Show National Taxes to be High for Years By B Mark Sullivan iNo i I Xo No doubt nearly goes goess along comfortably with the id idea l that t next year ear his ta taxis tares s 's will win be lower I than hail they are this tar ar A grol good many Dlan persons some som careful careful care care- ful business men are guiding their affairs on this basic bash Th They y are ri I n rt from selling property this year ear in the hope that thai through h postponing postponing pot pot- post post- the sale a year i ar or 01 two the they will not have to pay the lh government nt U n a portion r the taP profit 5 m athey s a shey I they hey they if the they sot sol I 1 this thi year I Having just had a rather depressIng depress- depress Ing ng conversation con wi with h one of the two I or three men who kuat lu more about this his than anybody else ehe it U is necessary I sary to sa say that the men who are In positions to have Authoritative Information I rotor I mation matton do not see how the national taxes can be reduces reduced for a good fatty fany any years ears to come The appropriations for the year ear 1923 are ale down to the he bare bones Outgo Tremendous The outgo from the time national Treasury Treas freas- ury un In 1923 will be There Is no one who sees Jiow tow tort it can be reduced be-reduced reduced below that point pom for al almost almost at- at most a generation As a matter of fact the running expense of the government has bas been brought down to a point that is astonishingly as- as low This can b bo be shown by the briefest analysis of this 3 which must be paid out next year rear Of or this sum goes out for three purposes purposes namely the interest on the national d debt bt the sinking fund and the vet vete veterans rans who must be cared for No one of these items is apt to be less than thant it t now is in an any year rear in to the near fu- fu ture ure On the the expense of caring for tor the veterans Js likely to o go up rather than titan down Expenses Expense Large Largo Item I Granting then that no reduction can be made in inthis this I let et us turn turn turn-to to the rest of oC it The Theother Theother Theother other 1 OOOO OO Is the time normal r running expense of the government go This sum cannot be reduced any anymore anymore anymore more readily than the others The I fact tact is that even eyen before the war the normal running expenses of the government were a any anywhere n y w h her e r e efrom from to to 1250 In 1916 the year before America entered the war the normal normal nor nor- nor normal mal running expenses of the government government gov gOY were Now if you OU compare the billion and a quarter dollars which it cost to run the government in 1916 with the billion and a half dollars which it is 18 going to cost to run the government government govern govern- ment in 1923 you will realize that the Increase in in cost is 13 not as things go ver very much In dollars the in increase increase increase in- in crease is a quarter of a billion In percentage the increase is only 20 per per cent In other words the cost of running the government in 1923 has been pared down through the budget system and by br the intense effort of those who have charge of the government expenditures to a point where it is only 20 per cent greater than the prewar cost Increase Nets 2 20 90 Per Cent It is doubtful if any private business business business busi busi- ness or any private family is doing any better than this It Il would be difficult t to find any business concern or any household whose expenses for I 1923 are only 20 per cent more than they were in 1916 In point x of f fact tact the showing is really better than this because of the which Is added to the cost of government for 1923 over what th the cost was In 1916 fully Is caused by the increased volume of business in the postal service The net result result re re- le sult suit of It is 15 that when you realize that the expense o of running the tho government government gov- gov ent has b en brought down toa to toa a point where it is l less ss than 20 percent per per percent percent cent over the prewar prewar- cost you you are mire t re forced to realize that about as much has ben done as it it- itis is possible to do |