^ ® Corporation As A Tax Collector
WHISTLE
Copyright, 1951, Marshall Field & Company
Issued Every Two Weeks By and For
the Employees of Fieldcrest Mills, Divi
sion of Marshall Field & Company, Inc.,
Spray, North Carolina
OTIS MARLOWE Editor
No. 15 Monday, Feb. 19, 1951 Vol. IX
These Are The Times
That Measure Greatness
You think of Washington as great,
and Jefferson and Lincoln. The word
is bestowed, usually, on statesmen,
world leaders and warriors of the past.
But greatness can be contemporary,
too, and it is often revealed in every
day actions. Times of great need bring
it forth in many men, in many fields.
Throughout America today, in fac
tories and mines and offices, are thous
ands of men who are heading the work
on the most powerful resource the
world has' ever known—the might of
American production.
These are the men of management.
Some are directing a hundred peo
ple, or less; some, many thousands—as
many as six hundred thousand in one
organization.
In the last five years' they have lifted
America’s industrial capacity to a level
undreamed of before. They will meet
the challenge to lift it stiU higher.
These men are not great, as head
lines and textbooks count greatness.
They would be the last to claim a place
in history for what they are doing.
But their work has helped to make
this a great nation. It is now helping
to keep it secure.
—Courtesy, N. W. Ayer & Son, Inc.
★
Visitors To The
Mills And Offices
From Other Sections of the
Company:
E. K. Beauchamp New York
H. H. Haig New York
T. J. Corbett New York
J. H. Byler New York
J. F. Crawford New York
M. C. Marwede New York
O. G. Grubbs' New York
T. F. Young New York
D. L. Jones New York
From Other Firms:
S. I. RusseU Northern Electric Co.
■ ★
Mrs. Henpecked: “I suppose you’ve
been to See a sick friend — holding his
hand all evening.
Mr. Henpecked (sadly): “If I’d been
holding his hand, I’d have made some
money.”
2
In 1945 all goods and services
of America’s 570,806 corporations (millions)
cost and would have sold for $91,670 .
If government had not ordered
corporations to collect from
customer hidden taxes in the amount of $17,606
The selling price thus became • $109,276
5
,. 83.9%
... 16.1%
...100%
-■nr-i
la g * ■'YW rr
The government during 1945 collected direct taxes in the amount
of $26,979,000,000 and “corporation taxes” In the amount of
$17,606,000,000.
Direct taxes on individuals (sales tax, property tax, etc.) are easy
to understand and their payment is known to the people who pay
them.
But corporation taxes being indirect are not generally understood:
They are mistakenly considered as a tax that is paid by the corpora
tion, whereas they are actually paid by the customers of the corpora
tion.
The selling price of every corporate product is made up of:
(1) the amount that the corporation needs to recover its costs, and
(2) the amount that the government ordered the corporation to col
lect on the government’s behalf.
If the tax did not exist, the cost, and, therefore, the selling price,
would he that much less.
Thus we see that “corporation taxes” are, in practice, hidden
sales taxes.
There is nothing wrong with using the corporation as tax collector,
but the process should be called what it is.
This is the ninth in a series of 10 articles dealing with money and its uses in our economic system.
The articles are based on the book “Money,” written by Fred G. Clark and Richard Stanton Riman-
oczy and published by D. Van Nostrand Company. The American Economic Foundation (295 Madison
Avenue, New York City) has granted permission to publish the series.
A minister advertised for a handy
man and the next morning a neat young
man rang the bell.
“Can you start the fire and have
breakfast ready by seven oclock,” ask
ed the minister.
The young man thought he could.
“Can you polish all the silver, wash
the dishes and keep the house and
grounds neat and tidy?”
“Look, Reverend,” protested the young
man. “I came here to see about getting
married, but if it’s going to be anything
like that, you can count me out!”
Seated next to each other on the train,
the two strangers remained silent as
the train traveled mile after mile. Sud
denly one of them, an old codger, turn
ed to the fellow at his side and shouted,
“Blast it. I know I’m getting deaf.
You’ve been talking to me for half an
hour, and I haven’t heard a single word
you’ve said in all that time!”
“Take it easy, mister,” said the other
fellow. “I’m chewing gum.
The longest five years in a woman’s
life are between 29 and 30.
FIELDCREST MILL WHISTLE