The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1939-10-20
STARTLING FACTS
BROUGHT OUT BY
STATE CHAMBER

John ii. SchOuten Of Grand Rapids
was reelected president for the ensu-
ing year.
Among the accomplishments Of tie
past year: discussion OF which t0.'k
considerable time at the meeting, was
the review of the report that taxpay-
ers' committees have been established
~ eighty of the eighty-three counties
uf the state Of Michigan.
The board of directors divided the
state into six regional districts for
taxpayers activities. Taxpayers com
mittees will begin immediate meetings
III the various districts. the first of
which will be held at Traverse City,
Involving approximately Il counties
in the northwestern section of The
lower peninsula Of Michigan. These
meetings will develop All intensive tax
consciousness Oh the part of taxpayers
Of the state.
The board also voted to extend an
invitation To labor and agriculture To
Join with the state chamber III its pre-
sent active campaign i'll making the
public tax-cOnsciOus.
One Of the strange things about ex-
cesSive taxation in this state Is that 80
many people are the victims of il and
So few take any constructive action to
c1rb it," states Ernest L. COnlOn, gen
eral manager of the state chamber.
The cost of running the state gov
eminent doubles i'll ten years. We
Jump from approximately $1OO,OWOOO
Annually to $2OOOOO,OOO. What hap
pens during the interval? Practically
nothing We have surveys of taxation.
semi-public agencies point out our
ecOHOmic sins aud candidates for office
preach economy but still the levies in
crease.
No concerted action is taken To
adopt business methods and bring
about less costly government. Pres
sure groups. with pet ideas. beSiege
the Legislature with the result that
they secure what they want. thereby
increasing the taxpayers burden Care
less officials fail to economic in pre-
pairing their budgets. And 50 il goes
all along the line.
Another matter that is hard To ex-
plain is that great numbers of our
people believe that they pay no taxes.
Actually everybody pays. Hidden tax
6 take tremendous toll. Industry
and business. the home and property
owner are we'll aware of the tax bur-
den because they pay direct. They sign
the checks while the other fellow has
his taken away from him in d more
painless manner.
The Chamber of Commerce of
Michigan believes that these conditions
can be corrected The remedy lies in
concerted action by our citizens. To
this end the chamber is completing its
organization of taxpayers in every
county of the state. When this work
Is finished it viii have powerful
taxpayers group which will be able to
take effective action.
In the meantime the chambers ed
ucatiOnal campaign is being carried on.
Pamphlets containing basis facts re-
garding taxation are being widely dis
tributed and are meeting with public
favor. We believe that this is the first
time that such 4 sustained effort has
been made to bring home to the citi-
zens the plain facts regarding govern
ment expenditures.
1t has been charged III some quar-
tiers that this movement is tinged with
politics. Very naturally we are avoid
ing politics. The only way that we can
succeed in bringing about reform II
state expenditures is by conducting Il
strictly non-political, nOn-partisan. and
non sectarian campaign. And this Is
just what we are doing.
In connection with the subject OF
taxes. the following will be of inter
est:
Growth of Taxes
The volume of taxes increased stead
lily throughout the depression. 1t is
now almost 80 per cent more than thu
pre-depression figure. Federal, state
and local taxes amounted TO $14.I
billion in 1898 in contrast to 1913 bill
lion in 1923.
In relation to national income, the
tax burden is about double that of ter
years ago; with the national income
down almost One-quarter, taxes are VI
nearly one-half.
Taxes per person in 1898 were $11;
and income per person $479 Us con
trasted with taxes per person in 1921
of SIS and income per person of $6:SS
Tax increases have been genera
aprong the federal. state and local gov
ernmentS.
Federal taxes totaled $3.2 billion il
1878, but were about $50 billion il
1898: an increase of about 50 per cent
State and local taxes were abou1
SCI billion in 1923. but were nearl,
$s.s billion in 1898; an increase OF
approximately As per cent.
Growth Of Spending
The expenditures II government
have steadily exceeded the greatly
augmented revenues from mounting
taxes.
Total expenditures of federal. state
and local governments, exclusive OF
debt retirement, were $11 billion ir
1928 but were STA billion in 1895.