Milford chronicle., 1952-01-18

to new booklet on the tax problem issued
by the Chamber of Commerce of the United .
States, the cost of government required only
per cent of the national income in 1890. |
When World War | broke out, the figure was
still about the same. By 1910, it had jumped
to % per cent. And now government is TAX
ing something like One-third of the income
of the people,
AS the Chambers booklet says, "FOr a |
long time the ability to pay theory has dom
mated tax discussions. This theory has mer-
it, but unfortunately people have been led
to believe that all government expenditures
can be paid for by taxes on the rich
The popular case for welfare state expendi-
lures is that they will redistribute income
from rich to poor. This would indeed be a
simple solution to the worlds social and
economic ills, if only it were true. But even
if steeply progressive taxes had no undesir-
able economic effects, this would be impOSS-
ible. There simply are not enough rich peO-
ple!
1t is clear, whether we like it or not, that
any additional tax increases must fall pri-
marily upon people Of very modest means
for the reason that they have most of the
money. According to Secretary Snyder, al
most IS per cent of all personal income avail
able for additional taxation is actually in
the lowest income bracket-under $4,000.
BY contrast in the oversee, 600 bracket, the
income available for additional taxation
amounts to less than One-third of one per
cent of the total
Fast as individual income tax rates have
risen, corporation rates have risen even
faster. The corporation rate was held to a
ceiling of AZ per cent in World War II. Now
it is 50 per cent. Very steep excess profits
taxes come on top of this. The total cOrpOr
alton tax runs as high as 70 per cent. There
is not much room for further boosts here
if an incentiVe-ecOnOmy is to be maintained
in this country, and enterprise is to be en-
cOuraged to progress.
This illustrates, in capsule FORM the tre-
mendous magnitude of the tax problem. The
heart of that problem was described in these
words by Senator George: "There have been
frequent discussions of what the total tax
take may be without doing injury to our
economy There is no fixed limit; the limit
is to be found only when the tax take de-
stroys the incentive of the people and when
it leads to every conceivable effort to eVade
and to wasteful practices by the taxpayers
themselves.
THE PRICE OF FOGHORNS
In one of his Washington columns, Stef-
fan Andrews of the North American News
ing: "In the ten commandments there are
297 words, in LincOln's Gettysburg Address
266 words, but in an OPS order setting cell
ing prices on manualy operated fOghOrnS
there are 1852 words"
No one would expect the master-minds al
OPS to produce anything within cannon
shot of the ten commandments or the Get
tysburg Address. But the OPS order on the
vital subject of fOghOrn prices Is perfec
example of how the bureaucrats work, once
they get a taste of power. The red-tape get
thicker and thicker. The orders become NOR
and more verbOse-and, of course more anC
more difficult to understand and follow
Some of the OPS orders, in fact, have beel
MASTERPIECES of utter confusion.
The people who make and sell fOghOm
undoubtedly spent some sleepless nights try
ing to get their teeth into OPS 10000 wOr
order. And they aren't the only ones. It's
safe bet that there isn't producer or dis
tributOr in the country who hasn't gOn
around talking to himself after reading on
or another of OPS literary efforts. Some O
them, indeed, proved to be totally unwOrk
able, and OPS had to hustle out changes an
amendments.
In situation like this, every produce
and merchant becomes, wily-nilly, a la
breaker And if anyone thinks that such
think again. More and more of the tim
effort and money Of manufacturer, retailt
and all others involved must be given to tr!
ing to untangie the red-tape and to fOLOwin
the orders as best they can. That's one wa
to hamString an economy.
@~GOR~G
THE FEWER THE BETTER
Those who believe that price and the r
lated controls can solve practically ever
economic problem follow simple fOrmul
! Step one is to apply controls. Then, if TIL
doesn't produce the desired result, step tv
y is taken, which is to make the controls st
. sitter. SO it goes, ad infnitum. This may
/ all very we'll in theory, but it breaks dow
like an OverwOund spring in fact. For,
4 controls become sitter and more numerOU
: the inevitable result is either a scarcity
=, goods or a deterioration in the quality
Y goods. The price is fixed, all right-but tn
e is hardly of advantage to consumers wi