OCR Text |
Show mm (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) WE, THE CONSUMERS, PAY THE TAX OUH LEGISLATIVE bodies -local, state and national would have us the Toms, Dicks and Harrys of America believe the greater portion por-tion of the taxes ther levy is collected collect-ed from the corporations. If we believed be-lieved that we would not object so much to extravagance in government govern-ment operation. In a factual survey of 165 corporations, cor-porations, made by the American Federation of Investors, it was found that these corporations had paid a total of $2,565,356,532 for taxes In ICO. The tax collector took that amount out of the pockets of the 165 corporations. cor-porations. These corporations In turn took it out of the pockets of the ultimate consumers, and we paid it in the form of an increased price for the merchandise and services serv-ices we purchased. The corporations corpora-tions had to pass along the tax collector's col-lector's bill if they vere to continue In business and povlde Jobs for their 3,490,801 employees. They could not have taken it from their 5,888,689 stockholders, the people who supplied the money to create the 3,490,801 Jobs, for the total dividends divi-dends paid were only $1,247,358,722, or less than one-half the amount of the tax collector's bill. Had they attempted to take it out of the pockets pock-ets of their employees, it would have meant taking from each one an average of $735. The only practical, or possible way was to get it back from the consumers the Toms, Dicks and Harrys by including it in the price of their merchandise, and we, In the end, paid all of it, and then some. The "then some" was the taxes paid by the wholesale Jobber and the retailer. They, too, if they were to remain In business, had to pass on to the consumer the amount the tax collector took from them, and we paid it. Such are a large part of the "hidden "hid-den taxes" we pay. Our law makers mak-ers tried to cover them up, and they succeeded for a time, at least with a percentage of the people. They realize that to levy a direct tax on the consumer of an amount equal to the indirect tax he now pays would arouse a protest expressed ex-pressed through the ballot box. They are trying to fool all of the people alL of the time, but will find it will not continue to work. Either in the form of direct or indirect taxes, the consumer is today to-day paying close to 3 cents to the tax collector out of each dollar of his Income. He is working for government nearly one-third of his working time. The taxes of those 165 corporations corpora-tions for 1940 amounted to $585,518.-634 $585,518.-634 more than in 1939. There will be a tremendous jump in 1941, under un-der the nt'Av tax law, and again we, the consumers, will pay it all. ADVERTISING VALUES FOR RURAL MERCHANT THE LARGE STORES of every metropolitan center demonstrate every day the value of intelligently used newspaper advertising space. To insure that intelligent use, thes stores employ the best expert ad vertising talent available. They pay large salaries to advertising managers because they know the "how," "when" and "what" of merchandising mer-chandising advertising. These advertising experts cannot, if they would, hide their talents. They must display them each day and in each issue of the newspapers in which they buy space. Every day they offer a lesson in effective merchandising advertising. By a day-to-day study of the copy they produce, rural merchants can learn the "how," "when" and "what" of effective advertising. If, and when, the lessons are applied to their own merchandising problems, the rural stores will find how much effective newspaper advertising will do in the development of home-town patronage. A study of the day-to-day advertising adver-tising of the larg city stores will show the rural merchant the "how" 1 of advertising and "when" to advertise ad-vertise "what." Such a study will make of the rural merchant an advertising ad-vertising expert. RAISE WHAT WE CONSUME W. C. WEBBER, in the Northeast North-east Johnson County Herald at Overland Over-land Park, Kansas, proposes that America encourage the raising of all agricultural products we consume con-sume as a solution of our farm problem. If all of America's rural newspapers would support the plan, it would provide a solution for the American farm problem. WE, THE PEOPLE THAT WE, the people, own American Amer-ican industry is illustrated by a survey sur-vey made by the American Federation Fed-eration of Investors covering 165 industrial and service corporations. For 1940 the total assets of these 165 corporations amounted to $4,974,942,130. Their 653,815,300 shares of stock were owned by 6,360,000 stockholders, an average of 115 shares per stockholder. Legislation Legisla-tion that injures legitimate business in the United States is legislation Injurious to ourselves. |