It Sounds Logical
Joseph Thompson
[Reprinted from an undated pamphlet, Simple Talks
on Taxation, published by the author]
... Well, here's one tax you can't
belly-ache about.
Which
one is that?
The Gas Tax.
It
does sound reasonable.
It sure does!
But
is it?
There you go! I knew you'd
have some kick about it.
Well,
it's no worse than our other tax asinities.
I say it's a damn sight
better! The car driver uses die roads. He ought to pay for them!
I
just said it sounded reasonable. But if the road wasn't built,
the motorist wouldn't be there.
Is tha-at so? How did you
figure that out?
It
does sound silly, but wait a minute. The road goes from some
place to some place else, doesn't it?
I suppose you want me to
say a lot of roads go from nowhere to nowhere, Huh?
No.
You can skip that one.
Well, what do you want me
to say?
I
don't want you to say anything. I want you to think. Let's; say
the road goes from Ames, on the highway, to Berry, off the
highway. Is it only the motorist who is benefited by it?
He couldn't make the trip
without the road.
Not
only he couldn't, but he wouldn't. Right?
Cern'ly.
So
someone in Berry wouldn't get the business he might of got if
the motorist had come there.
Cer'nly. How could he?
That's
what I say. How could he? One bit of business, out of hundreds
he might of had if the road was built. And that would raise the
land value in Berry.
For Crissakes! Pulling it
'round to your damn land value, again! I suppose an eclipse of
the moon would make an increase in land value?
Just
to be smart, I could say that it would bring a temporary value
to certain good viewing locations, but let's get back to Ames
and Berry. The road would immediately raise land values in
Berry. So the road contributes a damn sight more to Berry's
location value than to the motorist's convenience. He may only
be there once, or he could go somewhere else.
Then you'd seem to think
the land-owners in Berry ought to pay for the road.
They,
and the land-owners in Ames.
In A-ames!
Sure.
Ames would be more of a town if a road came in to it from some
other place. Both would profit.
Yeah, but so would the
motorist.
He
might For an hour or two. But it's business all day with the
towns of Ames and Berry. The more motorists, the more business.
The more business, the higher goes the land value. But so far as
building the road is concerned, there's several others that
ought to be declared in on the cost.
You ought to be satisfied.
You've hung it on the landlords.
But
not enough of them.
Not enough! Meaning what?
Well,
there's some landlords, maybe a thousand miles away, who oughter
help getting rid of the gas tax.
Holy Gee! I don't see that!
Well,
there's some landlords, far off, collecting royalties on oil,
simply because they have title to the land.
Why the hell shouldn't they
if they own the land?
And
I'll ask you; Why the hell should they? They didn't put the oil
there.
Can't you allow a little
something for luck?
We're allowing a dam sight too much for luck, right now, with
you and me paying them their royalties.
You and me! The oil
companies pay the royalties.
But
you're smart enough to know, I hope, that the oil companies pass
them right along to us.
Well if the gov'ment took
the royalties, the oil people would pass them on to us, too. So
where'd be the difference?
Where'd
be the difference? Where'd be the difference! Gosh. Look. The
gover'ment collects the land rental It's high on account of the
oil.
Sure, and the companies go
right on passing it on to us! And there we are. Right where we
were!
Except
for one thing. One big, big thing.
Except for what?
Except
that the gov'ment, getting its income where it should, would
stop taxing the gas. Of course we'd have to keep the politicians
from collecting at both ends.
I don't get it.
Don't
get it! Why, you pay royalty and - and, mind you - and gas taxes
now. With gov'ment collecting the royalty, taxes should be out
You'd only be paying one instead of both.
Say, fellers, you'll excuse
me for buttin' in, but I just want to say that I think our
friend here, forgets that the government takes most of that
royalty money in income tax.
No.
I haven't overlooked it, nor the fact that the counties take
some land tax now. But what the gov'ment leaves on the table,
makes what it gathers in look like peanuts. Nobody gets as much
money as fast as the oil-land men, and for doing nothing. I say
the Gov'ment ought to collect the royalty and raus mit der
gas tax!
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