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Show Published Every Saturday BY G00DWIN8 WEEKLY PUBLISHING CO., INC. Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: Including postage In the United States, Canada and Mexico, $2J0 per year, Subscriptions to all foreign countries, within the Postal g for six months. Jon, $4.50 per year. A. W. RAYBOULD, Single copies, 10 cents. Payments should be made by Cheek, Money Order or Registered Letter, pay-bl- e to The Citizen. Addrese all communications to The Citizen. Entered as second-clas- s matter, June 21, 1919, at the Postoffice at Salt Lake of March S, 1879. City, Utah, under the Act S Ness Bldg. Salt Laks City, Utah. Phone Wasatch 5409 CONSTITUTIONAL TAX BOOSTERS Entertaining a premonition that the public is more interested in cussions of proposals for the public weal and such other public tures, as would take additional tax money from them, unlike cer-- i upon discussing any old subject, papers, now hell-betthe consentaneous relationship of love and celery, The Citizen constitutional amend eposes to devote a few remarks to the three its on which the voters must pass judgment at the forthcoming nt daily chon. that it is the province of a newspaper, or periodical, such vital matters in preference to playing up foreign extraneous and trivial happenings as its daily editorial cond- Believing discuss ions or the edification and education of its readers, The Citizen a newspaper, or perodical, fails of its duty unless it gives ition to dsthat clientele something tangible to think about regarding home lirs. may be some who can conceive something provocative of common good, or necessary to the proper functioning of the state There in the three proposed constitutional amendments now ore the people. The Citizen fails to comprehend either the neccs- -' or the value of said proposals. It does, however, sense the fact t when the time arrives, in the minds of the politicians, that taxes ministration, it be kited, the usual procedure is to resort to constitutional nges. amendment number one would permit the state to ftase the debt limitation. This is obviously an amendment to icmore taxes. It would be impossible with the present state debt 'ging fire, to raise the ante without providing for more tax money the people with which to meet additional interest charges and wlc a sinking fund for any new bonded debt that might be orred under the provisions of this amendment, if approved. The sent state debt limitation is based on V2 percentum of the total tion of taxable property. Under the provisions of the proposed endment it would automatically go up to 2 percentum of such tion and would become operative January 1, 1923. It must be apparent to the people that this proposal is unwar-'keither by fact or fiction. The state is able to function at dtoutn efficiency today, under the old debt limitation rate ; it" is impoverished nor is it lacking in sufficient funds to carry on business. It then appears that this proposal is designed solely y Ppare the way for greater spending of public moneys and ncccs-icalls for some new taxing system to raise more money, if ance it should receive approval. In this connection The Citizen ls attention of fhe voters to the fact that such new tax are not wanting. The voters have only to look the sed state income tax proposition square in the face, with its endant vague and meaningless hints to lower property tax s as the sop to the unwarv. to ascertain the truth of this stateConstitutional d, levy-Prposa- While The Citizen is aware of the fact that a law should be enacted to make the alien and the dodger pay their due proportion of the tax to sustain state and local institutions, which educates them and gives them the same measure of protection as that accorded citizens taxpayers, yet it does not believe such measures should include a plan to mulct the man who does pay and who cannot fail to pay because of his social or economic position; nor does The Citizen approve of any tax measure designed to make it more onerous for corporations or other large combinations of capital to do business within the borders of our state. There may be some warrant for hunting down and assessing intangible assets but this whole income tax proposal appears to be so inherently intangible and so visionary that it should receive scant consideration by the people who pay the tax bill. The second constitutional amendment is strictly a class proposal. It proposes to classify property and to differentiate as between the taxable value of property according to a new theory and provides for a tax on incomes which shall be graduated and progressive. In this constitutional amendment is embraced a scheme to grade and graduate certain classes of business out of one classification into another classification and to progressively tax all incomes coming within purview of the proposed amendment. If the taxpayers want a new army of political retainers hired at fancy salaries to pry into their private business affairs, to scan their books for hidden income returns and to keep tab on their bank deposits, this is a most admirable amendment to vote for. It means more fat positions for political workers and political satraps. It could not fail to kite the tax rate in general and could only, apparently, redound to the personal benefit of the increasing army of public sap suckers. The third and last constitutional amendment is a dual display of the effervescent qualities of asininity and of unmitigated legislative nerve of any proposal that has come down in Utah since the misama-othe war period began to slowly fade away. It is a direct bid on. the part of rural and city-fe- d politicians to cook up a more tasty pie to slice at each legislative session. It is a 100 per cent raise in the per diem rate of pay for legislative representatives and a sop to habitual office seekers. It has become the habit of thousands' in these latter days to live off the public exchequer and many have found such easy sledding that they do not hesitate to ask handsome emolument. It has long been the theory that legislative representatives were imbued with patriotism to such an extent that they were willing to serve the state for a minimum sum a sum that would pay their legitimate personal expenses while in session. Apparently they now conceive it their duty to join the ranks of the professionals and charge all the traffic will bear. Anyhow, whether the measure is approved, or vice versa, it would be good judgment on the part of some of the people to pay their legislative representatives the per diem fee to stay at home. The Citizen has the statesman Soutlnvick . f |