Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-05-13
Nations Face Altered
by Devious levies
1.-THE opinions srprsssed by
General Johnson are his oWn
and not neeessoriiy those Of The
Detroit Times.)
BY HUGH S. JOHNSON

TT GOES without saying that
= we are going to be taxed as
never before. That is a matter
of necessity. We are doing it to
save our system. But there is
another principle at the other
horn of this dilemma. Chief
Justice John Marshall stated it:
THE power to tax involves the
power to destroy" Instead of
saving. taxes could destroy us.
War isn't the principal bust
ness of the United States as it
was formerly said to be of Prus-
Sia. Industry, commerce and ag-
riculture are what sustain us.
Any tax that bears evenly on all
maintains pretty we'll the power
of each TO exchange goods with
the other, no matter how high
the tax rate goes. But to the
precise extent that you burden
one out of proportion to the
others, you depress the purchas-
ing power of that one and drag
down to some degree the whole
structure. You may also tax out
of us a necessity of life.
TT IS NOW proposed to put a
L fiat 20 per cent excise tax on
the sale of every automobile
new or used or a fiat 500 turn
over tax every time a motor
car changes hands.
The effect OF any such nom
sensical arbitrary action can
scarcely be imagined. Whether
for good or i'll. this nation is on
wheels. 1t has changed the
whole face of our countryside.
l can remember in the imple-
ment business when il used to
be said that a farmer would not
go further than seven miles for
repairs. Now he thinks nothing
Of going 40. That change dried
up the little crossroads general
purpose store. 1t wiped thou
sands OF hamlets off the map.
It made miniature metropoiiScs
out of better towns. 1t subSti-
tuted real departmentalized
schools for the little red district
shack. 1t brought movies and
much better merchandising and
entertainment to the, whole COM
munity.
In the larger cities. il enabled
workers of all classes to move
far out in the suburbs where
their children could get air and
sunshine. 1t made it easy to To-
cate great factories far from
congested slums and generally
frightened the whole outlook of
American life.
MANY things were responsible
w for that but one stands out
like a harvest moon. 1t was a
reduction of about 20cc or 500
from the price of the lower cost
cars. That was done over a long
period by executive genius and
painful experiment and loss.
The change that it wrought in
our living was also a long proc
ess-re-orienting the map of the
United States and the habits of
our people. II seems that it can
now all be undone in so seconds
by single federal fiat.
Well, maybe the law can be
changed that easily but the con-
dition which the law assaults
can't be changed without long.
long period of discomfort and
even disaster to many people.
This is not a tax for revenue.
1t is said that this method is to
be used to reduce the use of cars
to speed up production of arTna-
ment by greater use of automo-
bile facilities. Well, there are
many other and more ingenious
things that can be done with no
such disruptive effects to pro-
duce that result. If some OF
these great thinkers and plan
ners hadn't been asleep at the
job for so many months and
years, they wouldn't have now
to awake with a start and pull
some such monstroSity as this
to make up for their own
drowsineSs.
FURTHERMORE. regardless
4 Of that time lost. among the
many other means available TO
reach these ends, il is up TO
them to use little of the ability
for which they were put in their
jobs to select other equally eff
fective and less explosive means
instead of reaching for the first
and easiest lever regardless of
the harm II does to the less
well-to-do among our people.
One hundred extra dollars on
the price of new or used car
isn't going to put the rich man
10 padding the streets but to
the guy who gets less than $1,000
a year and is already paying
POO in hidden taxes, 500 more
for an automobile is a minor
tragedy.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate