding much, and yet the
dollar Is 100 times as much as the cent.
The new tax measure will have a
tendency to increase one branch Of
boarding to the extent it will keep
money in the immediate possession Of
the public rather than on deposit in
banks. And this Is regarded as q species
Of boarding. This arises from the nui-
sance taxes imposed by the revenue act
OF 1882 on q number of articles and
services. For example, there Is, pre-
eminently, the 2-cent tax on bank
checks. Large companies already have
arranged to evade that tax entirely by
not drawing checks on banks, but draw
ing and issuing checks drawn on them
serves. Either the company having a
large pay roll Will open its own cashiers
window and pay of in currency or will
issue checks saying that the employing
company will pay to the bearer on de-
mand so many dollars. In practice if
the company be large and responsible
one. any bank will cash the check or
accept 1t for deposit, yet the tax Is
evaded because the law levies the tax
only on checks drawn on a bank.
More Cash Used.
individuals having regular service
bills to pay, which ordinarily they have
been paying by check. are making pay
ment since passage Of the new revenue
act In cash. Such bills as those for
electric current, gas, telephone service
and the like are payable in most cities
at great many places. The customer
Is practically certain to pass one of
these pay Offices in the course Of a
normal day. When his bill Is due he
drops In and pays cash, saving the
2-cent check tax. Also, 1t has been
held that the tax on electric current
must be paid by the customer rather
than absorbed by the power company
This tax will be figured largely in odd
cents
Then there Is the admissions tax.
another which will often come out In
odd cents. There are various sales taxes,
some In SPECIFIC odd-cent amounts,
some on percentage basis, but which
are bound TO work out In odd cents.
AL this means that people will have