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Show UINTAH IUSIN RECORD SOMEONES PICKING YOUR POCKET! ADVENTURERS Hidden Tax Collector He Respects Not Even the Real Necessities of Life, and How He Wallops Your Budget! Its the CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELFI 44 By WILLIAM C. UTLEY make $150 a If you do, youll be interested and perhaps a little surprised to learn that the tax collector picks your pocket to the tune of DO Another Molly Pitcher By FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headline Hunter YOU G Washington. one-eign- th tale of a brave of your income. He everybody: This HELLO, mother who was deathly afraid of guns, but sneaks enough from the famafraid of nothing at all when corporation hirelings tried to ily wallet in two years to buy grab a piece of her home, is the Battle of Monmouth all a new car. over again. Yes, he picks your pocket. For at Freesoul-stirrin- G g I'"" I-,'- which amounts to 12.7 this take ' cents out of every dollar repres' sents Indirect, or hidden, taxes. Theyre not like your Income tax or personal property tax or a state A he reads itl retail sales tax, for you rarely know when you have to shell out for It Is mighty comforting, I want to tell you, to know there them. Theyre concealed in the are Molly Pitchers In every generation, stepping forward fearsuch Just to men when their of the take necessary. lessly price of the goods and services you places a woman is this distinguished adventurer. buy, even the bare necessities of Meet Mrs. John Doolin, of Lemont, I1L They call women the weaker life such as bread and shoes. "Death vsex. O yeah? Just put their backs to the wall. If you want the proof, and taxes are inevitable1 and all too often invisible. cord read bow Mrs. Doolin, single-handewhipped a rather These are only a few of many ilone. a to over fast to that be seemed 'v put poration trying 'x r revelations to come luminating The Doolins Didnt Need Courts. out of a survey just completed by & Not long after a railroad came through the village of Lemont, where the Family Economics bureau of on Ina of accidents the Doolins had their home, there were a number the Northwestern National Life sharp curve close to the Doolin property. The company wanted to straightsurance company, of Minneapolis. en the line by putting it across the Doolin yard. Surveyors staked out the The study was started in Novemnew right of way; workers appeared and began digging. John Doolin ber, 1935. Records of 206 concerns ordered them off. Then he took the first train to Chicago and there conpublic utilities, insurance compaWhat the salesman doesnt always tell you: The cost of a used car sulted his good friend, Attorney Alexander Sullivan. nies, . manufacturers, jobbers and and its operation include hidden taxes amounting to 20.1 per cent. If Mr. Sullivan told him the company had no right to put its retailers were investigated in an it were a new car, the figure would be 21.4 per cent. line on Doolin property without permission. But, he continued effort to measure as accurately as (and heres the catch), if the company succeeded In erecting possible the proportion of prices Heres the way the tax collector were it not for the inevitable taxes. The great proportion of indirect the poles and stringing the power wire, the only thing Doolin paid by the consumer for which fares with that one: taxes to residential rental costs was could do would he to go to court. John Doolin didnt have any taxes federal, state and local are St of Taxes Amount Coot Found ol Tax In investigated with the aid of real money to pay for long years of litigation so he beat it for home, responsible. Per Month in Coot Doliaro estate companies in 48 cities; recresolved to keep the company off his premises. All levies which would not nor$1.92 of 4.55 ords on representative local propThere, sticking up in the lawn, was a nice new pole that had been mally be included in the cost .72 erties were taken at random from goods and services sold were omitput up while he was in the city. .57 folwhich their files. calculations in the ted a rifle he borrowed Then half John sawed the pole way through. .44 lowed from the original producer A total of 7,964 single and multiple and ammunition from a neighbor. .20 A few days later, on a bright June morning In 1903, a policeman apto the retailer. The principal taxes family dwelling units were covered .05 were: peared with a warrant charging John Doolin with destroying public entering into the picture then by the final averages. These re1.22 vealed that taxes represented 28 property. John marched away with the law, leaving three children cry- Farm and urban realty taxes, personal property and general proping, a wife on the verge of it. per cent of the current rental rate $9 67 exof the $116.04 erty taxes of business concerns, dwellings studied; Mrs. Doolin and Shotgun Command the Scene. fees and francise taxes, 19.2 licenses, per cent of the rental rates of on $200 Income. No sooner was John Doolin out of sight than a crew of workmen Taxes and credits taxes, the duplexes and 13.6 per cent of swarmed on the place and began digging so furiously you would think chises, moneysoil taxes on motor There is a slight difference in the the rental rates of the apartments. and gasoline Doolin Was shovelfull. a were Mrs. little a