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Show Friday, March THE OGDEN POST 2 The Ogden Post The Tax Plight of the Farmer t Published each Friday by The Post Printing and Publishing 2428 Kiesel avenue. Urban and Rural Taxes Must be Equalized; .Farmers Must be Relieved Says the Speaker of the Oregon Ifouse of matter OcEntered as second-clas- s tober 17, 1927, at the post office at Ogden, Utah, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Subscription Price: $1.00 Following is a part of an article on taxation by John II. Carkin, speaker of the Oregon house of representatives, printed in the March number of Oregon Business, the official magazine of the Oregon state chamber of commerce. The article will be of interest to the people of Utah insofar as their problems are similar to those of propof Oregon. is live a taxation for question erty before the people of Utah; it is the question most talked of by the fann bureau people, and is spreading to the cities and towns. Indeed, it is a question in which every taxpayer is interested. It is a question which is being tabooed by those who have wealth which is escaping taxation. Mr. Carkin says: The plight of the farmer has been attributed to many causes, but few of them will stand the test of analysis. If we are to find a cure there must be a reasonably correct diagnosis of the sickness from which agriculture is suffering. What are the Per Year Telephone 365 EDITORIAL IT MAKES 'EM GENEROUS If you desire to keep good natured, even to the extent of being pleased when a bus driver carries you beyond your destination, get drunk. In other words, if you would have sunshine in your soul, you should have moonshine in your stomach. For a long time we havp been told that moonshine prompted a man to beat up on his wife, rub his own trunk, and,, if persisted in, would strike him blind. This is all a mistake. We have been misinformed. The editor of a well known newspaper, who is also at intervals the mayor of an important city, has convinced us of this fact by telling an experience which recently came to his attention. He tells the story well, and proves conclusively that booze makes u man pleasant and generous. Now that we are converted, we are considering preaching this gospel the next time we are invited to speak before the Y. L. M. I. A. or the W. C. T. U. RACK UP TIIE FIRE INSPECTOR In this issue of The Post is printed a report of the fire hazard conditions in the city of Ogden. The report was made to the city commission by A. B. Hamilton, fire inspector, and that the conditions are bad, especially in the business district and the lower part of the city. In this report the fire inspector quotes from the city ordinances and intimates that it is his purpose to enforce the law in the matter of chimneys, flues, frame structures, rubbish, etc. This report citishows should be carefully read by the zens of Ogden, and support given the inspector in his effort to improve conditions. It is indeed surprising how the city fire department is able to keep fire losses at such a low figure while such conditions prevail. If property owners persist in mainuntaining fire hazards which come der the ban of the law, they should be cited into court and forced to abate the conditions complained of. " NICARAGUA The refusal of the Nicaraguan chamber of deputies to pass the McCoy electoral bill, providing for American supervision and insuring fairness in the approaching presidential election in that country, is evidence of the fact that the conservatives under the leadership of Diaz were not so sincere in their expressed desire to Col. Stimson for a fair supervised election. Obviously, it is dear to them that the majority of their fellow countrymen are not in favor of the administration continuing to remain in their hands, as this bill was Fifteen defeated, by their efforts. of the seventeen who voted for its passage are members of the Liberal - party Before the intervention by U. S. Marines the forces of the Liberals were gradually defeating the forces were supporting Dias and the formerManaapproaching the capital city, in gua. Seeing that they were danger of defeat and overthrow the Conservatives gladly welcomed the marines of this country, and when it was proposed by Col. Stimson that both parties lay aside their arms and await the outcome of the next election they agreed along with the Liberals. Now those in power express their States by regratitude to the Unitedwhich makes a law a to pass fusing fair election possible. This refusal does not back the statements and contentions concerning the integrity and honesty of Diaz and his regrime made by those responsible for the seemingly uncalled for intervention by the United States in the affairs of that small country. To state it in a popular phrase it leaves them without a le to Btand upon. Conditions in Nicaragua remain about the same and apparently the lives of a goodly number of American marines have been uselessly sacrificed. Yet the position of the United States is similar to tiat of one who has crossed a river and burned the bridge. Our word has been given that recognition shall be given to the victorious party of the next election and that election shall be fairly conducted. Yet, since the chamber of deputies has refused to pass laws providing for United States supervision of the election in October, it is wondered how the promise is to be fulfilled. It has been predicted that President Diaz will be called upon to issue an order to take the place of the bill that failed to pass. This prediction causes two questions. Will Diaz give such an order, and even if he should, would it be legal? It has been stated officially that President Coolidge does