Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1934-09-13

vantage comes either to the country
as whole or to the individuals in
transmission in their entirety of the
enormous fortunes that would be af
fected by such tax.
Tax DiscOurages Buying.
The druggists were represented by
w. Bruce Phillip and Eugene c. Brok-
meyer in opposing the sales tax be-
fore the congressional committee.
The latter made this comment:
Sales taxes in any form would in
crease prices TO consumers whether on
neceSsarieS or luXuries. or both, and
discourage rather than encourage buy
ing.
The National Association of Retail
Grocers, through C. H. Jansen, secre-
manager, wired the committee:
Corporate and individual income. in
heritances. and gifts should be given
particular thought for the production
OF additional tax levies on the theory
that ability to pay must naturally enter
into the production of any tax program.
Mr.. Jansen also stated:
l believe I express the conviction of
the many thousands of retail merchants
VINO are members of and affiliated with
the National Association of Retail Groc-
ers in stating our determined opposition
TO any form OF federal sales tax,
whether the same be on essentials or
on luxurieS.
The National Retail Hardware As
ISOLATION, through it's managing di-
rector, Herbert P. Sheets, used these
words:
Unequivocal opposition to any form
or sales tax. turnover tax, or luxury
tax. Objections to these variations of
the sales tax are so well known that
they need not be repeated here, except
that. regardless of the original theory of
the luxury tax, no one can today deter
mine the demarcation between essen
manifestly unfair that certain goods
should be specially penalized. Neces-
Sary additional tax levieS should be for
one year only and limited to: (a) Indi-
vddual incomes in the higher brackets;
% increase in inheritance taxes; (c)
gift taxes.
Roscoe r. Rau, managing director
of the National Retail Furniture As
ISOLATION, wrote:
Our association makes objections to
any form of sales taxes.
Against 1t, by Whatever Name.
James H. Stone, manager of the
National Shoe Retailers Association,
was the spokesman for his organiza-
ton. He wrote:
Our organization is unalterably op-
whether a general sales tax. retail
sales tax. turnover tax, or luxury tax.
or by whatever name such a tax may
be called. The imposition of such a
tax upon retail shoe merchants today
would cause tremendous expense to the
government to collect and enforce the
tax. additional expense and inconven-
fence to retailers in maintaining their
sales records. and. above ALL would con-
tribute substantially to wiping out their
mea ger net profit.
The above quotations are taken
from the Indexed 1882 Revenue Re-
vision Hearings before the Committee
on Ways and Means of the House Of
Representatives, 72nd Congress, First
Session.
Even Worse for State Than Nation.
Professor Harold Groves of the De-
partment of Economics at the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin and one of Amer
ica's leading tax authorities, in his
booklet, "A Tax Policy for the United
States" writes:
1t is plain enough that the state
sales tax does not escape the cogent
objections that were offered in Con-
GreSS against national sales tax. In
fact a state sales tax is more obJec-
tiOnable, since it is far more difficult
to administer and creates more prob
lens in interstate competition between
industries. The fact that 60 percent of
the purchases of goods and services are
made by consumers receiving less than
$4,000 year is as important in the
one field as it is in the other. More
over. a large share of state and local
revenue is already raised by definitely
regresSive tax that is paid directly or
indirectly by the humbeSt citizen. No
one escapes the general property tax,
for it is reflected in rent. The tax is
regreSSive in actual practice both be-
cause local assessors quite universally
favor large property owners. intention
ally or otherwise. and because large
part of the tax is shifted and-1ke
the sales taX-iS paid by the consumer.
To use the sales tax as a supplement-
is to add a second regressive tax and
a further burden to those who are al
ready staggering under the load of the
property tax.
Some Interests Want 1t.
The gross income or dollar turn
over tax, one of the forms of sales
taxes, would benefit certain groups,
but it will be we'll to note who they
are. The Northern States Power Co.,
and other large utility interests in
Minnesota, the United, States Steel
Corporation, and large real estate
holding interests would find the tax
beneficial 1t would be to the disad-
vantage of 95 per cent of Minnesota's