Newspaper Page Text
Spend Dawson
Dollars in Dawson
By E. L. RAINEY
SLASHING REDUCTIONS VOTED IN INCOME TAX RATES
COAL DIGGERS AND RAILROAD
EMPLOYES DROP 87,000,000
DOLLARS IN WAGES.
THE OPERATORS ALSO SUFFER
Number of Men Out of Work Is 165,-
000, and Production Represents a
Loss of $1,680,000 a Week. Carriers
Losing $3,000,000 a Week. :
The strike of the anthracite mine
workers of Pennsylvania, which be
gan Sept. 1, already has cost the an
thracite industry and the anthracite
arrving railroads about $185,000,000,
.<ide from the inconvenience it has
caused the public.
()i this sum about $87,000,000 rep
ro-ents wages which railroad and coal
mine employes might have earned had
ere been no enforced idleness,
111 addition there is the loss to mer
nants in the hard coal region of
Pennsylvania. Based on the lost earn
iwes of anthracite and railroad em
ployes this loss, too, must be quite
14 ¢ o
Production Has Ceased.
About 165,000 men are out of work
4. a direct result of.the strike. The
nroduction of anthracite coal has ceas
-1
The United Mine Workers have a
membership of 158,000 men in the an
thracite region, according to their own
ctatements. With the exception of
<hout 7,500, who zre kept at work by
agreement between the miners’ union
and the operators to prevent the mines
from flooding, all of these men are on
I'he operators figure their labor bill,
not including office salaries, at $1,200,-
000 a day. The total loss to the min
ers, therefore, for the working days
wvhich have elapsed since the strike
hegan is about $62,400,000.
I'he anthracite mines produce an
averaze of 1,500,000 gross tons of so
alled commercial coal—that is, coal
vhich is not needed fBr mine fuel--
each week. Reduced to net tons of 2,-
(00 pounds the average weckly pro
duction is 1,680,000 tons.
During the two months which have
elapsed since the beginning of the
<t-ike, therefore, there has been lost
a total commercial production of about
15,120,060 net.tons which, of course,
cannot be made up when mining is
resumed. :
Operators Lose Heavily.
The financial loss to the operators
throngh this lost production cannot
accurately be estimated, but based on
a recent statement of Samuel D. War
riner, president of the Lehigh Coal
and Navigation Company, one of the
largest producers, that his company’s
average gross selling price at the
mines was $5.68 a gross ton a reason
able guess would be that the coal
which might have been produced
would have represented a total gross
realizatien of $77,702,400.
Added to this approximate loss the
operators estimate that it costs them
about $6,000,000 a month for mainte
nance of the idle mines. Their éx
pense for this item since the strike
started has therefore been at least
$£12.000,000.
Since the strike the anthracite-car
rving railroads have laid off about 15,-
(00 men directly or indirectly con
nected with the work of transporting
coal, according to R. S. Binkerd, vice
chairman of the committee on public
relations of the eastern railroads.
Miners Well Fortified.
Of these about 5,000 are skilled
shopmen, the remainder being train
and engine crews, yardmen and com
mon laborers, The average annual
wage of each of these men is estimat
ed at $l,BOO each, and, on this basis,
the employes affected are losing pay
at the rate of about $95000 a week,
or a total loss for the nine weeks of
the strike of $8,550,000.
The railroads directly affected are
the Lehigh Valley, the Delaware,
Lackawanna, and Western; the Penn
svlvania, the, New York Central, the
Reading, the Jersey Central, the Erie,
the Delaware and Hudson and the
Ontario and Western.
As a result of the strike, Mr. Bink
erd says, these carriers are loading an
average of 30,000 fewer cars a week.
He estimates the loss in revenue to the
roads at $3,000,000 weekly, or a total
of $27,000,000 for the nine weeks.
R e e
INABILITY TO KILL MAN
IS TEST FOR MOTORISTS
Drivers Forced to Pass Thrilling Triel
Before Getting License.
_ GENEVA.—If one hopes to get a
license to drive an automobile in Ge
neva you must first of all be unable
to kill a man!. %
I'he police examiner plants himgch
stoically in the middle of some unire
quented thoroughfare and orders the
“ndidate for a license to drive s'wfl'fly
down upon him with the injunction to
stop and stop only when the front
Yim of the car touches the waistband
ot the waiting official. Many a woman
and, yes, many a man, their nerves
shattered, fail in this® feature of the
driving test.
