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Show - .. . THE CITIZEN 4 millions in each of the coast states will rebel at exorbitant gas taxes and as Florida has repealed its inheritance tax to attract capital to that state, so will other states repeal their gas taxes in order to attract tourists away from states which sandbag them the minute they cross he state line. The public wants tax reduction and it wants equal taxation. Shifting taxes from one shoulder to the other oi from one class of citizens to another class, while constantly collecting a larger aggregate amount per capita, is simply piling up trouble for the forbid that we ever become so radical as to disarm our- r the benefit of the criminal. been said regarding the prohibition of nturyii .what has already llatio firearm, it appears on the surface as if the criminal ring har- aing money to down the revolver and pistol. What a 1, criminal could then reap. ing 5 I 1 THE RIGHT ROAD. future. most profitable and most needed road to be constructed in is that piece of road which leads from this city to Evanston, his road is the big tourist feeder into this city and when the npassable the tourists will not come to Utah. from the east go through Colorado and then go natj pie. coming jjasVisit Yellowstone park. This famous park is the objective who have not been through the park. jictat of every 100 tourists the Park, Utah is the next attraction but if the high- Dur jg'from f iijgP't ill proper condition, the tourist continues on west through the Pacific coast. All are anxious to see lobbvo Oregon and to lers of Utah, but few will undertake to travel over poor our t I Linder the proposal in Oregon a Ford would pay a stale tax every time 10 gallons of gas was put in its tank. It appears that the time is near at hand when automobilists will be compelled to organize politically, and if they do, well you know whar will happen to these tax hogs who parade under the colors as representatives of the people. Automobile owners of this state should see to it that no radical auto tax is levied, and those who advocate and who are for prohibitive auto taxes, should be remembered and never allowed to be placed on a ticket again. 60-ce- PRESIDENT COOLIDGE. i f The issue of economy in public affairs, brought President Coolidge more votes from all parties than all the other issues com- road from this city through Parleys canyon is as good as a shale road and can be traveled in all kinds of weather, ig 'jjis leaving the road at the junction of the Park City road and .)ln highway, the road is bad in stormy weather. It is a fair y i in good weather, but when the rainy season sets in there is h grief for the average autoist to pull through the deep actorjiis road has been graded several times, but has never been ;r sis or ghaled. If the road was a cement highway we would get es UB0urists that come west and most of the tourists going east ! litioiigQ nt bined. come to this city. rson; tourist traffic headed for Yellowstone park is worth and we can get it by putting in an average good road. Lets bid-ours- i, Coolidge has courageously vetoed supposedly popular appropriations bills amounting to billions of dollars which were demanded at the hands of powerful organizations, largely within his own party. But in spite of this, his honest and sincere demand for economy won him the immense popular vote. Will the administration in power for the next four years heed this warning from the people who voted for Coolidge, as well as about 5,000,000 voters who cast their ballots for the third party, doubting both the old parties? The need for economy and tax reduction in state and national affairs is uppermost in the minds of the people and unless the two old parties recognize this vital issue, they will have serious trouble in 1928. Consider a few facts: According to Senator Borah, in Scribners magazine for January, in 1913, the state and federal tax bill was $2,104,000,000 and eight years later this bill was $7,051,000,-000- . In 1913, 6.4 per cent of the national income went for taxes, and in 1922 we were taking 12.1 per cent. In 1894, taxes were $12.50 per capita and in 1923, they were $68 per capita. In the past ten years, slate taxes increased from 100 to 350 per cent; and the farmers tax bill, compared to his income, amounted to 16.6 per cent of his entire income. On top of this, the farmer and livestock man saw railroad taxes increased from $272 per mile in 1902 to $1,241 per mile in 1922. Such taxation is beyond all reasoning. The sad part of it all is that most of the taxes are being spent for overhead. The Utah legislature this year has a big job on its hands. Will it make a record, or will it be satisfied to follow in the footsteps of its predecessors? . id asl tors, ed TAX THE AUTO, v vgon started with a gas tax, raised it to three, and now spending to increase it to 6 cents a gallon, in the coming session causgislature, on the theory that by so doing, automobile licenses reforreduced and the heaviest tax load be placed on those who eertroad the most. r ouiifomia adopted a gasoline tax two years ago and le license fee to a flat price of 3. Now it is proposed to the license gas tax to three or four cents a gallon-aneragS on all motor cars. soline and motor car taxes have spread like wild fire over Tax gatherers have found it easier to raise money from this ban from any other. The claim is that the motorist derives lenefits of good roads; therefore, he should pay the bill. This 1 round reasoning. Nobody derives greater benefit from good of fis than do the towns along the highways, the farms adjacent beirc and country tributary to Such paved roads. Land, 10 to 30 ;ion('om a trading center, which was almost worthless before hard d highways were built, is today more accessible to markets than were farms five and ten miles away on the old dirt t wil )bs 2-ce- 2-ce- nt nt rc-lc- e. in-3hyp.- he 0r hat has enabled local landlords in every town along a main ind ighway to double and treble their rents in the past few years r eYfd roads principally which have brought ten people to town j vne came before. 11 heie gas tax is nothing but an expedience tax adopted because e easiest way to raise money and because superficial argu-its favor seem plausible to the public. It is not equal taxa-no argument can make it so. So long as the tax is kept c Reason it will be tolerated, just as was the tea tax prior to the 'pjion. Not satisfied with moderation, however, Oregon is fac-- p g0I1ax of six cents a- gallon on gas. Why not make it 10 or 15 n d - itl gallon? to- theory that the gas tax will make the tourist pay more money, y fctate will act as a boomerang. The tourists who now spend s RAILROAD TAXES Railway tax statistics just compiled by the Railway Age from Interstate Commerce Commission figures show that railway taxes for September made a new record. Taxes for the month totaled $33,-586,62- 2. In the first nine months of 1916, before any general ad;anec in railway rates had been made, railway taxes averaged $425,271 a day. In the first nine months of 1924 they were $929,262 a day or an increase over 1916 of almost $504,000 a day. Increased efficiency and economy in railway operation have caused reductions in expenses which have resulted in large reductions of rales, but while railway operating expenses have been reduced almost 25 percent in the last four years, raliways taxes have increased over 35 per cent. Under such conditions, how long will it take the government to confiscate the railroads for taxation? |