Show WELLING AND MUSSER WAR OVER GAS TAX You Are a Secretary Secretary Secretary Sec Sec- Fires at State I Senator FUSILLADES F FURIOUS U R RID I 0 U S I Records Are Inadequate I Lawmaker Shoots Back I I War broke out in Utah Thursday I with Secretary of at State Milton Millon II IL Welling pumping a fusillade of type type- writer projectiles i at State Senator Burton Durton W. W Musser who responded with a vicious verbal bar bar- bar 1 rage I IThe IThe The combat between the two state officials was started over the state gasoline asoline tax law la and at the end of ot the second day dar Secretary Welling and Senator Musser were still firing from well entrenched positions You are a muckraker fired Mr Welling Velling at Mr MUSSel Musser in reference to Lo the laUer's latter's report that the state has lost through the secretory's secre- secre tars torys s failure to collect penalties on delinquent gasoline taxes and license fees tees LOADS NEW VOLLEY We will not get anywhere b by taking taking taking tak tak- ing shots pot-shots at each other replied Senator Musser as he loosed a new typewritten volley Senator Musser is chairman o of the Utah tax evasion committee which I dropped the first bomb into Secretary of State Wellings Welling's office office The essential wickedness of your investigation is revealed came booming booming boom- boom ing ng across from a machine gun nest at it the capitol Your records are inadequately kept came back from the senator REPLIES TO CHARGES The committee of which Mr Musser Mussers is s the head openly criticised Secretary Secretary Secre- Secre tary ary of oC State Wellings Welling's office on gas tax ax collections The letter of Mr Welling Veiling to Mr Musser replying to the charges says says- I It is noted that a full report of ofir ir letter was given out by you ou to the he press perhaps before it was delivered delivered de- de livered to this office and certainly before we had any opportunity to correct any of oC the misstatements contained con- con tamed in your our communication or the accompanying report of your gator Your organization styles itself a gasoline tax evasion committee but your examination has not shown where the state has lost any my money moner from rom the failure o of the state to assess as- as sass ess the tax on every car of gasoline delivered in Utah Failing in this purpose which if proven would be entirely praiseworthy you descend to o a muckraking campaign which depends depends de- de sends for its success upon making false also and unwarranted statements about many entirely innocent competitor tor companies and the men responsible responsible sible for the administration of oC the law aw RECALLS LETTER IETTER You were advised when you e examined ex cx- our records that tax legally paid aid on the last of or the month for Cor the preceding month frequently did not reach each our records until a n proper check was made which carried the book jook entry over until the second or third hird of the succeeding month In every such instance you ou call this a delinquency and state stale that the state has las thereby lost thousands of dollars Continued Continue on Pace Two WELLING AND MUSSER WAR OVER GAS TAX Continued from tram I rue ge One because of my failure to assess a 25 per cent penalty The essential wickedness of your our Investigation is revealed In fri the fact tact that you had before you similar payments payments pay pay- ments meats of your own company legally made on the last of ot the month and entered on our books booles on the first to third of ot the month following On account of the size of your company one such penalty for one month only would have been five ive times as much as your alleged investigator assessed a against all the small companies combined com corn covering a period of or six months You state that under section 2 of the gasoline tax law the state is losing from to each year on oil account of my ray failure to collect a license fee per year from each retail dealer I invite your attention to the definition of a retail dealer In section 1 1 which has made this collection col lection Impossible and your statement false CHARGES UNFAIRNESS As an example of fine public spirit you point to your company which has collected millions of dollars in inas ingas ingas gas as tax for the state without expense But if I were as unfair with your company compan as you have been with your competitors I would state that never so far as I know in six years has your company compan paid its tax when due i. i c c. c on the of the month for tor the month preceding Your company always al a- a wa ways s 's takes advantage of oC the days of ol grace crace between the and approximate approximately mate matel the end of the month thereby using the states state's money for that pe pc- pc rind Shall I therefore say that you have used of or the states state's money for fifteen days and lost to the state many thousands of oC dollars in interest The statement would be beless beless beless less fantastic than your main argument argument ment because some of or your our competitors competitors compete scrupulously pay this tax when due that due that is on the of each month There are a few thousand dollars of or distressing delinquencies in this state but in my opinion they do not warrant the drastic measure of assessing assessing assessing assess assess- ing the 25 23 per cent penalty which your pound of oC flesh policy demands In many of the cases published by you the delinquency has its roots in closed banks and Impounded gas cas tax funds To force settlement instantly would ruin these companies and while that might cr gratify a few tew people peo pie pIc In my judgment it would not contribute to the benefit of the state at large In the future a as in the past this office will strive diligently to extinguish extinguish extin extin- these delinquencies and report persistent violators to the attorney general action The hot reply of Senator Musser fired immediately upon receipt of Secretary Wellings Welling's letter says It does not seem to me that we will vIll get anywhere by taking pot shots at one another over admitted delinquencies delinquencies delinquencies delin delin- of gasoline distributors the reports of which are on file me In your office You reported to me on December December December De De- cember 14 1931 1031 delinquencies o of over naming namin six companies and the amount each company as was delinquent delin delin- quent Which of these delinquencies do you designate as bein being distressing delinquencies' delinquencies Is it the Red Feather Oil company compan which has been delinquent delinquent delinquent delin delin- quent since July of 1931 1031 and which has not yet paid the delinquency the penalty or the interest but still is isen en engaged aged in carrying on a gasoline business In this state contrary to section section sec see tion lion 9 of the act Did it lose its money in a bank failure You know it did not and it has never claimed that to you ou CITES REPORTS Mr Blood chairman of the state stale road commission reported to me on February 20 that it was reported to him b by E K R. R Miles executive secretary secretary secretary secre secre- tary of ot the board of purchases and supplies that recently the Red Feather Feath Feath- er Oil company had sold to the state gallons of gasoline asoline It If you had enforced section 9 of the act it would not have been permitted to engage in business unless and until such tax and penalty had been fully paid Now If it this is a distressing delinquency the only way for other companies to todo todo todo do is to fall fail or nr refuse to pay to the I state the gasoline asoline tax and then solicit the state for enough new gasoline business to enable such distressing delinquency to be paid to you out of the profits on such uch further sales In writing my letter to you of February 13 I 1 did It as chairman of the Utah gasoline tax evasion committee committee com corn and not riot as a representative of any mv particular company compan This you I well vell know You say nothing in your letter about the obviously incorrect adjustment adjust adjust- ment taken by the Bennion Gasoline and Oil company and by the Excel Oil company I called those two particular particular particular par par- things pointedly to your at at- at If there are any other Incorrect incorrect in In- correct adjustments taken bv by any company I invite you to rectify the situation no matter which company it shall affect RE RECALLS ALLS INTERVIEW You stated in an interview as apin appeared appeared ap ap- ap- ap in The Salt Lake Telegram on February 11 11 1932 that the state had lost about by failure of you to enforce the license fee feature of the act I reduced that to but whatever the loss i is it certainly Is Ischar char chargeable to the failure properly to administer the law If you ou want to blame that onto me or some company I represent t you may do It tt and take such satisfaction as is due Essentially the things that I am complaining of as a representative of the Utah gasoline tax evasion committee com corn of oC which I am chairman are j I 1 Your rc arc are inadequately kept 2 2 You do not check up the re reports reports re- re ports of the common carriers with respect to movements of cars 3 You have no book entry of any of these transactions except a cash cashbook book 4 You do not check cheek up the re reports reports reports re- re ports made by the distributors 5 You permit delinquencies to togo togo togo go unchallenged 6 You go to the utmost to excuse delinquencies which so obviously exist 7 7 You do not enforce the license feature of the act by requiring licenses to be taken out 8 You do not refuse to grant licenses because of delinquencies as provided in section 9 0 of the act 9 You permit persons to engage in the business of selling gasoline asoline Inthis in inthis inthis this state who arc delinquent In the payment of the gasoline tax in direct violation of the act |