The two Geneva examiners have de
vloped into crack dodgers and acro
brats. They have to be if they want to
Keep their jobs—alive.
——————————————————
In 1924 there were 87,995 pecan
trees of bearing age in South Carolina
groves, compared with 58,025 in 1919.
THE DAWSON NEWS
o . .
‘opArctic Region
szlfldky *Ma More Day
Light Tivee iiutad pril
L :,.’- "f ‘
The Arctic night has settled over
the desolate regions of the Far
North, and no more daylight will
be seen until April,
This winter will be even more
quiet than usual, for most of the
coal mines will be idle. Hundreds
of miners have gone to their homes
and only a few score watchmen re
main on duty. Many small out
posts will be completely isolated,
having only radio communication
with the rest of the world during
the long night.
RUMOR IN CAPITAL NAMES
BIG MEN’ BEHIND MOVE.
s HINGES ON DRIVE.
A story that has gained wide circu
lation in Washington, D. C., is to the
effect that unless the new prohibition
regime is able to make somg headway
in enforcing the Volstead act con
gress will be asked to modify the law.
The story was printed in the “Fellow
ship Forum,” a weekly published by
William H. Anderson, formerly an
Anti-Saloon League worker.
The story has it that administration
officials, backed by such outstanding
industrial figures as Elbert H. Gary
and John D. Rockefeller, jr., will unite
in a modification plea if the present
enforcement drive fails to yield re
sults.
) Challenges a Denial.
Anderson challenges Mr. Rockefel
ler to deny the story that he has prom
ised to. support a modification of the
law if Gen. Lincoln C. Andrews’ new
“military drganization” is unable to
enforcé the “dry” laws any more ade
quately than they have been enforced.
Anderson scathingly denounces the
administration of the Anti-Saloon
League as “bunglesome "and indecis
ive.”
“It is possible,” the article says
“that the league has consented to
things hazardous to prohibition in or
der to hang ,onto Rockefeller contri
butions.” )
GEORGIA WOMAN TELLS OF
WEDDING TRIP IN COVER
ED WAGON. THRILLS.
MADISON, Ga.— Honeymooning
in the days of the covered wagon was
as romantic and adventurous as today
with a few extra features thrown in.
With a young heart, a young hus
band fresh from the civil war and a
wagon and team Mrs. Annie Cope
land, of Madison, a bride of 1867, set
out on a wedding trip the like of
which she, as probably many others
today, see in the movies. Traveling
over much .of the territory devastated
by Sherman’s army progress was
slow. But there were days when thir
ty miles were covered. Brides today
might have been across the country.
Hold-Up on Honeymoon. |
* Once they were held up by three
burly fellows who walked into their
camp (pullmans were unknown) well
armed with pistols. The bride was
frightened, but her husband remained
calm.
One of the men demanded that he
change a $lO bill, which the young
man recognized as a counterfeit.
When Copeland refused they began
unbucklidg their pistols.
“With all the bravery and daring
of a young soldier my husband reach
ed back as if for a gun and dared
them to shoot,” Mrs. Copeland said.
«‘] heard cannon, he said. ‘Do you
think I'm afraid of pistols?” They de
treated slowly and finally disappear
ed.”
The moderate cold of a southern
winter caught them before they had
reached their destination, and Christ
mas found them in the Blue Ridge
mountains. A family of mountaineers
threw open their doors to the travel
ers, offering them quantities of peach
brandy and wild game.
DECRY QUACK “CURE-ALLS;”
PARENTS' BLOOD REMEDY
ST LOYILS, Mo.—Quack cure-alls
were denounced at the final session of
the American Public Health Associa
tion here.
Dr. Lyman F. Kebler, of the bu
reau of chemistry at Washington,
said commercial guacks were taking
millions of dollars from the American
public yearly and menacing public
health. =
Federal Mail Laws.
He declared efforts of the govern
ment to combat this by punishing pro
motors of medicinal schemes for vio
lating the federal mail laws.
Mentioning concurrently advertised
cures for cancer and pyorrhea as par
ticularly prevalent, Dr. Kebler added:
“It is estimated by the postal author
ities that at least $1,000,000,000 is ta
ken irom the public by frandulent
mail order schemes.”
Turning to scientific methods of
controlling and preventing communi
PERSONAL EXEMPTIONS ARE
INCREASED FOR BOTH MAR
RIED AND SINGLE PERSONS.
“ ””
LITTLE FELLOWS” GAINERS
| Increase in Personal Exemptions Will
Remove More Than 1,000,000 Per
sons From Tax Rolls. Income Tax
Law to Be Repealed.
Increased income tax exemptions
for the little man have been agreed
to by the house ways and means com
mittee of congress.
These reductions will cut $200,000,-
’()()() from the nation’s tax bill and ‘ai
l'fcct 1,000,000 persons. Maximum sur
taxes were reduced to 20 per cent, in
stead of the present 40 per cent rate.
Exemptions for single, men were
raised from $l,OOO to $1,500; for mar
‘ried men, from $2,500 to $3,500. The
Icommittcc allowed the present 25 per
I(-cnt deduction on earned income to
stand.
I These are the principal ,provisions
‘of the new revenue measure to be laid
beiore the house when congress meets
lone month hence.
} Inheritance Tax to Remain.
| Estate taxes will not be abolished.
| The committee compromised by cut
ting the present 40 per cent maximum
lin half.
| Some democratic members of the
| committee voted against the propos
lals, but there was no strict party di
i\'i>im!. Because the recommendations
| constitute a compromise, it is expected
ithat the fight on the floor of the house
it Taties 114
| will be relatively mild.
| On small incomes the committee
|fixed the following rates: One and a
{ hali per cent on the first $4,000; 3
Iper cent on the next $4,000; 5 per
{cent on income above $B,OOO.
| Children under 21 who are attend
ling school probably will be classed
las dependents in the new bill.
| Agree on Mellon Surtax Rate.
;' The committee agreed to Secretary
[ Mellon’s proposal for a 20 per cent
| surtax maximum, but has not yet de
vised the graduated scale.
11 Repeal of the income tax publicity
jlaw has been wvoted hy the committee.
flt proposes to strike from the statute
;‘nooks the compulsory publicity clause,
{ which has caused more indignation
land criticism than any act of congress
|since the Volstead law. The chief
| complaint has been that it exposed
lthe personal finances of individuals to
salesmen, business rivals, and curious
individuals without fulfilling its osten
sible purpose, which was to reduce
ltax evasion through publicity. Oppo-
Enents of the clause have insisted that
]lwczmsc of the broad exemptions in
'the tax law the size of the tax does
Inot correspond with any regularity
'to the size of the income.
INCREASE LAST YEAR OF BIL
LION AND QUARTER FEET.
MANY NEW MILLS.
Sixty-four new mills for the produc
tion of lumber, laths and shingles
were constructed in Georgia during
1924. This fact was revealed in a state
ment issued by the United States De
partment of Commerce in its annual
canvass of forest products.
The number of lumber mills in the
state in 1924 totaled 1,030 as compared
with 966 mills the previous year.
Among the 29 leading states of the
union in forestry, from which the data
was collected, Georgia ranked third in
number of mills, following North Car
lonia at the peak of the list with 1,120,
and Alabama second with 1,060 mills.
In 1923 Georgia occupied fourth place,
with Virginia a scant five mills ahead.
Georgia was among the eleven
states in this greup showing a larger
cut of wood in 1924 over 1923. In the
total amount of lumber cut, per thous
and feet, Georgia showed an increase
of approximately five per cent over
the 1923 figure of 1,149,391
|cable diseases, the assembly of physi
[cians heard Dr. Abraham Zingher, of
[the New York city health department.
Three Colds a Year.
Dr. Zingher urged use of the prac
tice of taking blood from parents im
lmune to measies and injecting it intc
| their offsprings. This, he said, will
iabate the effect of the disease in child
| hood. He said “the average person in
| the United States has three colds a
| year.” ,
i Isolation was regarded by other
lspeakers as a prevention of colds. The
deleterious effect of polluted air,
smoke and chemicals in the atmos
phere is causing respiratory diseases
was also pointed out.
Dr. Carey J. Vaux, of the Pitts
burg department of health, said the
band clasp was one of the chief means
of spreading disease. “Today,” he re
marked, “a friendly hand clasp often
ans death.”
