| Show IIII 1111 IN 1111 it 1111 III II Public Expenditures And Private Incomes i 1111 II II 11 i 1111 1 Wage earners people and n producers can logically be classified e into two the groups sheltered and the exposed The sheltered people are those who can walk alk up to the s win window m do doss regularly and e recel their pay paycheck paycheck paycheck check Their wages ages or incomes do not fluctuate te or vary nary ary while er e every econ I omit change They enJo enjoy a sense e of a against all the vIolent storms of distress People who ho are on a public pa payroll roll belong to that clas class Then ther there ire lre those who ho are exposed ex exposed exposed posed to all the and whims of fortune Tradesmen and farmers belong to that group If a merchant cannot sell hIs wares at a certain price he has to do some slashing to get rid of them This means a sacrifice He is a victim of cIrcumstances 0 ores el which he has no control The prices of the farmers farmer s pro products products products ducts rise and fall faB in m keeping wIth the law of supply and demand ind He may ha have hae e 1 wheat t he this year and 50 cent wheat heat next He is helpless in m the fact of the inexorable Ja laws Jas s cs which huh goy gO govern gOern ern prices We have this ti very cry ery picture of the sheltered and the groups m in our 0 own n citizenship It has its effect upon taxation ta-ahon Ver Verb definitely and too often en Derr disastrously For instance a farmer receives 1 hIS tax notice for He pa pays s it wIth 1 wheat It takes bushels to meet the obligation But next net year yeal toI I again agam he gets his ta tax bill Let us assume as- as assume as assume sume that it is still and that the farmer must continue to pay thIs 13 tax bill with wheat heat But his wheat heat I thIs b year ear going at 50 60 cents per bushel What happens Instead of taking out bushels it requires bush bushels bushels els cIs to meet this same tax obligation In reality the farmers farmer's taa tax ta load his I doubled because the returns from hIs labor represented bv by his wheat have been cut in m half His Ills income has been reduced by one half he heIS heis heis IS exposed and subject to all of the heI variations in m market quotations I But what about the public officials whose salaries take a big pat pal pait t of I taxation What about their incomes Have they been subjected to the same readjustment as has the fal farmers farmer's mers mer's sameI I income Consult the public payrolls for your our our ans answer anser er I 1 Just as the price of wheat has been lowered so ha have hae e butter eggs all food foodstuffs stuffs wearing apparel and all I other othel items that go to make up the family budget So that the public offIcIal while nomI I getting the same ame nom mal malage wage age for foi his service is 15 actually getting an increase while on theother the theother theother 1 other hand the taxpayer er has been obliged to less accept for his sex sei vices and his commodities selI I Therefore this question Has the farmers the light right to that expect the sheltered hIs class shall share with Ith him I fortunes or misfortunes 01 or should the farmer farmel andin and in m fact e every ery other taxpayer be obliged to bear the whole brunt of all these changes and be the sole victim of circumstance circum every circum- circum I stance that may arise In other words w are the men in m public office to enJoy complete immunity from all these I economIC forces while the tax ta taa burden I IS gro growing grossing mg heavier hea ler upon the expos exposed ed taxpayer er exPos I expos expos- I If Ii the tax tar bill could be made to fluctuate I and harmonize with Ith the earning power po of the taxpayers It would mean little what hat the commo- commo commodity commo prices are arc or what the service r r charges may be for those who are on the public payroll p It would be immaterial to the firmer what hat hIs tax bill amounted to if he could pay bushels of It each year year car with wheat heat or with a f fixed ed amount of corn cornor cornor cornor or hay or what not if the poultry man could ply it with so many cases ses with so of c eggs gs or the dairyman much butter or the cattleman with co 0 many head hc of cattle or if the wage earner carner could ply y his tax each y ear wIth a certain fixed proportion of hIs income no matter how ho that income mH might ht te between the But it is this disparity incomes of the tapa taxpayers ers on the one hand and the constantly increasing tax bill on the other hand that has created the present panicky and disturbed dIs- dIs dIsturbed dis disturbed attitude of mind on the part par t of all taxpayers of o f class or location What must eventually all ally happen if this condition is per per- permitted permitted per to go eo o and un tin I checked is seen today in m So thit th the challenging n arIses Can the same logic and cod code e of rules be made to apply to those thos e who stiff ser serve sere e c the taxpayers ers in m c office as is in m force with the ta ers who ho al are aie e called upon to furnis h the cash It goes oes without sip S1 mg ing that thIs thi s pre present ent obviously unfair sItuatIOn cannot continue indefinitely for It u te t would inevitably me lead to complete e of property It would be b e killing the goose that lays la s the golds n egg eggs Who will III come forth with the an ans s ser er 1 |
