BIG PROFITS OF WAR PROFITEERS
Big Profits of War Profiteers Wisconsin's Income Tax Returns Reveal Why Prices of Many Products have Soared: One Reason for High Cost of Living is Shown WISCONSIN lias a state income tax law...
...1,149,106 1916...
...356,024 1912...
...148,150 1912...
...1913...
...343,863...
...226,058 1914...
...45,666 3912...
...89,826 1913...
...3,316,200 3,429,100 1,485,312 American The Falk Gisholt Brass Co...
...Began business in 1913) 1913...
...79.4S7 1914...
...3915...
...1912...
...466,953 90,805 91,080 3915...
...218,864...
...100 1912...
...31,793 1914...
...213,836 1915...
...250,852 $S9,065 494,678 1914...
...Lehigh Valley Milwaukee C. Reiss Coal Coal Sales Coke &.Gas Co...
...Ohio Co„l Co...
...Milwaukee Clintonville 1911...
...8,941 1913...
...320,518 1934................................2S5.CC4 1915...
...61,444 1914...
...30,318 1915...
...1911...
...309,991 As Indicating that the metropolitan press was not hard bit by the paper trust witness the income of the Milwaukee Journal...
...218,641 1911.........$63,382 1912...
...We conscript our young men * to fight and pass the burden of taxes on to the next generation...
...Madison t Eau Claire 1911...
...11,414 1915...
...20S,SS7 1911...
...40,048 1916...
...303,289 60,905 820,202 1916...
...360,300 44,970 612,141 We may be assured that the coal mining companies are reaping unusually large profits, but as there are no coal mines in Wisconsin we have no official reports on the subject...
...1911...
...26,747 1911...
...Janesville 1911...
...48,673 3913---- 388,870 134,900 56,521 3914---- 285,636 337,482 51,854 3915---- 3,026,134 836,698 80,037 1916---- 878,070 695,586 107,;658 II The Tanning Companies Analyze these figures...
...Kenosha Milwaukee Fond du Lac 3911...
...Senator Hiram W. Johnson...
...Vinegar Hill Zinc Co...
...331,771 1910...
...22,970 1914...
...50,534 1916...
...322,269 1916...
...Appleton Appleton 1911...
...To exemplify this, let the law be applied theoretically to the Plankinton Packing Company: This corporation employs $2,000,000 capital in Wis-consin...
...950,513 656,398 384,663 111 The Shoe Manufacturers Here is anolher excess protit, to be borne by the people...
...F.Mayer Boot Harsh & Edmonds Nunn&Busch & Shoe Co...
...60,048 1914........, 89,278 1915...
...162,406 $137,906...
...Increased profits for the manufacturer mean higher prices to the consumer: Palmolive Soap Co...
...339,973 1916...
...14,404 1914........, 3 3,062, 3915...
...283,278 73,011 261,362 1915...
...2,290,009 822,712 2.378.8S4 V The Wholesale Fuel Companies The poor may shake and shiver in the chilling < i T T ow THE PEOPLE must laugh to I—I scorn a Congress that deals thus tenderly with war profits while dealing with such severity with the common human clay to be put against the gun...
...A. O. Smith Co...
...89,855 State Journal Printing Co...
...The income tax returns indicate that the retail shoe merchants did not share in the prosperity of j t»-pHERE IS A FEELING among the I people—and if you will get out among them, you will find it out...
...33,475 1912...
...S1.654 1915...
...To the Steel Corporation is returned under the bill nearly $300,000,000 war profits for this year...
...3,080 1912...
...14,705 3914...
...953,760 1915...
...97,654 1933...
...1911...
...Madison...
...Drummond Co...
...The opposition to Senator La Follette, on the part of the paper makers should occasion no surprise under the circumstances and conditions here shown to exist...
...IV Manufacturers of Iron, Steel and Brass Goods Here we find the real war profiteers...
...blasts of winter, but the coal barons rejoice exceedingly...
...894,922 How the Profits Tax Would Work The proposed tax of eighty per cent, on excess profits would not be "confiscatory," as the profiteers would have the people believe, neither would it remove the incentive for continuing in business...
...49,576 Chicago-Kenosha Hosiery Co...
...Under the operation of this law their profits would still be in excess of what they were in times of peace...
...Continued on page 10 t ^ r BELIEVE that it is a fallacious ar-I gument to say that we can make this war popular by collecting the revenue from the poor people and allowing big business to escape heavy taxation...
...162,940...
...5,573 1913...
...The net income for 1916, the first year after the war began, was $1,026,134 and by deducting an amount equal to the average annual profits in times of peace, in this case $121,009, we ascertain what has become known as "excess war profits...
...29,329 1915...
...16.093 1916...
...Milwaukee Milwaukee Eau Claire Capital--$2,000,000 $1,600,000 $125,000 Net Income Net Income Net Income 1911...
...265,652 1912........« 40.71S 1913...
...They demand that he be expelled from the senate...
...348,710 653,792 189.78G 1916...
...138,938 1915...
...212,430 1916...
...Can you justify it...
...230,266 1912...
...1S.524 1916...