DAWSON, GA., TUESDAY EVENING, NOV. 10, 1925
DEMOCRATS WIN ANOTHER
SWEEPING VICTORY IN THE
CITY OF NEW YORK.
iJERSEY ELECTS WET GOVERNR
lFirst Time in Eighteen Years Repub
licans Elect Mayor of Boston. Each
Party Elects Congressman to Fill
N. Jersey and Kentucky Vacancies.
The outstanding conclusions drawn
by political leaders from the off-year
!eh-ctions in 13 states that drew many
lmillions of voters to the polls last
Tuesday is that the populous east, as
}rc{‘rcscntcd by New ,York and New
Jersey, is still wet. )
i Neither democratic nor republican
| leaders attach much partisan cignifi
cance to the results. ¢
. The democratic victpry for mayor in
' New York was ovegwhelming. State
Senator James: J. \‘.\'alkcr defeated
Frank Waterman by 401,581 votes out
of a total of slightly more than 1,000,-
000 cast. With Walker &c democrats
elected all five boroughSresidents, a
president of the board of aldermen,
comptroller, all four district attorneys
and a long list of lesser ofhcials. |
. Walker, who is a little fellow weigh
'ing 125 pounds and has a mighty
voice, is author of the perennial “l)ccr%
\hill" in the New York legislature,
{father of the boxing law in the state
land opponent of so-called "nplift"l
;gcncral’.y. He is 44 years old. i
' The republicans elected a large ma
jority of the state legsilature. 1
~ Democrats Elect Wet Governor.
i New Jersey gave a convincing dem- |
‘m:.flr.ati(m of its opposition to the
Volstead law by electing to the gov
‘ernorship A# Harry Moore, democrat,
'who ran on an out-and-out wet plat-|
!furm. while his republican opponent
Ich:nnpionc(l the cause of prohibition
‘and was supported by the Anti-Saloon
’l.cagm-. He did not reiterate the
pledge of one of his famous predeces
’sors, Edward 1. Edwards, that he
would make New Jersey ‘“as wet as
the Atlantic ocean.” But he did, with
in a few hours after his election, an
nounce he would petition congress
for modification of the Volstead act,
and work for the repeal of the state
enforcement law. ‘His majority was
!35.00().
’ An overwhelming majority of the
legislature was elected by the repub
licans,
Virginia, the only state besides New
,Jcrsey to elect a governor, voted a
'straight democratic slate into office by
‘about 40,000 majority.
In the only two congressional con
tests each party held its own, the re
publicans retaining control of the
| Third New Jersey district and the
democrats remaining successful in the
lThird Kentucky district.
Republicans Elect Many Mayors.
The republicans elected the mayor
of Boston for the first time in 13 years,
and in Indiana the republicans made
| heavy inroads into the democfatic
strength in municipalities. Besides
retaining control of the city govern
ment in Indianapolis the republicans
captured the mayoralty offices firom
the democrats at Fort Wayne, Evans
ville and Lafayette, the latter city hav
ing been under democratic regime for
20 years. They also elected their can
didate for mayor of Louisville, Ky.
At Bridgeport, Conn., the entire re
' publican city ticket was swept into
loffice after eight years of democratic
' municipal rule.
WILL HAVE 1,880,000 ACRE-FT.
STORAGE CAPACITY. OSAGE
RIVER HARNESSED.
The thud of axes and the crash of
!90.000 trees on the banks of the Osage
river near Bagneli, Mo., will herald
Ithc construction of a dam that will
impound a lake more than 100 miles
'long and have 970 miles of shore line.
|- Through the sluices will rush the
’tawny water of the Osage river to
turn five turbines, each generating
25,000 horsepower of electricity to vi
talize Tactories, light towns and speed
transportation in Missouri.
1,880,000-Acre Feet Capacity.
‘ The lake to be created will have
1,880,000-acre feet of storage capacity,
‘much more than the Elephant Butter
reservoir. The turbines- will produce
almost as much primary power as
does Mussel Shoals.
The Missouri Hydro-Electric Co.,
which will build the dam, also has
purchased land for the erection of two
other power plants about 100 miles
south on the Current river. These, its
officers say; will produce 58,000 horse
power. Linked with the Osage river
plant 183,000 horsepower will be pro
duced, if the projects are completed
for transmission through Missouri.
