The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, August 22, 1921, Page 2

THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE THEBISMARCKTRIBUNE Entered at the Hostot fice, pBiemarck, N. D., as Second GEORGE. D. MANN Editor Foreign Representatives G. LOGAN PAYNE COMPANY CHICAGO DETROIT Marquette Bice. jalpreege Bldg. AYNE, BURNS AND SMITH NEW YORK” - - Fifth Ave. Bldg. | MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all not otherwise credited news published herein. ‘All rights of republication of special dispatches herein | are also reserved. MEMBER AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION “SUBSCRIPTION RATES PAYABLE IN ADVANCE Daily by carrier, per year. Daily by mail, per year (in Daily by mail, per year (in state outside ris Daily by: mail, outside of North, Dakota. ......-+++++ 6.00 THE STATE’S OLDEST. NEWSPAPER (Established 1873) <> ABOUT THAT FIRE TRUCK Bismarck commissioners might learn something by investigating the one-ton Ford truck equipped by the American-La France Fire Engine company of Elmira, N. Y. The Tribune wrote the Detroit office of the Ford Company and that letter was referred to the! Fargo office which kindly investigated for The Tribunethe use of the Ford one-ton truck as a fire fighting apparatus. Here is what A. J. Trodick, chief of the Great | Falls Fire Department writes: “This truck was equipped by the American- in this paper and also the local La France Fire Engine company of Elmira, N. Y. | The cost of the truck fully equipped and delivered! new tariff bill will probably be the same old story | in Great Falls amounted to $1,800 and we might|__4 law based upon theory and guesswork, which |” add that it is taking the place of a truck that woulll cost between $8,000 and $10,000. “The truck has been very satisfactory in all ways and the writer does not hestitate in stating that if he were to recommend the purchase of an- other piece of apparatus, it would certainly be an- other Ford truck.” If Great Falls can get the La France people to equip and deliver a Ford truck for fire fighting purposes, Bismarck can do the same. Probably for a small additional expenditure more equipment can be added, giving Bismarck a unit that will serve the purpose for years to come. Before purchasing an expensive piece of fire apparatus, Bismarck should investigate what has been done at Great Falls where conditions from a climatic standpoint are much the same as at Bis- marck and where ‘the demands because of the. greater population are much heavier on a fire de- partment. If the city can provide adequate facilities for $1,800 or $2,000 and dispense with the horses there should be no delay in doing so. The Tribune be- lieves that Chief Trodick’s letter throws consider- able light on the situation and opens a way for the city commission to save the tax payers money. Probably enough can be lopped off the city’s pay- roll during the next year to pay for the truck. TAXES Taxes are the i increasing worry of congressmen. They are wondering how they are going to raise enough money to pay the national bills and at the same time keep in good humor the wage worker, the salaried man, the small business man and the corporation stockholder. Whatever levies are decided upon, we are as- sured that the luxury taxes will be repealed. When Congress repeals the luxury taxes, it will take out of the American political system a relic ef one of’ the oldest institutions in the world. The luxury tax, in one form or another, has flourished in every age of human development. But rulers of various nations and at various per- iods have differed widely in their interpretation of the word “luxury.” For instance, sunlight and fresh air. were con- sidered luxuries in medieval France. A tax was! Jevied on the square inch of window space. A flat window tax later prevailed in England. Yards for the kiddies to play in likewise came| under the luxury, ban in Engifand. Householders | had to pay a large sum for the privilege of keep-| ing a front lawn. Medieval Holland considered long names a lux- ury and levied a tax on every letter over a cer- tain limit.. But that didn’t prevent Dutch. young bloods from sporting monickers like Johannes) Frederikus Wilhelm Hijarich van Uppenspatter. Taxes on coats of arms became widespread in Europe immediately after the birth of the demo- cratic movement. Nobles were forced to pay if they wanted to display their family insignia on their coach doors. While we all cuss at the income tax collector, we have to admit that methods of collecting taxes have improved with age. ‘ Under the Roman empire the governor of a pro- vince was responsible for all the taxes of his dis-| trict. He “farmed out” the taxes to a number of subordinates and they in turn “farmed them out”| to men still lower down. After the taxes were collected the ‘governor | und his underlings were rich, but very little money ever found its way into the imperial treasury to yepair roads, build bridges and improve trade. Under the Turkish empire a collector goes around in the spring and estimates the crop of a vinevard. The vineyard may be wiped out by, Wrouths, floods or insect pests, eee news dispatches credited to it or; man has to pay on what: his land outa have jyielded if none of these mishaps. had occurred. | Taxes in some form are necessary to govern- ent. | When people group together in a club or society, ‘the first thing heard of is dues.. When people| ‘group together in a nation, dues becomes taxe: | | We always have had taxes and we shall have, \them as long as government exists. The pel fect | jcent of taxes is used to better the conditions of; the taxpayers. GUESSWORK i The tariff law under which the country is now. 720 joperating provides that duties be levied on. the | The new tariff bill as’ where, it. abe | foreign value of imports.. it ‘went from the House to the Senate, ‘ation of goods be the basis for duties. | This feature was written into ‘the bill by, the \House after a bitter fight among the so-called| tariff experts. And it is the feature of. the bill! about which an equally’ bitter fight is waging in; j the Senate Committee ‘on Finance: ling, the necessity for which has been urged by its) proponents" because of the abnormal exchange \rate. | It is evident from. reading . Senate Finance Committee hearings that the mem-; ‘bers of the committee are pretty much at sea as! 'to what the effect on the ultimate consumer is to stand. Experts disagree. The net result of the months of work on the| will raise an indefinite amount of revenue and have an entirely problematical effect on’ the cost of living. REPARATION MONEY The Reparations Commission created by the Versailles treaty has decided that the United States is not entitled to any part of the reparation money which has been paid by Germany, because the Senate failed to ratify the treaty. Our principal claim against Germany is on ac- count of the expense of keeping the American army on the Rhine. Under the treaty Germany agrees to pay the entire cost of maintaining the ‘armies of the allies in the occupied zone. There is about $250,000,000 owing to the United States on this account. If the decision of the Reparations Commission stands, our only chance of collecting will be to have Germany validate the claim ina separate treaty. VACATION . | The last day of President Harding’s New Eng-| land vacation was not what we would call exactly | restful. He traveled 200 miles in an auto over four. speeches and held a public reception. The |48 hours from Portland to Washington on the! yacht Mayflower must have looked good to War- ren. The nation is getting back to normaley—people are holding horseshoe pitching tournaments again. — EDITORIAL REVIEW « 8.) Comments reproduced in this column not. express .the opinton cf The Tribune. presented here iu order that our readers may both ‘wides ef important issues which are being cussed..im the press of the day. ie | _ ROUGHNECK NATURE spidl | The late Ilinois humorist, George Fitch, once |made the subtle observation that it is the invet- jerate preference of a rain cloud to shy. at a corn-| field that it may be present at a ball game. Never-| theless, baseball has survived with a thrift and| boisterousness that should be a rebuke to. any! faint hearted who have been driven ingloriously | [from the field of municipal opera with their sum-; mer scenery in a state of rapid deterioration. | Nature is a roughneck. She loves. to destroy, as she loves to create. She loves to dishearten as! she loves to inspire. She has no respect for the delicate solubility of stage makeups and fiddle- strings. With utter frivolity she scoffs the best jlaid plans of managers and men. She will enter twice at the end of the second act, as if to estab-| ‘lish a, sort of dependable regularity, and then creep stealthily on an enrapt audience in the middle of to the brim. She will lie in the bushes for a month |while the strawberry crop burns up and while jhighbrows, patr iots, philanthropists and aesthetes plan to exloit her graces in. a public park, and then, with a chuckle of fiendish triumph, she will|} pounce upon, and mock their awesome efforts. | Such is nature. But as frivolous-as she. is in ‘her vandalism, she is equally fickle in her taste \for entertainment and may abandon her gentle beriection with the same abruptness with which she began it. This is a time for municipal opera} jfans to remember Job or the Negro evangelist iwho, after spending three years building.a mis- sionary ‘ark that immediately flopped over for lack} of.. ballast when launched, cheerily explained | that the Lord was but testing his faith. Municipal opera, like the United States, may \be wettest just before the drouth. Let us hope, the opera is too good to be washed away. —St. Louis Post Dispatch, - PET TED ‘system of taxation will come about when every! 'is now pending, provides that the, American valu-' | It, is an entirely new departure | in tarit-nidk-| rts of the) be if the American valuation basis is allowed to, mountain roads, played 18 holes of, golf, made| | Frazier and Nestos, however. 1 ithe first, with her most capacious water basin full! i i U 1 \ i | | | | | i \ Recall Cauldron By the Pot Bo:ler. | Fargo has worked out an, ingenius way, for the Nonpartisan League to defeat the recall, It proposes, says the Forum, that Frazier, Lemke and Hagan resign just betore the election or when the petitions are filed. The plan as suggested would have Hagan and Lemke step down and out first and Gov. Frazier. name their succes- sors and then Frazier could resign and Lieutenant Governor Wood wouid then be governor. | The likelihood of such a coup d’etat is. very remote and. from any political angle except that,of the most dire expediency is ‘hardly to be given serious second thought. -- That such; a story could gain cur- rency merely gives: line,on how the public genemplly views a Yecall elec- tion. Any gubterfuge, political ‘trick or ruse usually is regarded as legiti- mate in such a prdceeding because a recall electidm does! not appeal to the American se of} fair play. While | many states jhave written recall pro- | visions into! thdir| laws, the voters | seldom wield the club “preferring to | resort to the courts or impeachment | proceedings: to. oust. unworthy public servants. Other.-papers have advanced, more ways and means to defeat ‘the ends of ithe recall. One serious-minded jour- | nal suggests that if the league officials are not recalled, and the initiated laws are passed, that the league of- ficials refuse to put them in opera- tion because of the contradiction tha: would exist were the I. V. A. candi- dates to be defeated and their laws passed. * e #8 | ‘There are other ways to complicate the recall clection by resorting to tricks .of the political. game. Under ‘the’ law. after the recall election is proclaimed, any one can file for these three offices upon circulating a peti- tion and securing 300 signers. What is to prevent William Langer or some j other perfectly. good opponent of the league from trying his fortunes again. What is to prevent the league from putting up a straw man to fight their policies so as to divide the I. V. A. camp. Three cornered battles have been | started in North Dakota before and on the whole have worked out very suc- cessfully. One has only to recall the ifamous Ladd-White-Gronna contest. ; Probably White could not be induced to leave his nice berth, signing grcen- backs at Washington to -sitting in with a third hand at this recall elec- ition. Little difficulty would be encoun- tered in getting a candidate to oppose There ig always someone looking for | the limelight. e e Putting party organization out ot business in North Dakota is the ob- Ject of the joint campaign committee in Fargo._ The Pot Boiler is in re- ue of a statement issued from the . V. A. headquarters, which clearly mate up the laws to be initiated at this election. State officials would be elected hereafter without any party designation.. North Dakota independ- ents propose to take along step in arriving at a non-party organization. Just how the voters will view giv- ing up: parties in the selecting of state tickets. remains to be seen. The plan may apply nicely to the.smaller ‘political divisions, such’ as the town- ships. cities and>counties—but when ‘the idea_appligs' to the entire state, 1i might -be well to weigh the matter thoroughly before committing © tic state to such a policy. Here is the I. V. A. program in | brfef ‘as summarized at the Fargo | headquarters: A.—1. To provide for- nomination and election of state officers with- Out party designation. 2. To provide for separate state and county party ballots for pri- mary election and for one col- umn ballot for general election. 3. To provide public deposi- tories, safe-guarding public funds by surety bonds. 4. To amend and re-enact the Industrial Commission law. 5. To provide a Rural Credits system, | ' PLUG UP 6. To provide for the dissolution of the Bank of North Dakota. B.—Alsp a petition to submit to a vote of the people a constitu- tional amendment which provides funds. for returning to the treas- uries of governmental units— counties, townships, school dis- tricts, cities, villages, etc.—the public tax money now tied’ up, “frozen” or squandered. C.—Also petitions for recall of the following state officers: Gov- ernor Lynn J. Frazier, Attorney General William Lemke, Commis- sioner of Agriculture and Labor John N. Hagan, these officers now constituting the Industrial Com- mission. oa ADVENTURE OF By Olive Barton Roberts Wally Woodchuck and his wife con- tinued on their way toward the blue! mountain, stopping every few minutes for a drink at a spring or a_ brook. “My, it’s a long way off!” said Wally at last. “When we started I thought lit was just across about three fields, but we've passed about a hundred, and we're not half way there yet. Come on, Mrs. Wally, we'll get there some- time, I suppose, as it’s getting bigger and higher all the time: That’s what I heard Scramble Squirrel say once. The nearer you are to anything, the bigger it gets.” “If it. wasn’t for getting a nibble at that good frosting,” panted Mrs. Wally, “I don’t. believe that I could hold out. My feet are getting dread- fully sore.” “Oh, you're all right,” sured her. “Come on. As long as it doesn’t rain we're all right. But I don’t suppose it will, as Mr. Sprinkle* Blow promised me dry weather. There! I’m thirsty again. I'l have to have another drink.” So they hunted another spring, but it had very little water in it. Indeed they soon drank it all up. After a while they were thirsty again, and hunted three springs be- fore they found one with water in Wally as- THE LEAKS | there soon, now, I’m sure. The blue mountain is changing to brown and that’s a sign. It must be chocolate cake with white icing. Um, yum! Let’s hurry, Mrs. Woodchuck.” So they hurried, but poor Mrs. Woodchuck’s feet were VERY sore. “The ground scems extra hard!” she complained. “Oh, everything’s all right just so long as it doesn’t rain,” said Wally. But the next time they hunted for a drink, they couldn’t find any water AT. ALL! The springs and the creeks were as dry as the teacher’s chalk. (Copyright 1921 by Newspaper Enterprise) - (To Be Continued) THE SALES TAX Exposition of the Theory and Practice of This Form of Taxation By Hazen J. Burton President Tax League of America Chapter 1X. Q. Assuming that a Sales Tax as an equitable, practical and sane meth- od of raising a large per cent of the required revenue, why should bread and common clothes be taxed at. the same rate as the sales of precious stones, jewelry and-articles now com- monly classed, from a taxation stand- point, as luxuries? A, So long as the Sales Tax is ex-! empted on all sales less than $6,000 per year, and does not exceed one per cent on all business, and is substituted for the present grossly unequal, exces- sive sales taxes, there is no reason why sales of bread and clothes should; not\also be taxed at 1 per cent. The addition to the price to the con- sumer of a loaf of bread figures only one-sixth (1-6) of a cent, and the ad-| dition to the price of a $40 suit of clothes figures only ninety-four cents. Much of this would be absorbed in good times by the seller. And yet politicians talk of a tax “upon the backs and bellies of the poor man.” Q. It is proposed to shift the Sales Tax. Is it not a fact that a tax can it, “My!” declared Wally. “I won-) be shifted only through a rise in price der what's wrong. But we'll be| and’ that this can come about as a re-| | | EVERETT TRUE BY CONDO| ey THE APPRESSES You wRoTSe 1 ON THESE CNVELOPS ane 4 Too DIM AND INDISTING TH EVEN IN THIS NORTH UGHT How ABouUT THE HARD = BOT A NEW RIBBON ON. THE TXYCES WRITER AND Do THEM RIGHT — NN Sf, THAT'S WHAT tee faa ar Ve i, MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 1921 sult of the tax only through a pfeatric: |tion in the supply? A. Every business tax is shitted., It it is not shifted business stagnates. A government tax on business is the first lien on the assets of every kusi- ness. It is the first cost in overhead expense. All costs must be shifted to the consumer or the business fails to pay. | Former Congressman Goou, who op- poses the sales tax, for political rea- |sons, says: “How would a_ laboring man feel if asked, while out of em- | ployment, with only a small or scarce- ly any income, to pay a tax on every- {thing that he eats and everything j that he wears, not realizing that the lexcess profits tax has been passed on to the consumer and that in the past the has beea compelled indirectly to pay it, |. her a world of wisdom dn, the j acknowledgement of ¢x-Cong: | Good, that the laboring im | realize that the e 38 ‘been passed on to th {that in the past he ha | to pay it.” This COLTSe CRUX OF THE QUESTION, ‘Any ta revision which will actually lighten | the tax burden of the consumer while getting revenue for the government, | must appeal to all. The lighter the |tax burden is on the consumer, the | greater will be his purchasing power, | i \ i is | and increase purchasing power means more and better business. The issue is the actual fact about the present federal taxes versus the actual fact regarding a small turnover tax. Q. Professor Friday tells us in his “Profits, Wages. and, Prices” that the price level of commodities began , to rise in 1915, two. years. before the 1917 excess profits tax law was passed, and that by 1917 the price level stood at 181 compared with 100 in 1913. We know the 1918 excess profits tax rates iwere increased.and that the 1919 rates 'were greatly reduced. We also know prices~continued to rise all during the 1915-1919 period, the level being 228 in December, 1919, and 266 in April, 1920. We know the 1920 fall in prices was not preceded by any reduction in excess profits tax rates. Does’ the above not indicate there is. no ¢orre- lation between price moverhents' and {taxation? A. The world-wide laws of supply and demand are the chief causes of ,| wide fluctuations in price movements of commodities and of labor. But there is a distinct relation be- tween existing federal taxes and the present uncertainties and stagnation of business. By substituting the sales tax the saving in tax costs to all consumers alike averages over 20 per cent on all purchases. This saving is independent of any price fluctuations in commodities caused by the law of supply and de- {mand Authorities on the sales tax empha- size the point that this 20 per cent tax cost difference between the pyra- mided existing federal taxes and the pyramided 1 per cent sales tax must surely continue to hold down and de- ‘press the prices of wheat, wool, cot- ton and all basic farm products as well as to hold up and perhaps ad- vance again retail prices of finished goods to the ultimate consumer. From The Minneapolis Tribune. i i Ml on Idle curiosity works overtime. i ' High and dry—that’s America! The government is back under raii- road corttrol. Russia forgot to build a kitchen in her air tles. = Fat people are always trying to change their weighs. ¥ One way to ge is by mixing business and plea The poker playing husband's in- come tax is a new dress. People who jump at conclusions scare the best ones away. Boys look forward to long trows- ers; girl to short dresses. Men who marry regular dreams find dreams go by contrarics. Maybe the tariff cause it has too mi The best thing about’ paying com- pliments is it leaves one due you. Prohibition officers are not the only ones looking for bootleggers. They run for office before election; afterward they run away from it. Ancient kings couldn't sign their names; modern ones might as well | not. {| Sen | lf some men didn’t have troubles | they couldn’t carry on a conversa- tion. Immigration shows forcign rela- j tions. The British dropped salt in the ‘Irish peace dove's eye instead of on | its tail. | When a man tells his wife he loves [het she wonders. where he wants to to burn prices. ‘Same farmers ‘threaten their, (corn beeatise’ of low . Others will drink it.