...if you will go home and study it, you will soon ascertain it—that if the conscription of men is right, the conscription of wealth is right...
...210,700 G.80S 424,783 1916...
...107,984 1915...
...11,930...
...Milwaukee Journal Co...
...9.0S6 1915...
...13,632 IX The Powder Company Here is the real war patriot...
...10,052 1915...
...25,529 1912...
...its principal ingredient is obtained from the waste grease of this industry...
...Congress hands to the Steel Corporation, because, forsooth, it has coined the blood and the bone and the sinew of the land into dollars the monstrous sum of nearly three hundred millions...
...Th« clothing manufacturer, like the coal men, are not alarmed by the winter of the poor man's discontent...
...87,398 1913...
...1912...
...167,385 1914...
...45,739 Frontier Mining Co...
...This tax would amount to $723,C20 while the net profits, which would accrue to the stockholders of the corporation, would amount to $180,905 In addition to the $121,609, which is fifteen per cent, on the Investment, or nine per cent, more than the average earnings for the four preceding years...
...78,023 3913...
...259,418 1915...
...750,258 $24,746 1912...
...Bayfield Plant) Capital in 3916, $893,000 1911...
...4,904 233.S97...
...74,038 1911...
...2,620 1913...
...583,300 77,798 1914...
...235,464 120,574 8,719 1914...
...1,143,685 1916...
...10,275 1915...
...73,236 1915...
...35,945 1914...
...Milwaukee Milwaukee 1911...
...Kenosha Kenosha 1911.........$55,402 1911 ................, 1912...
...Every publisher of a country newspaper will recognize these "patriots" that held him by the throat UWJKO ARE THE SLACKERS...
...1,985 1914...
...Federal Allis Chalmers Simmons Pressed Steel Co...
...It will Interest him to know that the metropolitan dailies, had special contracts and were not compelled to pay the same rate of tribute as was levied against the "little ones...
...2,530 3914...
...565,930 3916.........1,318,270 191G.........551,15$ Wisconsin Zinc Co...
...95,339 3914...
...Capital, $125,000 Capital, $6,000 • 1911...
...1913...
...What marvelous manifestations of unrestrained patriotism...
...30,708 1913...
...To the owners of this company La Follette is anathema...
...Leather Co...
...Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee 3911...
...Milwaukee 1911................................$S4,785 1912...
...It is an indispensable household necessity...
...and went through his pockets...
...100,550 1916...
...1913...
...682,000 1914...
...112,611 1916...
...33,944 1915...
...Capital, $400,000 ' Capital, $85,000 3911...
...343,784 1916...
...Big Profits of War Profiteers Continued from page 5 1913...
...VI The Clothing Manufacturers Clothing is as indispensable as food and fuel...
...198,099 1913...
...Packing Co...
...1914...
...1912...
...165,787 VII The Motor Manufactures The war is proving a bonanza to motor manufacturers...
...Lucky Six Mining Co...
...1,239 1914...
...121,400 1916...
...1911...
...11,883 1914...
...165,297 0,166 367,417 1915...
...Earnings on capital invested outside the state are not included in these reports...
...Mineral Point Zinc Co...
...723.S08 123.1G6 1,939,038 Milwaukee North Western Youghiogheny Western Fuel Fuel Co...
...477,599 1913...
...264,G45 1912...
...791,192 1916...
...87,483 1913...
...Pflster-Vogel Leather American Hide & Co...
...500 1912...
...255,584 91,863 31,094 1915...
...897,076 Harley-Davidson Motor Four Wheel Drive Auto Co...
...429,732 400,920 239,011 Now observe the increased profits of these three enterprises—the packers who produce the hides, the tanners who make the leather and the manufacturers who make the shoes—and you will bo able to understand why the price of footwear has advanced...
...158,591 1916...
...28,386 1912...
...269,196 1912...
...225,603 Northern Paper Mills Co...
...340,958 3913...
...Cleveland Mining Co...
...He has betrayed the confidence they reposed In him when he was elected to represent Wisconsin in the United States Senate...
...Cooper Underwear Co...
...41,075 1912...
...Thomas B. Jeffrey Co...
...1S2.S82 $4,598 529,542 1913...
...Capital, $200,000 1911...
...705.C80 90,450 7,889 1916...
...93,070 1913...
...Capital, $30,000 Capital, $50,000 1911...
...7,244 1913...
...210,137 6,340 400,114 1914...
...Senator W. S. Kenyon...
...158,190 1916...
...60,218 1913...
...24,501 1916...
...125,769 71,781...
...1914...
...1914...
...One reason for the H. C. of L. will bo found in...
...162,194 1913...
...216,739 106,079 808 1913...
...7,489 1914...........$5,543 1914...
...Eau Claire Press Co...
...3,222,030 1916...
...Sons Co...
...2,S32,C29 X The Pulp and Paper Companies But for the robber baron bold, whom the government slapped so gently on the wrist, behold the paper trust...
...258,667 1914.........« 47,702 3915...
...400,494 $150,436 $9,372 3912...
...24,761 1914...
...95.3S8 1915...
...S6.374 1914...
...283,024 1914...
...82,322 1914...
...558,551 89,183 3 915...
...I think it is very generally understood that a very large majority of the people are opposed to any proposition which will make it possible for the money slack-• ers to escape a just and heavy tax on the profits and incomes they are making out of this war.''—Senator A. J. Gronna...
...26,357 1913...
...1913...
...3,846 1912...
...Shoe Co...
...77,572 Burr Mining Co...
...1914...
...90,736 1914...
...2,606...
...232,691...
...Why shouldn't* they be enthusiastic for war...
...1911...
...465,735 1913...
...1915...
...The following tabulations show the net incomes reported by a few corporations doing business in .Wisconsin for the past six years—1911 to 191C, inclusive, and illustrate how they profit by war while the masses suffer: I The Packing Plants People who eat meat are asking why there has been such an upward trend of prices within the last three years...
...239,688 $40,305 1912...
...1912...
...73,464 1913...
...Big Profits of War Profiteers Wisconsin's Income Tax Returns Reveal Why Prices of Many Products have Soared: One Reason for High Cost of Living is Shown WISCONSIN lias a state income tax law which requires' all corporations, co-partnerships and individuals to report annually their net earnings, or income, derived from business or investments within the state...
...The retail coal dealers, like the retailers in almost every other line of business, were not permitted tS share the profits of the producers and wholesalers...
...It amounts to $904,525, eighty per cent, of which should be paid into the federal treasury as a war tax...
...the "higher ups...
...863,168 Nekoosa-Edwards Paper Wausau Sulphate Fibre Co...
...3 9,049 3915...
...41,446 1916...
...Leather Co...
...1914...
...not of ordinary profits, mind you, but of war profits, computed under the terms of this bill...
...these tabulations...
...87,443 1913...
...Auto parts) 1911...
...Tlankinton PacKing Cudahy Bros...
...19,993 . 1914...
...432,796 1935...
...Formerly the B. J. Johnson Soap Co...
...211,266 329,578 29,518 3913...
...832,995 406,400 1910...
...26,348 1911...
...2,457 1911........< $33,542 1912...
...What sublime willingness to sacrifice shall characterize this generation on the pages of history...
...95,138 1913...
...303,661 1916...
...110,347 $21,190 1912...
...They get better prices and fat war orders...
...3912...
...Its average annual net income for the four years immediately preeediug the war—1911 to 1914, inclusive, was $121,009 or about six per cent, on the investment...
...1911...
...58,077 3 914...
...1915...
...79,825 1916...
...7S2.553 1915...
...39,726 1911...
...102,708 1912.........$43,680 1913...
...484,839 70,029 1913...
...Bear in mind that the earnings for 1917 are not included...
...They are deriving but littl* profit, or none at all, from the increase in price...
...They will explain why the price of leather has been soaring...
...2,638 1915...
...1914...
...9,419 1913...
...79,698 $9,846 3912...
...Their fire places are aglqw with abundant heat...
...313,249 1915...
...Jancsville Clothing Co...
...14,186 3911.........: $5,351 3912...
...45,203 1916...
...4,753 1913...
...139,857 1915...
...Kenosha Milwaukee (Now, Nash Motor Co...
...770,998 Green Bay Paper £ Fibre Menasha Paper Co...
...1911...
...1911...
...28,373 1913...
...2,824,473 408,032 N. H. Allen's Albert Trostcl k Fred Reuping Sons Co...
...They demand that he be expelled from the Senate—he does not yield to their brand of patriot* ism...
...658,753 VIII The Mining Companies The lead and zinc mines of southwestern Wisconsin have waxed fat since the war began and their profits are likely to increase as long as it continues...
...1913...
...Machine Co...
...17,929 Soap is largely a by-product of the packing business...
...Thllmany Pulp and Paper Kimberly-Clark Company Co...
...Shoe Co...
...Phoenix Knitting Works Bradley Knitting C», Milwaukee Delavan Capital, $75,000...
...428 1913...
...they are not yet available...
...Can you justify it particularly at this time, when you demand the maximum of human sacrifice...
...15,526 1912.........$126,063 1913...
...1911...
...Dells Paper & Pulp Co...
...427,058 1916.........¦ 167,361 Lewis Knitting Co...
...1,490,844 1915...
...29,355 1911...
...1912...
...36,729 1915...
...36,700 1912...
...E. I. du Pont de Nemours Co...
...12,510 3912...
...Peacock Mining Co...
...471,361 260,720 1,130,040 1916...
...18,650 1916...
...205,509 162,946...
...1911...
...Senator William E. Borah...
...830,3 39 69,061 1913...
...27,753 1912...
...188,043 57,056 57,643 1916...
...Capital in Wis., $740,000 Capital, $150,000 13II...
...114,848 1916...
...402,970 21,385 3914...
...1.97S.329 1916...
...It denounces the war-profits tax with special vehemence...
...367 1912...
...Why shouldn't they condemn any man who proposes, and makes a determined fight for a just war—profits tax—a tax on profits in excess of peace profits of 80% the same as England has...
...1,309,195 1916...
...1913...
...157,361 1915...
...320,094 3912...
...65,668 1912...
Vol. 10 • January 1918 • No. 1