Town of 500 to Disappear.
Linn Creek, an old Missouri town
with an almost unchanging population
of about 500 persons, will be inundat
ed in the Osage reservoir. The power
company expects to build a new town
for Linn Creek’s people on a nearby
kiil.
Industrial statistics show a falling
off in tanning—we suppose this also
includes father’s little job in the old
wood shed. 4
Slayer of His Paralytic Daughter
Is Pleading Socrates’ Philosophy
Aged Physician, Who Killed 32-Year-Old “Child Woman,” Con
tends She Was Not Human, Lacked Soul and Better Off Dead.
DENVER, Colo.—The philosophy
of Socrates on the soul is being used
as a defense weapon for Dr. Harold
E. Blazer, aged physician, who is
charged with the murder of his daugh
ter, Hazel, 32-year-old paralytic ““child
woman."”
The defense is contending, in, sub
stance, that the victim died without
pain, was not human, had no soul, and
was better off dead than alive.
INDIANS, TOO, SEEK
TRIBE WOULD DESERT RES
ERVATION FOR SOUTH. BAR
GAIN WITH SEMINOLES.
The prize nomads among the west
ern Indian tribes,, the Winnebagoes,
are getting ready to make the longest
trek of their history.
The tribe sent an agent to Florida
to find out if arrangements could be
made with the Seminoles to house the
remainder of the tribe on unused lands
there. He has returned to Nebraska
with a favorable report.
Red Tape to Unwind.
A good bit of red tape must be un
wound if the Indians are permitted to
go. But their leaders have indicated
their desire, and the prospects are
good for their departure.
At present the 1,200 survivors of
the tribe occupy a reservation in
Thurston county, Neb., on lands that
extend almost to Sioux City, and ad
joining the lands of the Maha Indiansg,
now known as the Omabhas. |
Moved Many Times.
Since 1917, when the trust agree
ment with the government expired,
the tribe has been free to dispose of
its lands, now owned in severalty, and
not all of them may ' make the big
journey south. ‘
The Winnebagoes were first mnvcd}
from Illinois and Wisconsin to Min
nesota, then to South Dakota, and
finally to the reservation in Nebraska,
where they live at present.
CAN’T LEAVE UNLESS
THEY’LL SEND CASH
THAT'S WHY ITALY'S. QUOTA
OF IMMIGRANTS WAS NOT
FILLED LAST YEAR.
LONDON .—Despite frequent Ital
jan protests against restriction of Ital
ian immigration into the United States
under the quota law, the Mussolini
government itself is limiting emigra
tion to America to those persons who
undertake to send a certain stated
amount of money back home periodi
cally, I was reliabiy informed today.
The result of this Italian restriction
is that for the year ending last June
30, the Italians who went to America
were 792 less than the quota permitted.
Under the system which the Italian
government is practicing, it is said,
passports for emigration to the Unit
ed States are being refused to most
bachelors who apply and in the great
majority of cases are granted only to
heads of -families who intend leaving
their dependents at home and who
agree to send money weekly or month
ly.
The matter, it is understood, first
came to American official attention
when Italian authorities asked Amer
ican consuls in Italy to use “preferr
ed” quota numbers for that particular
class of emigrants which the Musolini
regime wished to encourage.
Under the American administration
of the quota law a certain number of
places in each country’s quota is re
served for the mothers, fathers and
children, between the ages of 18 and
21, of naturalized citizens of the Unit
ed States.
When the Italian request was trans
mitted to the state department the
latter instructed the consuls in Italy
to refuse it, with the result that the
[alian quota for the last year was
not filled.
GOVERNOR: SAYS TAXES ARE
BREAKING PEOPLE’S BACKS
ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The time is at
hand for another declaration of inde
pendence to relieve the government of
its ever increasing army of employes
to interpret and enforce its laws and
regulations, Gov. Theodore Christian
son, of Minnesota, told the National
Association of “Manufacturers here.
