The people's voice., 1942-02-27
Arch Boondoggler Cries Stop Thief

the President, that knew he was al
most of the newspaper folks knew
his caliber and would have liked tt
put their estimate of him and hi
praise of the Japanese spirit of fair
ness" in print.
When the Billings Gazette of the
afternoon before Pearl Harbor" pu1
out Wheeler interview that he was
in favor of ironing out all our differ
ences with Japan around a peace
table," the printers themselves knew
that his statement, for idiocy, was a
record-breaker But, because the
printers had to obey the order from
the owner of the boondoggling paper
to stuff Wheeler's shirt is not suffi
cient reason OF starve the printer by
stopping the plan of corporate press
boondoggling.
To look around our own state, for
80 years the entire press of the ma
tion has enjoyed boondoggling sub
sidy- -flagrant-but doled to such vote
givers and getters that no politician
dare attack it. The second class
mailing rate enjoyed by our newspa-
pers-one cent per pound, is the cause
of a deficit of about rs to 100 million
dolalrs the year of the postal depart
ment. The estimate of experts is that
the cost of handling in the postal de-
partment is actually six cents per
pound. Public information would be
were raised to six cents per pound
Perhaps this subsidy to the press Is
beneficial. Public libraries never
pay their way in money, but pay in
imponderable benefits to the people.
The Standards figure of At millions
plus, as being the amount paid in
federal taxes in eight years from
Montana, is far from fact. A total
of the income taxes paid CAN BE
MADE. Probably this total is truly
put on the front page of the Standard.
1t is nonsense to assert that this fig
ure embraces all federal taxes paid
by residents of this state for the
last eight years. Seven year old chill
dren know that they pay federal
tax on entering movie or a football
game. Every cigar or cigarette
smoked pays the tax. Every dram of
whiskey drunk pays an excise. Every
farmer that buys a piece of machin-
cry pays what the j. |. Case Company
adds to charge up to the consumer
it's federal taxes. Every suit of clothes
bought by us, every book, all gasoline,
postage stamps, and shoes pay taxes.
Estimates can be made, put no one
can, with any claim to accuracy, COM
pute what Montana people have paid
In federal taxes in the last eight
years. There are half million resi-
dents of the state. 1t is not 1mprob
able that each pays $125 the year in
direct federal taxes. If so, this is
621a million dollars the year or 500
million dollars in eight years.
The Standard does not give the
source of it's information that Mon
Iana people paid only $47,836,e97 to
The federal government in eight years.
The World Almanac of 1912 on pages
1928 asserts that Montana in 1940-41
paid income taxes $7,875,011, other in
,ernal revenue $16,364,575. This to-
.als above "a million dollars in two
years. This is not manufacturing |
state. Such states, Michigan for in
stance, pay on the assembly line i'm
nense taxes; but the Montana con-
'umer repays this tax on buying the
goods. Without claiming that the |
Standards figures are a hoax, l do
ear that the compiler inadvertently
lsed the wonderful two-geared adding
machine of the utility companies. In
ow gear, for the State Board of