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Show A TAXPAYER'S PROSPECTS. Bureaucracy was firmly entrenched in Europe long before we thought of the word. Today the taxpayers of Europe Eu-rope are paying a terrific price for the vast multitude of service rendered render-ed by their governments. Much of the high taxes goes to pay for the bonded bond-ed debt incurred during the war, or armaments still maintained, but much also goes for the social insurance and similar functions undertaken more recently. A Frenchman today pays about one-third one-third of his income in taxes, which number nearly 200. If he has an income in-come of $5,000, is married, and lives in a pleasant apartment, he must pay something like $820 in four direct taxes which are based on his income and his rent. Innumerable miscellaneous miscellan-eous taxes add another $800 to his tax burden, although he may not be aware of the latter. When he goes to the theatre, one-third one-third of his admission is a tax. If he travels, 28 per cent of the fare is tax, and his hotel bill is taxed. Matches, cigarettes, servants, wines and a host of other things are subject to excise levies. We have not yet reached this point in the grim story of American taxation. taxa-tion. But we are perilously close to it. Each year has seen the imposition of new burdens, with little or no effort ef-fort to stem the tide of public spending. spend-ing. Unless a more determined stand is made by taxpayers, they will soon be in the position of their European brethren. From the Cincinnati Enquirer. |