Evening star., 1942-09-05

Henry MeLemore. OF three read
ers polled (names, addresses and
numbers will be furnished on re-
quest when request is accompanied
by white wall tire and a Jar OF
mayhaw jelly) two of them answered
in this vein:
please, please have him do some.-
thing on taxation. With his cleaf,
cold. analytical mind he can do
much to further confuse the prob
lem"
The other reader tMcGuffeys his
name. believe) sent his pigeon
to the wrong address. Just what he
said Is not known But in a coun-
try where the majority is supposed
to rule I must respond to the two
out Of three readers, so, without
further ado or thought, and before
you can say Senator Walter George.
we will plunge into taxation ana
all lts vexing problems. ~
My first thought on taxation ID
that the Treasury Department, the
Senate Finance Committee, and all
the others concerned in raising ready
scratch from the citizens, should
come clean and, in straight-frorns
the-shoulder message, say this: ~
Honestly, we are not so much
interested in what kind of a tax
program we formulate, as we are
In formulating one that will come
close to taking every penny from
the men, women and children In
this country" ~
| ~
| Up until now the boys have been
beating around the bush. AS of to-
day they haven't screwed up enough
courage to come right out and say
that those who are going to get 1t
IN the wallet. that those who have
been hoping to have II. are going to
get the same, and that even those
who haven't got it but might pos
sibly have it in the future, are going
to get an operation In the vicinity
of their purse.
But to any one who can read be-
tween the lines of an income tax
blank 1t is obvious what Mr.. Morgen-
thau Is after. We are all going to
have to get the pig banks down
from the mantelpiece and give them
a thorough shake.
What the money raisers in WASH
ington need is a plan or two. am
ready to provide same, my first one
being the Monte Wooley -Beardsley-
Ruml, or See e-What-the-Boys-in-
the Back : Room Have Got on :
eir-Person-Plan. a
I On first reading that seems to be
a pretty long name for a plan.
On second reading 1t seems even
longer. ~
On third reading-well, never
mind, let's get on with an explana-
tion of the plan. 1t is a deliberate
steal on the Beardsley-R -Ruml sug-
gestion for taxation, which you un-
doubtedly know about, because it
involves the doing away with the
paying of 1941 taxes. zm
Mr.. Ruml made a play for pom,s
lar sentiment when he came oat
with plan that had as its base tia
elimination of 1941 taxes. He couldn't I
go very wrong there-not with the
taxpayers, anyway. But he also
marked himself as the No. optimist
OF the year, He must have known
that the Government was not poirir
to take kindly to any such susees-
ton.
The Government, to Judge by ny
own experience. is looking for an
idea that will enable it to tax what
happened in 1883. I wasn't born at
the time, but it wouldn't surprise ms
to get letter from the Revenue Des
partment asking for small surtax
on the chances of my being born. a..
II Mr.. Ruml thinks he is going to
sell his plan to Washington, he has
another thought coming. He might
just as we'll spend his time perfecE
ing a perpetual motion machine, Oh
drawing blueprints of bridge across
the Atlantic, or domesticating "a
saber-toothed tiger, or writing
Wendell Willkie letters that do not
include a forwarding address.
My plan is this: Let every citizen
turn over all his money to the Gov
ernment. Every blessed penny Of
it. Then apply for spending money
and pin money. This plan has .
double value. Not only will 1t fuH-
nish the Government with all tf1e
money any Government could pos
sibly need, but it will furnish a good
hne on just how fair our Governs
ment Is. One will be able to Judge
by the amount of the money re-
funded just who this Government
thinks is important. Those who
don't get any money back will know
that they don't count for much. a.
lot of us would like to know Just
where we stand. 4t
distributed by McNaught Syndicate. Inch
Turn trash into cash and use Il