Evening star., 1934-11-11
Taxation's Destructive Power
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

The two-wheeled cart became the
standard vehicle Of England because,
for many years, a wheel tax was i'm
posed. Every owner Of vehicle had
to pay a stipulated tax on every
wheel he possessed. The huge farm
vain with two great wheels was the
result. The post-cbaise, the gig and
a number of other types of two
wheeled passenger vehicles evolved.
Similar taxes on the continent had
similar effects.
When at length the wheel tax was
repealed the country Immediately
turned to four-wheeled vehicles. For
a long time one Of the most popular
of these had no other name than
that of "four-wheeler. That was
sufficiently distinctive in sharp con-
trast to the old two-wheeled carts.
Similarly, there was a window tax.
The owner of a building OF any kind
was assessed on each window. The
result was that for many years after
the narrow Sits, used for defensive
archery, had been outmoded from the
military standpoint, English houses
continued dark and poorly ventilated.
Then that tax was repealed and the
most profound change swept over
English architecture. The houses
fairly blossomed out with windows
and the many -windowed Elizabethan
style of architectural design, as nota-
bly, exemplifled at Vernon-Harcourt,
Blickling Hall, and other great coun-
try houses, brought England its finest
period.
The volume Of work for Wheel
wrights nearly doubled and the smiths
had much more work as the direct
result of repeal Of the wheel tax. The
increase in employment as the result
of repeal of the window tax cannot be
calculated at this late date, but it
was far greater. Glaziers, stone-cut-
ters. lead workers and other artisans
were in strong demand. There was a
| veritable building boom, SO eager were
the people for the sunlight and air.
These opposite examples Of the ef-
feet of taxation are being discussed in
| connection with the extraordinary
| taxes now being levied on motor car
users. With the exception of a few
Enthusiastically imported luxuries
nothing used by the American
| people is more heavily taxed than
| the motor car. The toll taken from
car owners, according to the National
Automobile Chamber of Commerce,
last year amounted to Sl,137,872, 900.
For some time the annual collections
! have been about sl,000,000, 900 a year.
1t was not until 1914 that the entire
revenues of the Federal Government,
from whatever source and including
postal revenues, reached so high a
, figure.
Boon to Tax Assessors.
| For nearly century and half the
Nation had been selling public lands,
taxing whiskey, taxing tobacco, taxing
! incomes, taxing everything it thought
it properly could tax and yet the COM
bined revenue did not, until 1914,
reach the 000,000000 mark. Now,
/ 20 years later, the tax on one group,
the automobile group, equals what all
this other revenue aggregated.
To be sure, this 81 900, 100000 a year
tax on motorists Is not all Federal tax.
Actually only little more than one
fourth-s257, ,334 ,000-is Federal tax,
! but it all comes out of the taxpayer,
no matter who the collector.
The idea of heavily taxing the rich
has found a good deal of favor in
the United States, especially since
the depression. But, in view of the
fact that there are more automo-
biles than there are telephones, vastly
more than there are bathtubs or but
| ter churns and more than any num-
Der Of other homely things regarded
/ as matter Of course, as necessities,
the idea Of taxing automobiles does
not appeal to the American public as
| following the theory of taxing the