Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1935-11-28
Production
Not Relief


The Fairmont minnesota Sentint
and the Sioux Falls (South Dakota
are sure that tax CO
Letting and tax spending have gon
too far. In a way, they are right, bu
If they would let in a little more ligl
they would not be so Mortified an
yasping so greatly. They are bot
very conservative newspapers and {
course as such are out to proteC
those with big incomes. The two al
-icles follow:
logging Off the Taxpayers.
(Fairmont SentineD
Forty years ago Minnesota was
busy logging off its forests. With
simpleness that now seems unbe-
lievable, people of the period de-
clared there would always be for
ests to log off. new timber would
grow to replace that taken, and
the merry-go-round would revolve
forever. The slightest application
of reason would show this could
not be, but who wanted to do any
reasoning? Today, on state and
national scale, we are just as
recklessly logging off" the ma
tional resource represented by the
tax yield. Any who will, can see
that the crop of taxpayers is
steadily going down, down, down.
Each year sees fewer taxpayers
than the one preceding. What do
we do? Adopt policies that will
make more, not fewer taxpayers?
No indeed We continue the war
of attrition, swell the casualty
lists, gain no recruits. The in
evitable result of this logging
off, will result in wiping out the
entire army of taxpayers
speedily. too, than you think.
Taxes Check Spending
Sioux Falls Argus-Leader)
In the collection of taxes. there
is always a breaking point. For
time. advances in the levies will
bring increased revenue, but in
due course such efforts will be-
come ineffective. The people to-
day are paying in an enormous
fashion to maintain their govern
ment, the total cost absorbing
from 25 to 40 per cent of the col
lective income. 1t is clear, of
course, that a drain of this size
can not be continued indefinitely.
AS the people pay more and more
in taxes, the money they have
available for private purchases
dwindles. The inevitable result is
a gradual contraction in private
spending.
Wonder just how sure is the edito
If the Fairmont Sentinel that bacl
n the lumber days people declare
there would always be forests to To-
,ff" Without a doubt there wer
people in those days who could Sc
hat the forests would not last foreve
n the manner that they were ruth
essly being cut down. The editor an
Ormer major, if he has read histOr
md has kept abreast of the times
must have heard about the influenc
If the lumber kings on the Legisla
lure. But of course, he wants it to ap
pear that all the people in the lum
Der days were out to ruthlessly Gu
Town the forest. He has declared
rs his opinion, it is his utterances
and like the dictator, there it mus
stand.
Sure, there is a breaking point i
the collection of taxes, and it
rue that the more people pay in tax
IS the less they have available 70
private purchases, as stated in tn
The strong reactionar
paper brought out, right then an
here, a very good argument agains
he proposed general retail sales ia,
The sad part about the economi
situation today is not the high ia
rate but the enormous amount of ma
power that goes to waste. The farme
and the worker have produced wei
but generally speaking have been III
1erpaid or there would not have ao
so much wealth in tn
hands of the few. Now that we hav
millions of people unemployed an
unable to secure work, the only thin
left to do under the present economi
system, is to tax the wealthy to Pre-
vide food, clothing and shelter to tn
There is no use of the Fairmor
Sentinel and the Sioux Falls Argus
Leader crying about high taxes be
cause they are bound to prevail i
times like these with so much Ger
tralized wealth and so much unen
ployment. Those two newspapers an
their kind have helped to bring abo,
this situation. for they have defende
the system right along.
Production for use more than fo
profit, with plenty for all who ar
willing to work. would be far bette
than taxation for relief