Is it not perfectly manifest to the meanest understanding that any business man fomenting our entrance into the war for the purpose of gain must have been entirely bereft of his senses and would have been a fit subject for the appointment of a guardian to take care of himself and his affairs?
II
Now as to the allegations concerning taxation.
1. The largest incomes are taxed far more heavily here than anywhere else in the world.
The maximum rate of income taxation here is 67 per cent. In England it is 42½ per cent. Ours is therefore 50 per cent. higher than England's and the rate in England is the highest prevailing anywhere in Europe. Neither republican France nor democratic England—containing in their cabinets Socialists and representatives of labour—nor autocratic Germany have an income tax rate anywhere near as high as our maximum rate. And in addition to the federal tax we must bear in mind our state and municipal taxes.
2. Moderate and small incomes, on the other hand, are subject to a far smaller rate of taxation here than in England.
In America, incomes of married men up to $2,000 are not subject to any federal income tax at all.
| In England the tax on incomes of | $1,000 is | 4½% |
| In England the tax on incomes of | 1,500 is | 6¾% |
| In England the tax on incomes of | 2,000 is | 7⅞% |
(These are the rates if the income is derived from salaries or wages; they are still higher if the income is derived from rents or investments.)
The English scale of taxation on incomes of, say, $3,000, $5,000, $10,000 and $15,000, respectively averages as follows, as compared to the American rates for married men: