New Britain Herald Newspaper, July 10, 1919, Page 13

UNCLE SAMES A By Robert T. Barry »u’ have made your in- come-tax return, have} managed €omehow to pay that figet instal ment and had time to regain your normal mental poise, it may be safe to introduce to you the presiding 8enius in the preparation of revenue bills, the “power behind the throt of taxation, the man who suggests the divers ways for the government to d into your pockets and who estimates With an uncanny accuracy the amount you should have thexc But, remembering that the income ax is but a part of the new law, with levies yet to come upon your purse your shopping. drinking, theatregoing and traveling well to remind you that if arm should befall this man vit would be helpless o modify thc ent taxes when the Fovernment some of its war bills paid: There is, therefore, ar clement of self-preservation in refraining from physical attack upon him and in re epecting the warning in the Dakoia dive, which Henry Watterson the day It read, *C en will please not shoot the pianiste; she doing’ the best she knows how.” If you have reached a conclusion as to thé identity of this man, dismiss it. Undoubtedly you are wrong. Mem bers of the revenueraising commit- tees of Congress are allowed one guess; all others may take as many as they please and ‘““write your own ticket.” Guess Who It Is? It's not Wilson, McAdoo, Glass or Roper. It's not Penrose, Lodge or Smoot, nor Simmons, Underwood or Hoke Bmith It's not Kitchin, of Scotland Neck, nor Fordney, of Saginaw. Champ Clark and “Jim” Mann and “Wncie Joe” Cannon are innocent. Even Burleson and Creel must be acquttied. The guilty man is neither Democrat nor Republican, Socialist or Bolshe- vist This Mephistophelean genius of fipance is Joseph S. McCoy, a govern- ment, actuary. If you insist on coming to Wash- fagton to “have it out” with Mr. Me- B sre due for a shock when you meet hiw"3¥hn_somebody .or sther trote that “there are mystically fn qur faces certain characteristics which carry in them the motto of our souls. . wherc he that cannot read A B C may read our natures” he showed that as a judge of human na- ture~he was a fine essayist. As an ewpest on taxation he probably would select the becalmed countenahce of a free trader for the face of a pro- tectioni: Mr. McCoy has as little of guile in his :e as could be found anywhere beyond the beribboned bounc s of a bassinet. His Is an engaging smile. He has a boundless good humor. He is not young. so you cannot charge his evil designs upon your purse to the score of “parlor Bolshevism.” He is getting along in s and time has mecllowed his nature into a happy regard for all mankind, however much his most re- cent effort in revenue raising may lead you to believe the contrary. His is, indeed, an agreeable personality and a thirty-minute chat with him will do more to make casy the writing of a check for income taxes than all of Commissioner Roper’s sedatives of patriotism and duty, tinctured with géntle reminders of the penalties against dodgers Your curiosity as to where Mr. Mc- Coy “comes in” as #e dictator of the measure of your financial contribu- tions to the government is not im- proper, since the dear old constitution is specific on thé point that “all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the tlouse of Representatives,” The Flouse doesn’t even draft the language of the bill. That is done by an expert in legislative diction. “Seeking Whom He May Tax” Nowadays, the procedure incident to + the enactment of a new tax bill is something like this: The Secretary, of the Treasury dis- cavers all of a sudden that after pay- ing for a new postoffice at Jayville-on. the-Bum and for the dredging of the “dusty” Oklawaha River, there will be a balarice of about a dollar and eighty- three cents in the public treasury. “Looks like we'll have to have a Mew revenue bill,” he muses, and adds to a clerk, “Get McCoy on the phone and ask him to come over ta my office.” Wien t\]\\n-ruy walks over to the Treasury ilding, a short distance from the Bond Building, where he has a little office distinguished solely by a flat-top desk piled so high with came gum, clothes; of bowie, dirk and hunt ing knives, daggers. sword cttos and Enuckle Thermos bottte:., electric fans, and motorboats, liveries for coac riding s hunting and sho togs. pipe ans, cornets, bass dri and pl phs—all coming under the general head of “houschoid ne ties"—are pl on the Tce ates ana - s racket canoe and ball bats an gloves are not overlooked. nor are tomobiles and motorc tires selt-starters. He invades the pre cincts of the dressing tables and takes notes on rouge. soap powdc He glan and lists carpets, rugs, pictur pur lamp shades, umbrel poking his head into clothe calculates “luxury taxes™ on smoking jackets, bath 1 loungir robes, kimonos, petticoats and waists. hats shoes, shirts, ties. stoc s, suits ana dresses, pajamas, 1 vns and underwear. He,casts evil designs upon our trav- els and our freight shipments, eur surance and our' telephone and te graph messages Not content with hav learned of the amount of money we have to spend for these things, he proceeds to fizure how much he can take av from us through the delicate mecthod of a tax on incomes, which he has Just shown by immutable figures al ready has been expended Mr. McCoy, after arrivingiat an estimate of the amount of revenue his suggestions will raise, takes his hat and strolls over to the Treasury De- partment. The Secretary of the Treas. ury has learned in the meantime t Daniels and Baker need some ready cash to keep a few generals and ad mirals on the payroll; that Lane has to have the purchase price of some farms for soldiers; that Houston™ fears they pink boll worm will ruin Texas cotton unless he can bu me paris green; Hings says the railroads Wwill have to stop forty miles from a lunchroom for lack of coal; Senators have to have extra clerks to handle correspondence on the league of na. tions and the Smithsonian Institution needs an additional night watchma He greets McCoy most cordially takes the list entitled * Things to Tax” and summons an underpaid as- sistant. They go over the list. About 95 per cent of McCq suggestions are adopted. This, in fact, was the per- centage in the latest revenue bill. “How much will these taxes rais inquires the Secretary JOSEPHL 8. Vecoy revenue bilis, the m vyou dig deep for i opyTimht. 1018 Boishevism in Seattle, then vote for the bill virtually a mmittee wrote it. The biil s over to the Bc and McCoy goes back to his downtown ofic Senators mave been waiting impa tiently for the bill. The Finance Com- mittee members pounce upon the bill, and, car it off to the committee room, tear apart with the avidity a feast Penrose grunts Lis roval; the othe shout theirs duced to printable language of their comment seems bhill “just won't do at enerally you will find embracing what mmende nths hefore to to what * xpey -av’" about this 1s “is” Mr. Mc name is used repeatedly how the loss of revenue can be overcome by a 2 per cent indrease uber from T B en ings o v whose address is Wall street Yori. McCoy tells him on short notice how many con- cerns have their offices there, the na. ture of their business, their earnings last year, the market price of their stock, what it really is worth and how much the proposed tax would yield 1f Lodze wants fiures to show that a4 tax on war profits in this country «hould b lower than that enforced in Britain because of the differ 1If Kitchin to establish the merits of the ss.profits tax, ha gots the figure from MecCoy. If La Follette desires to show that both Lodge and Kitchin are wrong, McCoy produces statictics by aL. Doy 1) 7 5 sent to China by the Department of State to fix the American share in the Boxer indemnity Mr. McCoy traces to his work in inection with the reciproeiy treaties later association with C ess preparation of tariff laws. He was horrowed by the State Depart ment for task when Secretary Hay named John A. Kasson as specia commissioner to conduct the negotia. Mr. McCoy sat at a little desk orner, to all o appedrances ged on clerical while Com missioner Kasson talked with various diplomatic representatives of the na tions desiring concessional tariff agree ments with the United States. What he really was doing was absorbing every word that was said, and upon the departure of the diplomats he dic- tated surprisingly accurate reports of the interviews. To thess he added facts and figures showinz agreement or disagreement with the stateme It was necessary for him to acquire an accurate knowledge of industrial and commercial conditions in every nation and to strip away diplomatic verbiage to get the fundamental issues involved. He succeeded so well that cighteen’ treaties werc otiated by the State Departrhent. the nations afforted ineluding France, Russia, Eng- > Immediately after the T4 wher a Demderatic’ Sen Democrate President” weréfes Underwood, who was chairma¥ w and Mcans Comnwittee? work on tHe new tarift bill. VEREHY Coy " he ted on ew Yearis D 1913 théy worked almost caj antly untyf ‘the following sprin hen Wilson' calied the extra session ) revise t riff. Daniel G, Ropery now n*».num.~.n§nm of Internal Reve nue. was clerk of the Ways and Means¥ Committee. The Finance Committos,§ unable to get McCoy away from Undem wood, emploved about twenty “tariff experts,” including customs officers from New York. When the Unders wood bill left the House only thres of the “experts” remained with the Sen- e committee. When jif went to cog* ference all had disappeared except McCoy. Mr, McCoy wrote the silke schedule in the Underwood-Simmons > The principle of the excess-profits tax was developed by Mr. McCoy from the famous “German stew” tax which Bweden imposed when exportations af a canned beef stewd Gérigany * reached such an impds Zurdy the Swedish Governnient put a tax on all profits above a certain figure. McCoy bezgan on this plan as a means of checking the increase in the price af taking all profits above /m Secretary of the Treasury discovers all of a tudden that after dredging the “Oklawaha” I&i\cr there will be a balange of $1.831 s the yard. Frequently he is asked to simplify the language of a bill. Once Cordell Hull had a sentence of 2008 words. McCoy rearranged it into simple sentences without destroying Hull's meaning. McCoy is a Pennsylvanian. He was born in Reading, the son of a Union soldier, who was crippled at Bull Run. The parent was given a position at the War Department here in Washing- ton, and he brought his family along Joseph McCoy was educated in the primary schools of the capital and en- d Stevens Institute at Hoboken, {0 study cngincering. It was ce s remarkable talent for mathe- s was daveloped. He took a eivil cxamination as a patent ex view, land and the South American coun- tries. The treaties were sent to Con- * grees, as the Dingley law, which pro- vided for them, carried the provision i eg “should be approved by the Senate Wi =5 by Los gress _2 Senator Aldrich objoctea—"the French treaty because it cartied the nlaximum cut in dutles on imitation jewelry, threatening, according to his that industry in Rhode, Island Senator Aldrich appeared before the Foreign Reiations Committee and Imade such an eloquent attack on the treaty that members of the committee were almost unanimous against re- porting it to the Sepate. McCoy was in the room, and although he had not aken a note of what Aldrich had eaid, he memorized statements with great accuracy. The following day he G ddressed the committee and riddled The arguments of the Senator. The treaty was reported favorably. Five different efforts were made to get etion on it, but Aldrich always hap hened to be absent. and out of courtesy %o him it was not pressed. In that way the treaty failed of ratification. In 1909 Mr, McCoy worked on the Payne-Aldrich tariff bill and again he encountered the Senator from Rhode Ttiamd. The following vear. when Sen ator Lodge made the high costot-living veport of the select committee of which he was chairman, Senator Johnson. of Alabama, persuaded Mc Coy to analyze it and “shoot it full of holes.” McCoy discharged the task 2o satistactorily that his memorandum was printed by the Democratic Na- tional Committec and sent into every congressional district. The Democrats gained control of the House that year. As soon as Underwood, of Alabama, sot back to Washington he cailed Mr McCoy to the Capitol and together they worked out the revised ~hemical cchedule which Taft vetoed. McCoy analyzed the veto message for the Democrats and presented an argument Which Senators Lodge and Smoot sought vainly to offset. When an income tax was proposed in 1913 there was nothing but the Zhisd® air of speculation o 2 P n on whisk o e estimates of th 2 L 5" the Treasury. levies might i thie country has sueh OB North Carolina—and it de riveq by’ $18,000 annually from it Whelf Mr. McCoy proposed to furnish the committee with an estimate of the vield, Senator Gore, of Oklahoma, said: “McCoy, what's the use of saying vou can give us an estimate? JWhy don't you just say youll make & gues “But I will get you an estimate® Mr. McCoy retorted Close to His Estimates Back to his office he went -and gathered about him all that had bgén written about income taxes. He stud- ied the English tax, but found it could not be applied to the United States because the English tax is collected at the source. McCoy took up the Ger n systems and found that excellent were in force in the states of Shx- ony and Prussia and that they were s0 nearly like that under consideration by our Congress that he could, by adapting them to financial statistics for this country, making certain al lowances for different conditions ary rive at a very good basis for an estl mate. He did and his estimate wa$ so accurate as to cause general amaze ment On the corporation income tag: his estimate of what the tax would yield during the year 1914 was within $3000 or $3000 of the actual returns to the Treasury, and the estimate was made eighteen months before the Treasury ' report appeared. Treasury officials be- lieved he had gone wrong on the munk tions tax which was carried in the pre- paredness fund tax law of 1915. Two months before the close of the year it appeared unlikely that it would yield “around $40,000,000," wiich Mod! Coy estimated The final figures showed that “around $40,000,000” had accrued to the government. all.” So agreed, they instruct a clerk ,iiice Jre hoped to learn patent law to call Mr. McCoy and have him hUFYY g1 then practice on his own account . along to the Capitol He was selected by the Treasury De sman suf against efforts to null program Members of the comn papers that you ’to walk around “Oh, about $5,967,438,921.39," replies amazed it to find him, the'Secretary tells him McCoy. at his audacit national crisis. The Secretary writes courteous notes o = like we'll need about six (0 the chairmen of the Wavs and gg, 4 e Here and there a Senator obiain® pecame an assistant government actu ays the Secretary. Means and Finance Committees, tell- o jiio iy oy 5 150 \bers AOPLion of A new paragraph or SeCtion 4.y in 1890, He was made an actuary x 5 5 v r & - outlicrn members 2 5 : 2 ary 890. He ws ade oushta, Be @38Y," replles the & them there must he a new FeVARYe storm at the recofmcndation for PUlLD S D oo e AL LS eFouE ST vea e Ta enfand Coneresghag tak éxpert.’ “CiveMON Bew days, Mr. . D Consress may fuss a day O yax on cotton pegdudhs: westerner sidiictionfof anotherSiihie Senato passesiiy con Miborrowing 4 INm toshelpiwaite Secretary, and Tl befE you a list of '7O PUt no one takes that sertously, oo = z bill and it goes to « committee on ey b co 1898 {hings to tax.” i as all Washington knows the public yu,.000 g0 il ot ok e between the two houses £ yrig first work was in connection % - must be fooled. reconcile the disagreements between 4o 1 . ce then he McCoy goes with the Dingley bill. Since then Ao e sy lb::lc‘(k' to his littered — yroaoy goes back to his office, piles hem. McCoy, of course. is present. o T i e and figuring. . o more papers on the desk and g o nuch, ©. The House conferees 100k to him to s thoughts and his pencil cover a waits for the telephone’ bell 1o ' aiking for tr tain that the House Dbill was a wide area of human happiness and en 2 S : > not wait long. It is a call B Xe e ever-p gem compared to what t Senate deavor. He pries into statisties on the i report rocess of revision DeBins anew. paiimont as an expert accountant and not listen to s on wool and has plaved a highly important part in the preparation of every subse- quent tariff bill He participated in the negotiations of a dozen important reciprocal trade treaties, including that with France, on which he “went to the mat” with Senator Aldrich, of Rhode Island He was the expert who steered the joint high commis- sion safely through its settlement of disputes with Canada and incidentally A . ommittee. (3 18t ¢ voted. The Senators expect him to most intimate and trifling purchases . voice. It 2 Seau S support their contention that but for of our everyday life. o vers . 1erwood ‘ ius of finance the bill would how often we go o ek led it ve i scandalous hodge-podge. reported t . 1s¢ ; ) ining in diplomacy. s of fact, but ex- s no opinions on policy in si n Congress finally zets tired of wheat in Minnecsota playing politics with our pocket. laid the groundwork for the fixing labor Kansas and ks, the bill is sent to the President, ©Of the Alaskan boundaries. He was ten pretty Kitchin or Fordn They all do it. ; rmpe b R up & new revenue § Mombors wip, o per oy | : 1 E on up.” e tig LnEnias oL in, playing car \ir. AMcCoy gocs to the Capitol apid bisots b L records; i s-—golf, tenals, 00t - arins working on the fax bill. Ahe lperia, the atn aud jazz pase; Jacyosse, . Lillie 19 00l—08 . uctens is. his own recommenda U,n—-vvb. Whatever Mr. McCoy says goes—you and T are yoked up and Uncle Sam says “Giddap!” 3%