not know that ratification of American supervision by the Nicaraguan Congress was absolutely necessary. On the other hand, without ratification it becomes necessary to force upon an administration that has been recognized by the United States something that is entirely adverse to their sentiments. All in all the situation presents a dilemma that is hard to solve, one in which most any solution leads to further difficulties. In the meantime the forces of American marines in that country are suffering almost daily casualties. imi-ne- nt Agriculture, Babson says, pays out 83 per cent of its net profits. Other occupations he classifies as follows: Mining, CO per cent of its net profits; transportation, 36 per cent; construction, 32 per cent; insurance and banking, 31 per cent; trade, 27 per cent; manufacturing, 24 per cent. According to The Oregon Voter, taxes paid by agriculture and related corporations consumed 44.20 per cent of their net income (before deducting taxes), while for all corporations the average was 27.75 per cent. There is reason to believe; indeed, the department of agriculture says, that taxes on many of the less favored farms have absorbed all the income from rent. I believe an investigation will show that the plight of agriculture is due in the main to fundamental differences between business and agriculture. , "Taxes as a rule are passed on, if possible. They therefore constitute a part of the cost of every manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer, and he adds them, together with the other costs of manufacture and sale, and passes them on to the consumer. The situation with the farmer is different. He cannot shift any of his taxes. His market, both for buying and selling as a rule, is not mado by him, with the result that he generally buys in a dear market and sells in a cheap one. He pave the same as the ether consumers, but he alone sells his products below the level enjoyed, by othgrs. He cannot increase the price except in exceptional cases, unorganized as he is, nor can he restrict the supply. The conclusion, is inescapable that the farmer must either increase the selling price of his products or reduce his costs. "Some people have great hope that the farmer can increase his selling price by cooperative marketing and various things of a similar nature. The report of the Oregon Bankers association says: 'Last year out of a total crop production for California of $379,000,000, it is claimed that $200,000,000 was sold under the group marketing plan and that, notwithstanding the large advertising expense, the growers received 48 cents of the consumers dollar, as contrasted with eight. cents they averaged before these associa-- . tions were functioning. In Denmark, the home of the cooperative marketing system, the growers have been receiving 72 cents of the consumers dollar But the progress of cooperative marketing and other similar remedies, with the people scattered as much as the farmers are, and as independent as the farmers are, is so slow as not to justify expectation of great intone-diat- e results in increased prices. The head of the American Bankers association has still another scheme for increasing the price of farm products. He says: There is no legislative remedy for agriculture. It is an economic question pure and simple and must be worked out accordingly. It is a fact that no community and no state has ever become great from agriculture alone. There seems to be a real rem-tdfor small communities and for agriculture. This remedy is the mixing of industry with agriculture, and it is now being applied in many localities with satisfactory results. Industry and agriculture are better balanced in Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania than in any other states, and in these states there is no serious agricultural problem and we bear little complaint from the farmers.' Many farm organizations have still another scheme for increasing the price of farm products. The American farm bureau has said: With an unprecedented tariff for industrial men, a steadying banking law for financial interests, a transportation act for railroads and an immigration law for labor, the farmers think themselves crowded out of the Acknowledgment The Post is pleased to acknowledge receipt of the letter from A Post Admirer, and is sorry that same cannot be printed for the reason that Admirer" did not sign his or her name. The name signed to a communication need not be printed, but we must have articles signed to show good faith. facts? in taxes y, house of their fathers. No student of taxation will deny that legislation can have a marked effect upon a nations life. We have but to look at our policy of protection, our national banking system, our federal income tax, to know that those effects can be But, at best, farm legislation, war finance, tariff, marketing bureaus, state elevators, state banks, rural credits, control of surplus crops, and so on, have not lifted the farmer out of the mire. If we find the famer unable to increase the prices of products, what then can he do in cutting his costs? Prices of the things he must buy are in a dear market, and there is little hope of his materially reducing his machinery, labor and other costs. What then is he to do? Do we not get back finally to just one proposition, that if the farmer is to cut his cost materially he can only do so by equalizing and reducing the tax burden of which we have found he probably pays a large part? Let us consider this tax burden. The federal taxes amount to around three billion dollars, and state and local taxes to around five billions more. It is estimated by economists (hat approximately 50 per cent of the tax