Show THE TAX MENACE A GROWING CRISIS by FRANCIS H SISSON president america bankers association NO danger economic or social more seriously menaces our life happi ness than the rising title ot taxes which threaten to engulf us this Is not sim ply a problem ot the depression I 1 has been develop growing more se rious all the time the depression merely brought it to a climax un less drastic steps are taken to re verse this trend p n SISSON problem will not end with the depression it will continue to weigh down and retard progress tor an indefinite period in city county state and nation the orgy ot spending has run on it Is esti mated that in the united states the total cost ot all government Is nearly five times what was before the world war many localities have been brought to the verge of bankruptcy by their expenditures while many have saddled their citizens with a debt bur den that will darken their lives and hamper their progress tor years to come ie total cost ot federal state and local government in the united sta Is estimated at forty six million dollars a day based on national income in 1930 this represents about one fifth the total income of our people or abnit ab nit tor every individual in the na alon total taxes in 1931 are esti mated to have taken more than 22 per cent of the national income it Is occa slon for serious thought on the part of everyone when one days income out of every four or five must be contributed to the maintenance of government ma chinery reductions possible united states government tures were reduced one hundred and forty million dollars during the first quarter of the current fiscal year the recent action of bankers in calling a halt to unnecessary expenditures of new york city as prerequisite to loans will reduce the cost of government in the count rys metropolis which is sec ond in its expenditures to only the federal government no state in the union in tact no other government on this hemisphere spends halt as much as this one city these savings in federal and municipal costs are only the beginning of a movement needed throughout the country it we are to be led out of depression into pros unless the people can be made to realize that money for governmental expenditure can come only from their own pockets as taxpayers casting depressing effects on both individual ef tort and general business there is an imminent threat that we may be to meet economic difficulties similar to those that have seriously hand capped other countries the question is not primarily one of merely paring government salaries or shaving ota but rather of curtailing govern ment activities tor which we cannot afford to pay the idea that money tor these mount ing extravagances can be raised by fol lowing the slogan soak the rich Is utterly fallacious tor such a policy will simply exterminate the rich and eliminate sources of revenue it Is also important to realize that corporate business in this country 1 in no aton to withstand the effects of indell nite advances in tax rates current earning reports reveal that fact beyond shadow of doubt the tax base must be broadened and it therefore seems likely that congress will be called upon to reconsider the sales tax at least as a temporary measure to help meet a critical condition in the nations finance |