The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1935-04-24
PROCESSING TAXES

A reader of The TimeS-NewS sends tnl5
information about the much discussed pro-
cessing taxes, which the federal govern
ment is levying on necessary products Of
farm and factory in order that bonuses
may be paid to producers of raw materials
in the form of higher prices for their
products;
'Do you know that you pay processing tax OF
1Sc on every 24-lb sack of -four 55c every lob
ham, 15c on every 5-lb box of bacon, sc every
pound of pork chops zoe every 8-lb tin of lard?
"You also pay a processing tax on corn meal
and rice, you pay 1SAc every shirt, one
pound unit of cotton goods, and there is a tax on
every pack of cigarettes or pound of tobacco you
buy.
"Did YOU know that? Then you are certainly in
terested in the processing taxes, which are really
sales tax and is serious tax the very necessi-
ties of life.
"These taxes amounted from July 9, 1888 to
April Is, 1885, to $792,O0O,O0O, more than the
income taxes ever collected by the United States
government in one year. This money, after ex-
penses of collection and distribution are made,
amounts to a very small fraction of the original
amount collected, and is paid over to the corn and
wheat farmers, and hog raSers of the northwest,
and to the cotton farmers, either for reducing their
acreage or for ploughing up cotton already grown
and ready for picking.
an other words, every citizen in the United
States is paying these taxes to another and smaller
number of people in this country. And yet we are
importing corn and wheat today from South Amer
lea to feed people,"
The foregoing statement as to process
ing taxes is printed for the information OF
readers, the matter being one about which
there is a general lack of understanding in
the minds of the people Whether one IA
vors or opposes processing taxes, all are
compelled to admit that final payment OF
such taxes is made by consumers. The cot
ton processing tax is paid by the cotton
manufacturer when he buys cotton for his
mill, but the tax is then added to the sell
ing price of the finished product and the
buyer of the goods pays it at last. The
taxes on grain and hogs are paid in SINH
lar manner by the consumers of flour, meat
and other taxed commodities. These taxes
have raised the prices of flour, meats and
cotton goods to the consumers. There is no
question about this.
These taxes are defended on the ground
that farmers must have higher prices for
their products. They produced SURPRISES,
which depressed prices below profit levels,
and in order to swing prices upward to
reasonable levels bonus must be paid by
consume rs to farm producers and this bo-
nus is raised by the federal government by
taxation and paid over to the producers.
The farmers are paid, however, for not
producing, or for reducing the amount of
their production, on the theory that scare
ity of commodities will raise prices on that
which is produced and sold. Thus the plan
is double-barrelled prosperity scheme for
the farmers, according to those who favor
it = the farmers get paid for refraining
from growing crops and they are supposed
to get higher prices for such crops as are
produced, due to the scarcity of commodi-
ties resulting from keeping certain pro-
portion of the land area out of production.
Without condemning or approving pro-
cessing taxes, it may be said that the plan
is one of artificial stimulation of prices. By
this plan prices of farm products are not
controlled by natural means, by supply
and demand, but are artifcially raised by
the plan of giving the producer a certain