Calvin Coolidge Comments on the Negative Effects of Taxes on the Economy

"Another and most important consideration, a fact that cannot be controverted, is that taxes have to be paid by the public. They cannot be imposed on any class. There is no power that can prevent a distribution of the burden. The landlord may be the one who sends a check to the public treasury, but his tenants nevertheless make the payment. A great manufacturer may contribute a large share to his income, but still the money comes from the consumer. Taxes must and do fall on the people in whatever form or name they are laid. There is no other source rich enough or powerful enough to meet the public requirements. It is useless to delude ourselves, and fraudulent to attempt to delude others, with the claim that the public revenues are or can be derived from any source save the people them selves. Property cannot long be taxed. It can be confiscated. Ultimately it is always the user of property that is taxed. In Massachusetts the users of the property are the people. The taxes are paid by the people.

It is impossible to escape the conclusion that high taxes make high prices. So long as the cost of government is high the cost of living will be high. This is usually a source of misunderstanding and always a source of discontent. The duty that government now owes to the people is to reduce their burdens by paying off the obligations that came from the war rather than imposing additional burdens for the support of new projects. The Commonwealth needs a double portion of the civilizing influence of conservation and economy. Having met our war obligation to pay, let us meet our peace obligation to save.

The unsound social and economic theories which deluge the earth from time to time are not the progeny of stalwart men and women. Sound bodies do not breed unsound doctrines. Along with a vigorous training for physical development should go a teaching to think healthful thoughts. For after all it must be remembered that "as a man thinketh in his heart so is he."

By His Excellency, Governor Calvin Coolidge- from his Address to the Massachusetts General Court- January 8, 1920