Show Taxation Without Representation Its It's a rather strange situation to see operators of big business business business busi busi- ness and Harold L. L Ickes on the same side of the fence on a labor issue but both Ickes and soft coal operators have come out in opposition to the United Mine Workers Workers' demand for a cent 10 a aton aton aton ton royalty on all coal mined in the nation the money to be used by the union for health and welfare purposes The operators contend granting of the U UM M MV W V demand would establish a precedent which other unions would follow Ickes said in testifying before a senate subcommittee that the royalty plan is economically unsound and governmentally unwise He said it would give what would amount to governmental extra-governmental power of taxation to private individuals The U M MV W V royalty plan is certainly a dangerous move It would in effect give to a private group the right to levy a tax on the American people A cent 10 a ton royalty on every ton of coal mined would amount to a sales tax of that amount The coal coalmine coalmine coalmine mine operators might pay the royalty initially but the royalty would be added on to the price of coal coat paid by consumers in inexactly inexactly inexactly exactly the same way as if congress passed a law applying a cent 10 sales tax on every ton of coal We Ve are not arguing with the unions union's health and welfare program That may be very meritorious But the proposed method of financing such a program is basically unsound No private individual or private organization should have the right to levy what amounts to a tax on the American people Once we start down that road there is no stopping short of destruction of democratic democratic democratic demo demo- cratic government More than years ago the American people were rebelling against taxation without representation And this would be taxation without representation just as much muchas as when the British parliament levied taxes against American colonists who had no voice in parliament A union in this instance would be levying what amounts to a tax on the American people who had no voice in the unions union's deliberations Ickes is right in saying that this proposal is economically un unsound and governmentally unwise The coal operators are right in contending it would establish a precedent which would be widely followed by other labor groups The final result would be a hodgepodge of union-imposed union sales taxes on all the products of American industry with a powerful of labor bosses collecting huge sums of money from the American people for private use |