Show where your taxes go how uncle sam spends your money in conducting your business by EDWARD G LOWRY author W neton claw up 13 benki 9 9 d syu W ate t agib grouhal bod aad E to ISAI I SAI 2 pul periodic add od a writ writt of f 11 aab liti ca tin NW 4 go avs daha U J wem union rv IT THE BURDEN OF TAXES before the war var the government of the united states spent about one billion dollars a year for all purposes including interest on the public debt in the fiscal year ending june 30 1920 the first full fiscal year after fighting stopped the government spent in round figures six billion four hundred million dollars in the fiscal year 1921 that Is up to june 30 1921 it spent 51 and in the fiscal year of 1922 1022 which will end on june 30 1912 1922 it will vill spend more than four billion dollars says secretary mellon of at the treasury department these figures include interest on the public debt which amounts to about one billion dollars but include nothing for sinking fund or other debt redemption demp tion including both interest and sinking fund the government will spend more than four times as much the fiscal year 1922 as it spent yearly before the war these expenditures and these heavy charges are a part of the price of victory your whole present grobl problem L m Is to curtail them it concerns concer rm you to know just how these immense sums were gathered and how much you paid a and d 6 are re ia paying ying toward them for of course we the tax payers the men and women with jobs the men and women who have what the census calls gainful occupations paid every cent 0 of it it wp our r money until the government t took took it let us examine elamina the fiscal ye year ar 1920 1 V I 1 have not the detailed det alfed account for 1921 but it was slightly less than the year previous as the year ending june 30 1922 will be a slightly less burden on us than the year preceding according to a careful analysis made by the late dr E B rosa of the united states bureau burean of standards a government ment scientist who was deeply and intelligently telli gently interested interested in the subject every man woi woman afi and child in this country contributes an average of fifty three dollars in taxes to the support of the national government actually 11 1 Is nearer fifty four t than lh an fifty t thi hel ee dalar dollars b but I 1 ae am taking the smaller sum for the sake of the round number that Is the average family of five persons pays a year out of its earnings to the federal government nt alone in addition to ahat what lq Is paid fo for and city taxes the estimated average yearly income of a family of five is something more than but before any of that is spent must be turned over to the general government to run nin the business of ef the united states the actual amount that each one of us paid was 17 we e paid it through the medium of internal revenue taxes and customs duties on imported articles divided as follows per avita income and excess profit cigars and tobacco 4 transportation and other utilities autos candy furs jewelry etc beverages special taxes stock q ete etc DOI 90 estate inheritance Y 97 stamps on legal papers etc 79 admissions to amusements etc 77 insurance ce abid and miscellaneous 23 total 4 w iuan isiaac the taxpayer Is next of 1 kin in to the treasury r a A at any rate lie he la Is ae 0 flet first t p s tm pt v I 1 fai f ai c person n notified 0 e I 1 nei when ta the e treasury ry needs money I 1 nad and he always lins to dig down into his jeans for whatever is needed taxpaying even more than charity begins at home the boys best filand fi lend Is his mother but the taxpayers only friend Is himself the only thing that can be done for him Is to disclose as vividly as possible how much his government is costing and let him decide what he will do about it it all comes down to this tho the more inore money the government spends through defective organization or extravagance trava gance the less you on have to spend or save so much for the cost of the national business we support we are all minority stockholders the concern has no other source of revenue than our contributions it make any money in times like these whan ml most everybody feels that lie gets too little for what lie he sells and has to pa pay Y too much for what he buys it see seems in to me the least wo we can do Is to t take a kl an active and intelligent interest in tills this great common enterprise of ours and make sure that it Is well organized that it waste or spend extravagantly that mat the employees are paid an adequate wage and have proper working conditions that their lr ralp ts kept elch oud thear their entha n isilia toU it in nm i ill n 11 r 11 ii 1 al 11 conduct icci 11 il 1 1 I 1 l economically and ii 1 1 ii 0 ak inn it venti tnt lOc fic principles a ir ii 1 site business is is it that Is a question lu estion you must answer for yourself after I 1 have acquainted you with the actual situation and condition |