Detroit evening times., 1945-02-20
FAIR
ENOUGH
BY Westbroos'
PeeIer

IN HER role of journalistic exc
l. crescence, which is her own
husbands definition of column
list, and which means an alb
normal outgrowth, as a wart,
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt runs a
@. and A. feature in the Ladies'
Home Journal, entitled, III You
Ask Me"
sometimes find myself under
temptation 10 suspect that
some of the questions are rigged
by kind friends with intent TO
dlstort propositions so that the
replies seem 10 be candid and
fortnight, whereas they would
not suffice were the questions
properly put.
For example, Mrs. Roosevelt
was asked How can you con-
slider your husbands gift OF
the Hyde Park estate to the
government as a real gift when
you and your children can oc-
cupy II, taX-free with the up
keep paid by the government"
To this my colleague in ex-
crescency was able 10 reply
that while it is true that Presl-
dent Roosevelt reserved the
right of occupancy as long as
he, she or any of their children
desire 10 live there, the taxes
and the running expenses must
be privately borne.
THAT understand TO be corr
l. rect and an adequate an-
swer 10 the question, as put,
and we Get-a suggestion ef
patient and injured innocence
for lagnlappe.
a more searching way tn
have phraSed IL, however, wouk
have been something like this.
lis IL fact that by this
gift, the taxable Inheritance Of
President Rooscveit's heirs will
be reduced at a large saving to
them in estate taxes while they
VI
as long as they shall live?"
II is my own belief that our
not excessively b @ owed cur
mudgcon, that ayaricious and
covetous miser, Harold Ickes, OF
the department of the interior.
did not inspect the teeth Of this
gift horse minutely but accepted
II impeMouSly for the nation, a
great favor 10 a friend after his
own heart
Real estate men in that part
Of the country, familiar with the
values OF such enormous old
heaps with their requirements OF
servants, explain that If legal
ownership is retained at the time
Of the death Of a millionaire.
which Roosevelt is. and they are
taxed in the top brackets, this
tax often exceeds by far their
practical sale value which may
be nothing.
IT is no reproach 10 any man
Il that he try 50 10 arrange his
affairs that he VIII have TO pay
the least possible taxes.
Taxation is not sentimental
and a war Of wits goes on con-
/ Stantly between the various coll
/ lectorS on one side and the citi-
/ zen on the other.
Roosevelt once spoke bitterly
about men who devise clever
/ little schemes. having the color
OF Legality, 20 escape taxes, but
any reviewing agent Of the in
ternal revenue will admit over A
quiet, social dram, that in the
matter Of clever little schemes.
the treasury, too. is very iny
GenlouS and. moreover. has IT,
right 10 make arbitrary deci-
Sions in It's own favor in border
line problems and almost in
variably does.
THERE is no need 10 repre-
sent President Roosevelt as
/ q HfAAtl NAS llldI.
That is not a stated constitu-
tonal requirement Of the office
and the most generous man who
ever held ii got no credit for his
gifts 10 the nation but was
smeared by the early New Deal
propaganda as the personifica-
ton and agent of ruthless greed.
This was Herbert Hoover. who
lived economically in the White
House by contrast with the ex-
panded services installed by his
successor, and gave his entire
salary 10 the government.
Oliver Wendell Holmes. on the
other hand, has been eulogized
for his bcquest OF a relatively
small estate to the nation on
his death.
Generosity has not pervadcd
the Roosevelt regime. Ickes.
rich and greedy and the soul and
conscience of the administra-
ton. sued the small estate of A
taxi operator who left a wife
and five dependent children.
DE 1T conce d @ d that Mrs.
~ Roosevelt correctly am
Swered the question. as put. But
a more confiding informant
would have eXpanded with ev.