dollar going being paid they truck deliveries, import duties and proportion of hidden taxes to the The notably lower ratio of taxes the tax element in freight costs in- spending of a family with an in- to apartment dwellings is due, says come of $200 a month. This is again volved in the various steps of the report, first to the fact that a accounted for by the automobile, portion of the apartment rental dolas shown: Taxes Are Passed On. lar represents fuel, water, rent, janitor service, etc.; second, floor To understand the figures it is space is more intensively occupied necessary to understand how some in apartment buildings, and third, of these indirect taxes work. In apartment rental rates have in genthe case of a retailer who owns eral recovered somewhat faster than the building which houses his store, house rental rates. In many comsays the report, real estate taxes munities, however, tax rates are are shown on his books as an item mounting approximately as fast as of overhead, and their participarates are recoving. rental he which in the tion markup must add to his cost prices can be Average Motorist Taxed $48. measured with considerable cerThe automobile today has passed tainty. the stage where it may be classified However, if he rents his store oil sales taxes. as altogether a luxury. But its a building, the taxes on the building Tax ratio to total time and demand She called: Throw down your tools or Ill shoot. in free .2 luxury for the was m studied the in banks contained per deposits are necessarily Motax ol him. this soft for cent. effect the fact However, its picking rental paid, and are just as surely would obviously not be to Increase the to let them get away with it? Up to the attic she hurried. There, forgettorists paid an average of $48 apiece outlay, but could ting she shivered at the very sight of a firearm, she took from the wall a a portion of his overhead expense, savings depositors in taxes, direct and indirect, coninterest the him affect in the only reducing by concealed even entry though shotgun that had hung undisturbed for many years. yield on his savings. The moneys and tributing a total of $1,349,000,000 of rent credits taxes levied by many states are With her children clinging to her and crying again, she opened In the wholesale price which the paid' directly by depositors, with wide 10V4 per cent of the nations entire the window shutters and rested the ancient fowling piece on the retailer pays for his merchandise is variation in rates and in minimum tax revenues during the fiscal year sill. Then, in a cold fury, she called down to the working men: exemptions. ended June 30, 1937, according to necessarily contained an overhead After arriving at general tax the study. Throw down your tools or Ill shoot! of the real estate element consisting various lines of goods They stopped working and then began to kid her. In a detailed advance estimate, taxes on the building occupied by ratios for the Come Then one bully, who appeared to be the foreman, ordered: and represented by the the report sets total federal, state products necesand just as the wholesaler, Mrs. Doolin leaned a concerns studied, says the report, on, guys, lets go up and take it away from her. sarily, taxes on the factory which "further studies were made of in- - and local tax collections at $12,872,-000,0little further out of the window and lifted the rusty shotgun. a for the fiscal year just ended. contribute porthe goods The first man who takes a step toward my house gets shot," she produced General property taxes contribute of the price charged the jobber tion called. Now all of you drop your tools, or I'll start shooting. and income taxes $4,718,000,000, by the manufacturer. Our Lady Tells the Boys Where to Get Off. federal, state, and local 'A This study, the report continf And, boys and girls, Mrs. Doolin meant exactly what she said. She ued, "has undertaken to include In according to the study, with million was a determined mother, protecting her home and babies in the ab- the figures finally attained the printhe owners of twenty-eigV motor vehicles ranking a strong sence of her husband. ,Of course, she thought the gun wasnt loaded, cipal elements affecting ultimate but her finger was on the trigger and she was all set to pull it if any one prices charged, whether actually third as a source of revenue. .r-- S of those men made a move in the direction of the house. But their tools listed as taxes on the books of Gasoline and oil taxes, totaling went down. make up the bulk of $884,000,000, the business, or contained as a porThe workmen sensed this was real drama, not a comedy, and : motorists current tax contributions. tion of some other entry. w- 7 Combined federal and state taxes they became sober. One spoke np to say the company had sent Social security taxes were not conthem there to rush up a couple of poles. I'lucky Mrs. Doolin then on gasoline average slightly over a in are because they sidered, five cents per gallon, for the counexplained to them that they were on her property, that the comfor future withdrawsense deposits 1 pany bad not asked permission to use it nor offered to pay for it. try as a whole. al." Gasoline taxes were computed, Well sir, when those men got the low down on the proposition they because gasoline and oil are subThe purchaser of a new You