Milford chronicle., 1961-02-03
MILFORD MILFORD DELAWARE FRIDAY s.
THE EMERGENCY TAX RACKET

THE "EMERGENCY" TAX RACKET
When World War III came along the Con-
gress passed number of emergency" tax
measures to help finance the war. Since
then the emergency taxes on various items
have been extended year after year.
The term emergency tax has been used
by Congress instead of ''sales" tax because
the sales tax idea was not popular. There
fore, limited number of industries were
penalized with high emergency" taxes in
stead of low general sales taxes
The latest example of the emergency
tax racket is the one-cent additional federal
gas tax enacted last year with the provision
that it would expire next June 30th. A move
is underway to continue the tax and even
increase it above the present federal tax of
four cents gallon. State gas taxes range
from three to seven cents gallon not count
ing state sales and local taxes. In other
words, state and federal "sales'' taxes on
necessity are some 80 per cent of the price
of the product less taxes, $100 on every 10
gallons of gasoline
Is it any wonder the worms (the tax
payers) are beginning to turn and no longer
about temporary" taxes? 1t is time to call
a spade spade and admit that most tenn
porary or emergency taxes are just an ex-
cuse for permanent sales taxes, which legis-
lators are afraid to propose for fear of los
ing votes.
The honest thing to do is to cut out such
subterfuges and if needs demand it, estab-
liCh oil fov ipcf IF
few industries with sales taxes running
from 10 to so per cent, as with telephones,
transportation and gasoline.
The exorbitant tax on gasoline may be
the straw that breaks the camel's back and
brings a halt to the deception practiced in
the name of emergency" or temporary
taxes
The worms are turning against the tenn
porary tax racket.
THE FAMILY FARM
There is fear that the ever-growing
mechanization of agriculture, along with
other advanced farming techniques and
tools, will lead to the virtual disappearance
of the family farmer and its replacement
with the big corporation farm.
DR.. Karl d. Butler, one of this coun-
trys leading agricultural economists, vig-
orously disputes this view. He writes: "The
family farm is not disappearing. True, some
family farms are finding it convenient to in
corporate If this is corporate farming,
make the most of it, but actually very small i
percentage of all the farms, in the United
States are either corporation farms or in
corporated The majority are family-owned
and fanily-operated. In fact, today about
96 or 81 per cent of all the farms in the
United States are family-operated units.
There has been no significant decrease in
the proportion of family farms during the
last 20 or 80 years." DR.. Butler also says
that the number of hired professional farm
managers has actually declined little IN
recent years, which means that the percen-
tage of owner-operators has shown an in
crease.
Actually, mechanization has meant sal
walton for the family farm, whether or not
it has gone through the formality of incor-
poration 1t has made possible more pro-
duction at reduced cost. Even more import
ant i'm the long pull, it has given the small,
as well as the large, farmer the means of
and conserving irreplaceable land
the six inches of topsoiP' that stand be-
tween us and famine. 1t has reduced or
eliminated back-breaking drudgery. 1t has
made farming into business and pro-
fession. even while maintaining it as way
of life. To quote Dr. Butler once more, the
future of the family farm seems to be as
sured."
NZo%~Z
.MAKING" MONEY
If the u. s government suddenly started
printing twice as many new one-doar bills
as it took out of circulation each year, every
one knows what would happen. We would
have initiation of the worst kind.