| OCR Text |
Show Chain Stores Propose Postponement of Tax Fight Until After War Postponement of the 1942 referendum refer-endum election on the chain store "death tax" until after the war in the interest of a united defense de-fense effort by all retailers, chain and independent, was urged by the Utah Chain Stores association this week in a proposal submitted to the Utah Retail Grocers association, associ-ation, sponsor of the levy. The proposal, originating with directors of the chain store group, invited the grocers' organization to join in a petition asking legislative legis-lative deferment of the referendum, referen-dum, should the Legislature meet in special session before Aug. 1, 1942. It was signed by H. Tracy Fowler as president of the chain stores association and sent to A. D. Stewart, president of the retail grocers' association. Imposes Special Tax "Hottest of all issue before the 1941 Legislature, the chain store bill would impose a special lax up to $500 per year on each existing chain store outlet in Utah, plus an additional annual license tax up to $5,000 on each store established estab-lished or relocated after the effective ef-fective dale of the act. Purpose of the $5,000 tax, chain 'Continued on page six) Chain Store Tax (Continued from first page) store representatives assert, is to wipe out the chain stores through a process of "slow death by freezing". freez-ing". Attorney General Grover A. Giles, it was recalled, has already ruled the "freezing" clause to be unconstitutional. The measure, Senate Bill 44, ivas rendered inoperative when more than 54,000 qualified Utah oters signed petitions successfully ;nvoking the referendum law for the first time in Utah's history. rhe:r action held up the act until t could be voted upon at the general gen-eral election on Nov. 3rd. Although Utah's chain stores nave a "life and death" interest :n the electorate's decision in the -eferendum because of the meas-jre's meas-jre's discriminatory and drastic 'slow death" provisions, they realize real-ize that the necessity for a united, ill-out war effort by retailers jvershadows all other issues, Mr. Fowler told Mr. Stewart. Should Unite "At a time when American soil is under invasion and American lives are being sacrificed in its defense, we believe, as we are confident that you do, that in a period of such grave national peril we should submerge our internal differences and meet unitedly the emergency that faces us," Mr. Fowler wrote. "It is a conflict in which all of us have a place and which demands de-mands of each of us the utmost in time, money and energy. It is a struggle in which it would be criminal to do less than our best. Both independent and chain dealers deal-ers have an important task in this war. We are depended upon to assure the steady flow of available avail-able supplies so that production may proceed unhampered and civilian ci-vilian morale be maintained at a high level. Our contribution is distribution. We are the 'army of supply.' " Accompanying the letter were a suggested Legislative measure to postpone the referendum and a legal opinion regarding the feasibility feasi-bility of the proposal and assuring that the rights of all concerned, including the public, are safeguarded. safe-guarded. Governor Inspires Proposal Mr. Fowler informed the grocers' groc-ers' group that the proposal to postpone had been substantially inspired in-spired by Governor Herbert B. Maw's "many splendid statements regarding the necessity for complete, com-plete, undivided effort in marshalling marshal-ling all of Utah's facilities for the job of winning the war," and expressed ex-pressed the hope that, if the independent in-dependent grocers accept the proposal pro-posal and the Legislature approves ap-proves it, "it will be possible to arrange for further wholehearted cooperation between us in any and all ways in which we can unite and unselfishly carry out our responsibilities res-ponsibilities to Utah and the nation". |