win, lady, youre a game guy, took off their hats and cheered. to local taxes in all 48 states car pays $101 in taxes, direct and ject We aint doing any more digging until you get a square they told her. and the District of Columbia, in indirect, during his first year of r: ' '4 : deal. ownership, according to the study. Willi that they picked up their tools and went to town. Mrs. Doolin 4 s. Cw He pays approximately $64 in Is Killjoy. had won her battle, but would the men be back tomorrow? Would the taxes as a part of the original purThe researchers estimated that company have her arrested for threatening its workmen? And what had chase price, the study shows. This V the average workers family with become of her husband? figure includes $3.30 estimated tax of $150 a month spends an income Another Gun That Wasnt Loaded. content in the freight costs, $14.41 $43.50 for food; of this 7.1 per cent, in excise taxes, and numerous diPondering these questions, Mrs. Doolin went to the door and was or $3.09, goes to the hidden tax colrect and indirect taxes which acoverjoyed to see her husband coming up the walk. He hadnt been in Jail lector. Of the $30 spent for shelter, You'll never recognise em, at all. The policeman had taken him before a justice of the peace, but hidden taxes take more than a cumulate in material and producbut hidden taxes will account tion costs to an estimated amount no one In the courtroom was willing to prosecute him. He thought he $7.59. They account for 8 for eight per cent of what you of $10.10. understood why he had been taken away on a charge no one would press quarter, cent of the $18 clothing bill, or pay for that dress! when Mrs. Doolin told him the men had been back. But when she per cost Fuel and light $11, but Computations Conservative. told him how she had pointed the shotgun at them and really Intended to $1.28. 9.5 per cent of this, or $1.05, rep' dividual If the motorist operates his car In certain lines felt a he old faint. For was little the loaded! that products gun trigger, pull resents indirect taxes. 7,200 miles a season, his gasoline food of case tile in bread, products, Well, there was one thing about the corporation, The really cuts into pork, beef, sugar etc. The results and oil sales taxes will total apit always knew when it was lieked. The very next morning the of life. The of these studies gave an additional proximately $23; with an average the enjoyment familys Doolin of were over. the worries family Right after breakfast used of cost an car, includ series of checks though, necessarily, cost for his new car license of average two suave lawyers called to say how sorry they were it had haping license, and gas and oil sales individual items varied rather wide- $14.50, a motorist thus contributes pened. There had been a mistake. The company was willing tax, is $14 50 a month; hidden taxes ly in some cases from the tax pro- some $101.50 in taxes during his to pay a good price for the land. And they paid, right on the line, get 20.1 per cent $2 91. And the portions arrived at for the general first year of ownership. thanks to the little woman who didnt know when she was lieked. $3.00 the family can group of goods. If, however, the $64 of taxes conwill Doolins be celebrating their fifty-fiftThis month the wedding set aside for recreation includes In the original purchase price tained of for which loaf bread The you anniversary in Lemont. Around the festal board will be the children who 30 cents for the who in its cost .64 is averaged down to an annual debears a dime pay while at their tire skirts mothers she on the home. raid wept repelled seldom shows his face. of a cent in hidden taxes, the study preciation basis of $10.42, assumThey have children of their own now. at the end of a tax bears Insurance disclosed. Beef prices contain in- ing resale or trade-ilighter Service, load. Of the $5.00 spent monthly direct taxes amounting to 8.14 per the third year for $350, the motofor that protection, only 2.6 per cent; pork prices, 8.04 per cent rists average tax cost becomes Shoes in Middle Ages Hawaiian King a Gambler or 13 cents, falls into the hid- A bag of sugar costs a $48.14 annually for the three years, the Middle ages the Although horse races are held an- cent, Through tax barrel. Sundries and it would If there the study shows. This figure is commisthan nickel more den length of the shoe depended on the nually in Hawaii, gambling of any cellaneous items taxes no concealed in puted on the very conservative opwere indirect jeweltoothpaste, Individuals station In Lfe. A princes kind is prohibited by law. Yet horse etc. which cost $27 a it erating basis of 7,200 miles per seatobacco, ry, bar30 a inches and was wa3 thereon long, racing gambling footgear taxes with son, the repoit points out. burdened month Boosted Taxes. Rent are by 18 once the principal sport of Hawaiian ons 24, a knights a measly 10.2 per cent, or $2.75. to amounting The owner of a used car In Its of If the man the house buys a families inches, Later on came the high heel, kings. Several The hidden taxes which eat away suit of clothes for $25, a portion of fourth to seventh year of service not the idea of a vain woman, but of today owe much of their acreage tii.it amounting to $2 62 helps elotho contributes an average of $35 anof a vain king Louis XVI of