UNIVERSAL SQUEEZE

Evening Star, Issue 23908, 11 June 1941, Page 8

UNIVERSAL SQUEEZE

TAXATION AS LOW COMEOY I must admit the painful nature of the subject, but whether we curse the circumstances or not we are born to pay and keep on paying until we die—and after. In this great sorrow, with taxes mounting all the time, it gives me some measure of relief to describe how people are taxed in other parts of the world (writes Stephen Helen, in the ‘ Sydney Morning Herald ’). After all, if you are alone in your trouble, it becomes unbearable. You are inclined to revolt. You are certain to become bitter. But to see others suffering, too—well, .the torture becomes almost a pleasure. Such is human nature, and there is no need to be ashamed of it. Actually the comfort to be derived from other people’s tribulations is a physical necessity, as Professor Adler, the great Viennese psychologist, would say, and Freud would doubtless agree. A burden well spread is a burden lightened, particularly when it is found that the inhabitants of other nations are worse off than ourselves. Take, for example, unhappy Europe, the moat expensive continent in the world, where all our present worries, including taxation, started. There is ,of course, taxation—and taxation. May I quote a personal experience? I was first taxed at the age of nine—not in school, but on the square where we used to play. There came a boy, a hulking bully, almost grown-up, who exacted from us our' toys, our marbles, our penknives—anything. If ever we were unable or unwilling to pay, he thrashed us. It went on a long time like this, until we decided in desperation to challenge him and his strong-arm mates to battle. Arrows, stones, and terrifying war cries were our weapons. A decisive encounter ensued, ending in victory for the smaller, and much more numerous, boys. After this the terror of the square vanished, and life was peaceful (and property secure) again. When later, in Germany, I saw the Brownshirts trying to sell people valueless badges and blackmaiing them with every means of terror and force, I-al-ways recalled the Battle of the Bullies. PAY UP, OR A few centuries ago it was a custom in the Balkans that every virgin should go to her lord for one night. Only after this could she obtain permission to be married. They called ,it the “ taxation of blood.” There were other forms of taxation, too. Taxes of money, taxes of property, or taxes of sons (you could always sell your son to be a soldier). Failure to meet obligations under these heads usually involved - the loss of at least one ear. or some other excruciating punishment. Yes, taxes were taxes in those days. Of course, the Dark Ages are over now, and we all enjoy liberty and humanity. We live in a refined century, a polite age. Governments do not inflict their taxes in so rude a manner. They merely obtain the same results in. a different way. In Europe, before the present war broke out, a citizen had to pay the following taxes, irrespective ot the standard of his earnings:— “Straight” taxation; income tax; consummation; earnings: property (whether the poor devil admitted that he had any or not—he must, said the authorities, have something, otherwise he couldn’t keep himself alive); bachelor tax; entertainment tax; and taxes on meat, wine, tobacco, sugar, etc. That was for the poorer folk. Citizens with visible property had to pay 17 to 20 per cent, of their gross income, and taxation on wealth could be from 1 to 60 per cent. And, of course, there were other taxes as well. In Holland, believe it or not, the air was taxed! The ordinary air you breathe. The Dutch had to pay for the air they consumed in their rooms. (Every room was measured and the “ air tax ” had to be paid accordingly.. Things have improved, however, for in the old days only the poor paid the taxes, and the rich and powerful cob lected them. Nowadays we all have to share the burden, no matter in what position we stand. . UNPROFITABLE MARRIAGE. From Europe let us peep at other parts of the world where Europeans live—South America, for instance. There, in addition to the “ usual ” impositions, there is a tax which is assessed according to your wealth, and position. It is called the “marriage tax.” This is different from the timehonoured custom of penalising the bachelor for not ensuring the nation’s future, as he is expected to do. The idea is to make a poor fellow pay the State for the privilege of burdening himself with matrimony—as though he would not do so in any case! A similar custom can be observed amongst some Indian tribes on the Amazon, and curiously enough with some negro tribes in the African jungles. Probably the custom was taken over from one continent to the other, and there found followers. The tradition is to pay a tax, in cattle, fish, or even women, for every child horn. The philosophy of this tax with the Indians and negroes is that the children will work for the head of the family if they are hoys, and, if they are girls, they will he sold by him. So, in a way, the tax on, a girl is an income tax. The law of the tribe is fair enough, though, for the father only has to pay when his child reaches_ the age of 12, and then he pays by weight. In Europe they would call that “ meat tax.” In other coloured countries, such as India, we find that the . Hindus and Mohammedans—or, at any rate, the masses—pay their religious taxes conscientiously, hut decline to pay any other tax. In Java and Bali Bali, where practically everybody is an artist, woodcarver, painter, or musician, taxes have to be paid with work—everybody must make a wood carving for one of the temples, or something like that. Another form of taxation (indignantly prohibited by the Dutch) is_ to pay the taxes of the community with fighting cocks! In Japan practically every phase of human effort is taxed, in _ many cases up to 100 per cent. In China taxation is voluntary, a patriotic gesture, but sometimes when bandits or officials are not satisfied with the results they extract the money without any questions and by direct action. Poor coolies, such as the ones who take the munitions supplies along the Burma Road, pay with their work. In the United States, President Roosevelt, introducing the Now Deal, created a different taxation altogether. I was travelling on an American cruise ship at the time, and all the passengers were complaining, but at the same time strangely satisfied. “ We have to pay for our freedom.” one of them observed with a deep sigh. In the States, of course, there are unofficial forms of taxation. Gangsters screw out “ protection ” money, and so on. So much for paying taxes. What

about the collection of them? To in a it seems that the best tax collectors ar® in India—the priests and fakii-s. They usually collect religious taxes, not by going from door to door, urging the people la pay, but by standing with praying hands oil the corner of a street,All who come along are supposed to pay their caste and other taxes. Will ih be believed that they actually pay with a smile, a deep bow, and no outward sign of sorrow? Perhaps the explanation of theii cheerfulness is that the fakir is the only tay collector.who tortures himself, and not his fellow citizens 1 .