Milford chronicle., 1952-11-14
WHERE YOU SPENT $1648

WHERE YOU SPENT Sl648
Do you know what happened to $1648
of your money last year? If your family is
an average one, with four members, that
much of it's income went for taxes, Federal,
state and local, according to Commerce De-
partment figures. And things are getting
worse instead of better. The total tax take
of government in 1851 was S63,600,000, ,000
This year the combined total will be around
$8O,OOO,00O, 900.
Taxes now account for at least 80 per
cent of the whole national incOme-Which
means that One-third of our working time is
spent to support government, not ourselves
and our families. A very large part of the
cost of everything we buy-frOm so small an
item as loaf of bread to so large a one as a
new car-is represented by taxes. It's literal
ly true that you can't walk block without
kicking in to the tax cOlleCtOr-at the least,
you'll cause some wear on your shoes and
when you have to replace them taxes will
enter in to what you must pay for the new
pair!
The theory that taxes needn't worry most
of us, for the reason that the bill can be paid
by the rich, was blown sky-high long ago.
The rich are taxed to the point Of cOntisca-
tiOn nOw and if we took a cool 100 per cent
of their earnings it wouldn't carry govern
mert for more than a few weeks out of the
year. The people of small and moderate
means must DO the great bulk of the paying.
These are facts-nOt theories. 1t is in
your interest to take the waste out of gov
ernment-and cut taxes
CURB CONGRESS- SPENDING POWER
Representative Ralph w. Gwinn of New
York made a speech some time ago which
should be read and remembered by every
American-and acted upon by Congress and
the states.
He said, '"The way to stop initiation, to
rid our government of its sOcialistic tenden-
cies, to free ourselves from dishonesty and
graft i'll high places, is simply to reduce the
taxing powers of government.
''The power Of Congress to levy taxes
must be limited, just as our state legislatures
and local councils are automatically prevent
ed from spending more than a certain per-
centage Of assessed values go. Thus we have
prevented socialism at state and local levels.
Communists cannot thrive without tax
money"
Mr.. Gwinn then endorsed a proposed new
amendment to the Constitution which pro-
vdes that all taxes levied and collected for
nOn-military expenditures "shall not exceed
five per cent of the national income for the
nearest preceding calendar year for which
figures are available" The military eStab-
lishment would be supported through spec
ial war taxes. This amendment, Mr.. GWinn
concluded, would make it possible for Con-
gressmen to ''Tesist the pressure groups that
are now bounding them for appropriations
there just would not be any money for these
hand-Out schemes"
Mr. Gwinn is right. UnbridIed tax spend
ing stems from the Unbridled power to levy
and collect taxes. The cure is to tightly curb
that power.
WE MUST SET AN EXAMPLE
We cannot gain and hold friends for
freedom if they suspect we will be their
friend only as long as they are strategically
important to us. Another test of our ability
to lead will be how we'll we practice at home
what we preach abroad. We should work fOl
the elimination of those unnecessary re-
strictiOns, controls and encroachments of
government which are in danger of devita-
lizing our free institutions. We will appear
hypOcritical when we extOIl the blessings of
freedom abroad while at home we are afraC
to keep our own institutions free whenever
the test of an emergency arises If we
choose this dynamic goal of the extension
of freedom in the world, and if we sincerely
pursue it, we will gather to it and to our
selves allies from all over the world
In other words, we must do more thar
pay lip service to freedom We must set ar
example. We are on shaky ground indeed
when we denOunce communism and all its
wOrks-and then follow, here at home, il
what is supposed to be the citadel of free
dom, policies which differ only in degree from
the communist way of thinking.
The test is whether the state and the
public servant are the masters or the serv
ants of the people, It does not matter by
what name a state is called if it gives the
orders and calls the tune-it is a total state
a "bOss" state. Every American should ash
himself how far we have gone in that direc
tion.