France. to King Kalakauas poor racing at an $20 monthly income are slightA short man, he tried to appear judgment. The king, minus cash, ly less in proportion, since it is the tax collector. If the lady rpends nually In taxes, the study shows, if 00 for a pair of shoes, she will he operates his car a modest 6,000 regal by raising the heels of his habitually attended races with a assumed that such an income does $3 to miles per season. ownerbo learn she that never not the of Oahu in his pocket. He happy ordinarily permit shoes, thus add.ng inches to his map Western Newspaper Union stature. ship or operation of an automob, le. could have bought them for $4 53. wagered land against money. You remember, or do you, how In that Important engagement hold, N. J., away back on June 23, 1778, Molly Pitcher took the place of her husband, John C. Hays, an artilleryman, after he was wounded, and served his gun, thus preventing its capture by the British. Thats a yarn that every American gets a kick out of every time d 4 high-minde- one-fami- r; j. $2,629,-000,0- ht m 4JU s yii? d v Tax-Grabb- ma-dam- e, h h n C-- five-poun- land-ownin- g V It appears that an- other session of congress will go by without the con- Spending gress and the ad-will Co On ministration doing anything serious In the way of cutting down government expenses. There is nothing that can be done now toward carrying out the expressions made by President Roosevelt in his message last January when he told congress that he wanted to cut federal expenses and take Important steps toward balancing the federal budget. The reason that federal spending Is due to go on for another year at the extraordinary rate of the last four or five years is because a majority in congress, under the lash of the White House, refused to require states and local governments to bear a percentage of the relief costs. In other words, federal spending will go on because congress and the President have lacked the courage to start taking the federal government out of the relief work and gradually restore it to the care of those folks In the various communities who know where relief is needed. There had been a very determined movement in congress to compel the states to share In the gigantic relief burden. It took on various forms and had various sponsors. But the end and aim of all of them was to divide the cost in equitable fash- ion. The proposal that had the best chance of getting through was one offered by Senator Robinson of Arkansas, the Democratic leader in the senate. He offered an amendment to the relief bill which would have required the states to conof the amount extribute pended in each state, with the federal Treasury supplying the remainder. When that amount was offered, it was something in the nature of a compromise between proposals that the states should bear 40 per cent and that they should bear none of the cost With the White House operating through the Presidents lobbyist, Charles West, and Senator Barkley of Kentucky, the administration was able to force defeat of the Robinson amendment. Now, Senator Barkley is assistant Democratic leader of the senate and so we had the spectacle of one of Mr. Roosevelts spokesmen being on one side and a second one on the other side. The one who was spurred on by the President was victorious. I am not sure that the Robinson proposal would have resulted in an appreciable reduction in the federal outlay for relief. Of course, it would have cut the total somewhat but not by the full that appeared on its face. It was valuable as a piece of legislation, however, because it would have required the states again to assume some of the burden which only a few years ago they carried In its entirety. It was a principle for which Senator Robinson fought and it was a principle upon which he was defeated because Harry Hopkins, relief administrator, objected and still objects to returning any part of the relief obligation to the local authorities. I suspect that Senator Robinsons activities on the relief proposition will not help his relations with the White House but I think it ought to be said that Senator Robinson demonstrated again his capacity as a statesman. He demonstrated as well that he recognizes the dangers confronting the United States Treasury which at the end of the current fiscal year June 30 had an outstanding debt in excess of one-four- one-fourt- h $36,000,000,000. From among some of the senators I gained the impression that there is considerable worry about the governments spending and they wanted to see the Robinson amendment prevail because they recognized it as a move that would eventually bring federal government spending within control. Also, senators of that school of thought maintained that if states were called upon to bear some of the burden of relief, it would bring lAme forcefully the fact that all of this spending must sometime be made up out of taxes. People do not like to pay taxes and they cannot be blamed for their attitude. Unless they realize, however, that borrowed money is being spent and they and their children and children's children are to be taxed to pay off the loans, they will not be In favor of reducing national, state or local expenses. The debate in the senate on the proposition to send some of the burden back to City Mayors the states showed Are Active rather plainly that most of the senators are disgusted with talk that hunger and distress will haunt the land if states are required again to take over some of this charity woik. The impression I gained from this debate was that a powerful lobby of mayors from some of the larger cities was turning on all of the steam it could muster. Mayor of New Yoik was the boldest of those as he has been bold re-li- ef constantly In forcing the federal government to pay the relief rolls! in New York city and save his own! New York city budget Another phase of the ''debate should be noticed. It was the re-- , luctance of congress to reassumej its right to direct and control the spending of federal funds. Thei d Mr. Hopkins wants to be free and unfettered In his spending and those policies werei the ones he recommended to Mr. Roosevelt. Consequently, with administration pressure on many senators, the Hopkins idea prevailed and so for another year congress must sit back and watch the Hopkins organization spend money virtually any way it desires. j I think there ought to be a lesson In this whole situation upon which the country can look back rather regretfully. The experience gained by making lump sum appropriations certainly shows how a bad habit can be contracted and how difficult it is to cure that habit.1 Seldom in history until this depression would congress ever vote lump sum appropriations for executive departments to spend as they will. Having contracted the habit, however, it is going to be difficult hereafter to deny any President lump sum appropriations, provided only that he has a substantial majority in the house and senate. No doubt many persons will wonder why this sort of thing constitutes an important issue. The answer is simple. Governments are wasteful and the federal government, being larger than state or local governments, is just that much more wasteful and unable to handle money carefully. If states and local communities have to bear expenses of this sort out of their own treasuries, they see to it that only those entitled to relief obtain it. Unhappily, the national relief system is caring for thousands upon thousands of men who could get jobs and who could support their families but who will not do so as long as money is given them from Wash- L: 111 0( I dr above-mentione- ter ure lie Rei we De thii agi scie In , ington. Since the national debt is j at the highest point in the history of our nation, there is a growing conviction at the Capitol that a halt must be called sometime. The present trouble is that there are not yet enough courageous representatives and senators to force a stoppage in such spending. ntei 'wn "I ivei 1933 a la c ill 934 jrol 9.7 ree srd '934 :om 1 mer tugi pass hot , aver high E the 235,0 yielc In si even Who! of PI Woo or th a Io kn had D Dis quesl Reed also prom C preci Itatio While the steel strike blazed forth plex with battle after battle, blood was is th shed and property preci be ve was damaged, Job tle attention was a rou paid to a develop- - grapl ment here in the nations capital in can, the government itself. While all of the sensational things ohmii were happening on the steel front, duenc Th one Jacob Baker was resigning his job as assistant relief administrator just j and was accepting the job of chief tempi of a new labor unit to be associated lowed with John L. Lewis and his Com- - coolei mittee for Industrial Organization, proba Mr. Bakers unit is to be made up below of government workers themselves, age. a labor union in the government of befori will b the United States. 3 For some years, there have been surr minor labor units among govern-meemployees. They were affili- - Qqj-atewith the American Federation of Labor. Generally speaking, they l were impotent and did little moreUti than create a dozen jobs for the offi- - p cials of the organization. j Now, however, the government- workers are to have a militant, fighting labor union which will get Such atffian things done for them. least is the press agent word thatmicr has been spread under Mr. Bakers, nf7 f direction. s . Mr. Baker is familiar with the problems of government service. Undoubtedly he recognizes that he ng n cannot use the same methods in or- - in tl ganizing government workers tlxat scrib are used in private industry. If, , 11. JI for example, he would attempt a strike, I think probably it would com be the end of labor organizations m of tl the government of the militant, type. fighting The advance notices concerning Mr. Bakers plans seem to indicate that he is seeking members below the grades of official rank. In other words, if the Baker plans are carried out, the new union will be made rank and fde. up of the This would seem to be an advantageous arrangement because it eliminates some of the dangers that always develop where bureaucrats and division heads assume too much authority. There is a danger also In confining the organization to the rank and file because among the less experienced labor leaders there is always a tendency to flare up. That is to say, lacking experience they may say things or do things which are regrettable or which they have cause to regret later on. The violence that has shown its ugly head in the steel strike proves this point. So Mr. Baker has his job cut out for him in this direction. Baker Takes nt Western Newspaper Union, |