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About The advocate. (Portland, Or.) 19??-19?? | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 1932)
N EW Th ese A r e T h e Ta cts- - D c i r t De M isle d ! c S . : 5 . o * e o * '* * *J P e a c V ® * . j « «A V>® o * •• V*.v.et \ a+ * . ^ °*V 4 dv * * • « .< : : . - be * «e-® ca i °' t oO- * ." > • * * s * of ^ r o o » * o * V 4 o'" * .^ 0<\,« . N* °V,o>i'A .. r< :> ‘ o '* * » * ? > > ,c*^*0l ^ o ' * * , . ^ - * . . . * k °* J O K E R IS C H A R G E O IN T H E A N T I C H A I N S T O R E O RD IN AN CE Every re ta il sto re In P o rtlan d , re g a rd le ss of Its site, will have an a n nual license tax ot 9* levied again st It under the provisions ot ordinance SJ 451. so law yers Insist they have u n e a rth e d trom the hidden te rm s ot Its language T h a t w as not th e purpose o r Intent o t th e train ers, but a cc o rd ing to th e co n te n tio n now m ade th a t will be its e ffe c t once It becom es the law T he ord in an ce Is w hat la generally known a s th e "anti-chain sto re ordt- nanae." w hich was passed by the council, but held up by referendum , a n d |g BOV "» A s N ovem ber r n t o u pal ballot tor a pproval or rejectio n by the v o ters of the city. T he announced purpose of the ord i nance w hen it w as e n acted by the council was to levy a g ra d u ated li cense tax on sto re s held upder one o w nership and control T his proposed license ra n g es from IS on a single sto re to |5 0 tor each sto re so o perated In excess ot |? 0 T he unintended Joker seem s to lie, how ever. In th e fact th a t th e re are som ething like 1900 sm all e sta b lish m en ts in the c ity which pay no license under th e e x istin g o rdinance T hese would bn required to pay the |S li cense u n d rr th e proposed ordinance; and In addition tie subjected to c e r tain Inspection reg u latio n s and fees not now provided. T hen, so It la contended th e re la »■other aide whloh woaM iOMa to provide th a t all those sto re s which now pay a license fee to perm it th e ir op eratio n un d er th e propoeed ordl- nunc would be required to pay an a d ditional fee of $6 T he penalty for violation of any of the provisions of the ordinance Is a fine of not to e x re ed t&oo or Im prisonm ent for not ex ceeding six m onths, or both. T O O SW EEPIN G It is comm on d e te ct ot tax m easures ottered for the purpose of accom plish ing som ething o th er th an th e raising of rev en u es th a t they h it in unintend ed places. T he ch ain sto re tax m easu re on the city ballot is, a s everybody know s, not especially designed as a new m eans of raisin g revenues. R a th e r its i im ary purpose is to sum m on th e pow er of taxation to equalize com petion be tw een chain sto re s and Independents. B ut it is now disclosed th a t th e m ea sure is so sw eeping th a t it would im pose a new tax on sm all business whose chief revenues a re from so u r ces o th er th an th e sale of goods and com m odities. A b a tte ry re p a ir shop, for exam ple, w hich in cid en tally keeps a few b a t te rie s for sale, would pay a re ta ile rs' tax. T he b a rb e r shop and th e beauty shop th a t sell lotions in sm all quanti tie s as a side line would pay. Plum b ers whose m ain incom e is from labor, garages which su b sist m ainly on sto r age and re p airs, a n d m any o th e r sm all lines of business in w hich sale of a r ti cles is p- «ly Incidental to th e ir m ain purpose of ex isten ce would be g a th e r ed Into the new ly taxed group. T he tim es a re n o t propitious for placing new tax burdens upon sm all e stab lish m en ts w hose m ain function is to re n d er personal service o r o th er w ise expend hum an labor for liveli hood. As a possible source of revenue th ey should be am ong th e la st reso rts, and be taxed only when public govern m ent has strip p ed ex p en d itu res to the bone and still can n o t survive. TAX ON STORES FEARED T R O U B L E I I L I V E O D UE ON C H A IN -S T O R E A C T All E stab lish m en ts, »m all and L arge. Will Have to Ot^ tain Lies nee T he proposed "chain sto re " o rdi nance. su b m itted to the e le cto ra te on the city ballot In the Novem ber e le c Hon re g u la tin g and licensing stores, Is likely lo becom e a storm re n te r before the cam paign ends T he o rd i nance d e clare s th a t no sto re can op e ra te w ithout a license, and the defi nition Of "sto re" Is "Any sto re or m ercan tile estab lish m en t In which goods, w ares or m e rrh a in d lse of any kind a re sold, e ith e r a t w holesale or r e ta il" U nder th e te rm s of th e proposed or dinance. h undreds of sm all establish m enta which at present, do not hsve to pay license m ust pay $6 a year, and e stab lish m en ts w hich a re now li censed. un d er the new ord in an ce will have to pay the ad ditional 96 Follow ing the In terp re ta tio n of "store." n early every re ta ile r of any a rtic le In P ortland will be subject to the license fee It Includes beauty parlors and b arber shops. If toilet w a te rs . to n ics or fa re c rea m s a re sold to custom ers. It will Include d ealers In autom obile b a tte rie s and e v erything else T he o rdinance la all em bracing Inasm uch a s It ro v e rs ev ery place w here "goods, w ares or m erchandise" are sold. A section of the proposed ordinance d eclares “ the license provided for by the provisions of this a rtic le shall be In addition to all o th sr licenses now applicable to any business hereby li censed required shall be Issued on the paym ent of the highest license fee applicable." J o u rn a l—Sept 28 O regonian—Hept. 27 T h e C h a in T a x iilu a t io n T he m otives of P o rtlan d 's Independent m erc h an ts In placing on the N ovem ber ballot a m ea su re to tax chain atorsa a re undoubtedly above rep ro ach . T hase m erc h an ts, who e ngineered the In itiatin g of th is pro posed law . believe they a re right. In theory, they m ay be so. H ow ever, th is n ew sp ap er w ishes to point out to Its re a d e rs th e g re at fallacy of the bill. On every side we hear a rg u m e n ts about red u ctio n In taxes. W e have a g re a t m ass of persons who w ish to h ave th e ir tax burdens lifted. lA>t us co n sid er w hat will happen If th is law p a sses and the chain sto re s a re taxed. It will not m ean a n y th in g out of th e chain sto re s' pockets. T h is tax will m erely be passed along to th e m en and women who m ake p u rc h ase s In th ese sto re s. In o th e r w ords, by voting a tax on chain sto res, th e vo ters a re m ere ly penalizing th o se p ersons who p a tro n lie th ese sto re s. V oters should he w ary of each and every tax bill on th e ballot. T he m ost of th ese bills strik e only a t th e u ltim ate consum er. T he chain sto re tax bill Is one of th ese bills Vote ag ain st It If you wish to pro tect yourself a g a in st fu rth e r taxation. VOTE "501 NO." E d ito rial N ew s-T elegram , N ovem ber 2, PAID A D V E R T I S E M E N T BY OREQON PR O DU CERS’ AND CONSUMERS’ LEA GU E 606 Y E O N BLDG., P O R TL A N D , OREGON O regonian E d ito rial—Sept 28 Why Increase Living Costs? W hy T ax Y ourself? VOTE 501 C I T Y O R D IN A N C E ......... N O VE M BE R E L E C T IO N Why Increase Living Costs? W hy Tax Yourself?