“We have built up in America a
bureaucracy which is said to embrace
2700000 public offictals and em
ployes,” the governor said. “Besides
these there are 700,000 pensioners—
mostly superanuated politicians out of
jobs. There is a peace time army larg
er than the army we mobilized in the
great war, of 3,400,000 pablic officials.
employves and pensioners. That army
contains one-twelfth as many persons
as are engaged in gainiul production
in America; and to mamtain it costs
$3.800,0006060 a year, one-hali of the
nation’s tax bill” e
“We may further prove that when
this old, kindly country doctor chlo
roformed this ‘human husk’ that was
called Hazel he was insane, but at
the same time he was no more moral
ly wrong than had he choloroformed
a helplessly crippled dog,” said At
torney L. D. Mowry.
Hazel Blazer, who never grew from
childhood, had neither speech nor ex
pression and lived without hope, he
said.
U. S. PLACES EMBARGO ON
LOANS TO SEVERAL COUN
TRIES. MUST PAY DEBTS.
The United States government has
‘notified private bankers that it would
21001\' with disfavor not merely on loans
‘to foreign governments which have
failed to settle their war debts with
':\nwrica. but on all loans to cities in
ithosc same countries or to industrial
enterprises owned or partially owned
by federal governments, writes David
;I.awrence. the well-known newspaper
correspondent and political commenta
tor, from Washington.
The embargo on loans, therefore,
has been made complete. France,
Italy, Greece, Jugo-Slavia, Rouma
nia and Russia are the only countries
left which have not vet agreed to set
tle war debts. In almost every case
with the exception of France a com
mission is on its way to the United
States or the minister here has been
empowered to .act,
The case of France presents inter
esting “aspects. While the new minis
try has made no announcement about
its policy, considerable significance is
expected for the changed ambassador
at Washington. The reports that M.
Daeschaets is being recalled because
of the over-optimistic character of the
cablegrams before the French mis
sion under M. Caillaux left France
are being taken with a grain of salt
because it is inferred that the real rea
son is that France was desirous of
putting a man here much more famil
}iar with finance so as to resume ne
gotiations quietly. g
Senator. Victor Berenger, who is to
be the new ambassador, is known as
a financial expert. The move on the
whole is taken as a favorable sign be
cause much of the work of negotiating
a settlement can be done by an am
bassador if he is really authorized ‘to
discuss the question with officials of
the U. S. debt funding commission,
Meanwhile the ban on foreign loans
will have a profound influence on the
French attitude., It must be stated
frankly that the American government
does not enjoy the process a bit, but
}fecls that something vital like the l?an
on loans is the only way to bring
French opinion to a realization of how
seriously Washington regards a con
tinuance of the unsettled condition of
war debts.
CRIME, SAYS JUDGE
FIFTY-TWO PER CENT OF THE
LAWBREAKERS IN FULTON
UNDER 21, JURY IS TOLD.
Declaring that 52 per cent of per
sons coming into criminal courts of
Fulton county for violations of the
laws of the land were under 21 years
of age, Judge G. H. Howard, in
charging the November grand jury,
urged that churches and civic organi
zations take a hand to aid the courts
in combating crime.
“The courts are helpless in the face
of a situation like this,” declared
Judge Howard. “It is up to the
churches and the civic organizations
of the community to help in bringing
about an era of lawfulness. Lawless
ness is running rampant among the
youth of the land. It is not because
the courts are failing to function, but
because the good people of the coun
try, parents, churches and civic bodies
are failing in their duties to the
youth.” 3
Gov. Christianson pointed to this
enormous pay roll as one of the caus
¢s of the increasing tax burden to the
citizens. He said unless the tendency
toward increased taxation in the coun
try is soon checked the burden will
seriously impair the prosperity oi the
people.
“There is a limit to the load the peo
ple can bear. In many places that
limit has been reached; in some it has
been surpassed. Our institutions rest
on a foundation consisting =of the
strained backs and taut muscles of
those who work. The total tax bill of
the nation, including federal, state and
local taxes, was a little more than
$2,000,000 000 in 1913, the governor
explained. “In 10 years,” he said, “the
burdens have almost quadrupled.”
The increased spendings of the vari
ous municipalities and state govern
ments were characterized as “joy-rid
ing” by the govermnor. 3
Buy Terrell
County Products
VOL. 43.—N0. 11
| ‘
BUSINESS 15 TRYING T 0
CORPORATICNS PAID TAXES
OF TWO AND HALF BILLION
DOLLARS LAST YEAR.
MANY ARE WITHOUT A PROFIT
About Five-Eighths of the Amount Is
State, County and Municipal. Ev
ery Dollar Paid for Salaries Is
Matched by One for Taxes.
Trying to get taxes cut is proving
an undisguised blessing to big busi
ness. It is better than a liberal edu
cation, for business, in Washington, in
force to beg congress to reduce all sort
of taxes, is finding out things about it
self that it never dreamed existed.
And whether business gets what it
wants or not—mostly not, for it can’t
| possibly have all it's asking for—bat
[talions of high powered salesmen and
|executives are going back home after
*thc scrap is over a much wiser set of
lmen, writes Harden Colfax, the Wash
!ingt(rn correspondent.
} Figured Out by Treasury. ;
| Take for instance, the simple little
{thing, how much business is paying
%in taxes of all kinds. The treasury has
| figured it out to the dollar; nobody
else could guess within $500,000,000.
Here are the ireasury’s figures:
Federal taxes $937,106,798,
’ State, county, city and all other
taxes $1,635,035,884.
| Total $2,570,142,682.
{ That, down to the small silver, is
(the amount of monéy paid in taxes to
government -treasuries by all the cor
porations in the United States last
vear. It will be observed that nearly
|twice as much was paid to states and
lesser divisions than to the federal
'government, The figure represents the
!grand total payments of 382,883 cor
porations on 1923 business. Of that
)number 212,535, or less than sixty per,
cent, made a profit. The others did
not, but many of them paid taxes just
the same,
Thus lesson number one sinks
home with the intgrnal revenue com
missioner, Uncle Sam’s tax collector
lin chief, as teacher. Lesson Pumher 2,
translated into the jargon oflthe street,
‘cun be summarized abovt as follows:
“For every dollar you big business
lmen paid your high salaried or under
| paid executives, as the case may be,
you paid another dollar in taxes. If
you're paying a genius $lOO,OOO a year
you're matching that $lOO,OOO with an
other $lOO,OOO to the tax collector.
Neck and neck the payments run: dol
lar for doMar, Here are the figures
gathered from every corporation do
ing business in the United States.
“Paid in taxes $2,570,142,682.
“Paid in salaries to officers $2,575,-
|875,186.” \
Lesson number three comes along
in due course, It runs about as fol
lows:
Expenses 94 Per Cent.
“You fellows did a whale of a busi
ness in 1923. Your total sales of all
sorts, plus all other kinds, run to $119,-
000,000,000 On the average every
man, woman and child in the United
States spent more than $lOO in trad
ing with you during the year. But—
“ Your net profit on that tremendous
turnover was just a shade above six
per cent. You made, net, on your 1923
business $7,634,263,443. Your expenses
|of doing business were nearly 94 per
cent of that sum, or upwards of $lll,-
000,000,000.”
And here comes the end of the les
son:
“You paid one-third of your net
profit to the tax collector.”
Figure it out: Net profits, $7,634,-
263,443; total tax payments $2,570,-
162,682. :
Part of these heavy tax payments,
however, are included in the big item
of expenses, running to $111,000,000,-
000. The payments to states and lesser
{units are so included; the payments
to the federal government are not. In
other words, part of that $2,570,000,-
000 tax bill was deducted, ‘along with
jother expenses, from gross earnings
before arriving at the figures which
represent net earnings, or $7,634,263,-
443. Now out of that total of net earn
'ing,s must come the federal tax, or
$937,106,798, hefore we can get an ac
curate line of net income, or the
amount available for distribution
among stockholders,
Making the deduction, net income
of a!l the corporations doing business
in_America is found to be $6,697,156,-
645 on 1923 transactions. That is at
the rate of 514 per cent on total sales
and other income.
In other words, out of every dollar
taken in by American corporations in
1923° 9414 cents was paid out for the
thousands of items composing its run
ning expenses, and 514 cents remain
ed in the treasury as profit. The fig
ure, of course, is an average one.
Nct Money Makers.
Studied ‘in that light, the corpora
tion hardly sizes up as the money ma
ker it has been misrepresented.
These figures, and many others that
go along in detail on the same general
subject are not estimates. They are
cold facts, gathered by the federal
treasury from the tax' returns of every
corporation in the country. They are
before the ways and means committee
and are being studied by the business
interests appearing before, that com
mittee to ask for this, that or the oth- -
er kind of tax reduction. g‘
The strongest man in the world is
the one who has control of himself.