burden is passed on and a very large part is paid by agriculture. These taxes are due chiefly to road and school expenditures and heavy bond issues and to the rapidly expanding activities of boards and commissions, and the great increase in number of government employes. The best information available approxilf of the cost mately more than of the government goes to paying salaries and that every 10 of us support one person on the public payroll. What Can Oregon Do? If the foregoing premises are sound, the most effective remedy on the part of the farmer is reduction n the federal, state and local tax mrden. Some will say that the federal taxes are of no concern to the average taxpayer because they are paid, by corporations and rich men, but is that sound? As we have just seen, one-ha-lf tne tax burden s passed from the manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer to the ultimate consumer, and agriculture bears a large share of this. But the present administration has been cutting the federal expenditures and paying off . far-reachin- g. t one-ha- , the national debt, so we will pass that. President Coolidge has well said that the national government is reducing its tax burden and it is now up to the states and local communities to reduce theirs. What the state of Oregon needs most of ail, says Thomas B. Kay, state treasurer, is uniform taxation. The way to bring such a condition about is to give the state tax commission authority to review the assessments of county assessors. Statistics are presented by Mr. Kay to show that under the existing system of taxation in Oregon some business property is assessed as low as 25 per cent of its true cash value, while in other parts of the state similar property is assessed at 80 per cent of its value. Data gathered by the state treasurer during the past few months indicate that a large amount of property in Oregon is escaping taxation altogether, or is paying only a small part of the total burden, Farm taxpayers are at a disadvantage as compared with city taxpayers, ficials to run their government than the urbanites pay to run a city government, where a board of business men can hire their own officials? Dii you ever stop to think how much more taxes the farmers have to pay because cities do not have to pay taxes on municipal water and other utilities and throw that extra burden on the farmer? Did you ever stop. to think how much more taxes the farmers have to pay because the city has acquired lots for delinquent taxes and assessments and does not have to pay taxes on them? These investigations have not been carried so far that we can be dogmatic about them, but it is probable that these conclusions will be borne out by A complete study. If so, the remedy is plain. We must give the farmer the same deal the city man has. As a shade, windbreak, and tree the Chinese elm has be the most successful . this kind yet made by the States department of agricultun? This tree is resistant to drouht kali, and variable temperaturtl' ing it especially valuable to the Plains region where desirable trees are few. It has proved win hardy in most trials in the bakoti Minnesota, New York, Montana other northern states. Some of earlier plantings in this country now producing seeds, so that a do! mestic supply should soon be avail, able and make importation fr China unnecessary. With the coming of the plain girl has passed out of can life. Dates of Sale Greater ability of city taxpayers to pay taxes. Geruyally the city has 5. notJTeater April 4th to 8th Finch Liniment Co. Ogden and Grand Junction, Colo. Beery bull b tunnluf t. d u repre-tetil- or money refunded rd ft gf $ gh m. is Inclusive a Good Returning April 11th a OFOURGREAf 7Zie Jar offer special March only on the March 31 Will Bring to a Close The Greatest Sale in Our History Only Two Days Left! Act .Quickly in Order to Take Advantage of This Remarkable Offer a The Famous AutoMatic Washer DONT DELAY! GET YOUR AUTOMATIC WASHER NOW! Ilf M Round Trip $1 Down, $5 a Month kinds Ameri! Fare for the Yht Dragrbt far Manufactured ascii Bamberger Electric Into Influenza or Pneumonia Good for croup, colds, whooping cough, pneumonia and pains of all t station and the plain touring car Dont Let a Cold Turn Aik proved introdv-t-f- VIA price. taxpayer income from his but also enjoys income apa real estate in the form of priVSsional revenue, salary, wages and ownership of free bonds, rtocks and other intangibles. Every one of these is a factor which should be taken into consideration in the proper equalization of the tax burden in Oregon, and it not only can, but should be, and ultimately will liave to be done. Did you ever stop to think how much more taxes the farmers have to pay with their probate judge and two commissioners and elected county of 192s Conference Rates because: "1. Municipally rendered services increase city rents and values faster than farm values. It is so well known that water supplies, schools and other city services increases values that it needs no argument, 2. City values have doubled since the war and assessed values have not caught up with them, with the result that farms are again discriminated against. 3. The turnover in most city lines is much faster than in farm products. For example, the merchants turnover may be 10 times a year, where the farmers is only one. The city mans income arrives weekly or monthly, where the farmers comes once a year. "4. Greater shiftibility of city taxes. As a rule, taxes on farm lands cannot be passed on to the buyer of farm products, while taxes on city real estate can generally be passed on in the form of increased rental or purchase - 30, UTAH POWER & LIGHT CO, EFFICIENT PUBLIC SERVICE 4 |