Canadian Film Weekly (Apr 14, 1948)

Page 4 NO TAX RELIEF THIS WAY" (Continued from Page 1) to theatres be singled out to support hospitals? Taxes in this country are too high. Too much of our national income is going into government expenditures which create few if any new jobs: not nearly enough into new industry which creates many jobs. But we are not going to get our tax bills reduced one single mill so long as any government is permitted to absorb what another sheds. In that way there is no gain whatever for the taxpayer who foots the bill for all three layers of government. Out of his pocket and his alone all government revenue must come, either directly or indirectly. To him it doesn’t make much difference how the levy is divided between municipal, provincial and federal authoritics, it is the total that counts. And it is the total that he wants to see reduced. He will only get that reduction when governiments start discarding and reducing taxes and the other governments let them stay discarded or reduced. HOSPITAL TAX TOO HIGH’ (From a second editorial about the Amusement tax in the ‘Toronto Globe and Mail.) This newspaper believes that the 20 per cent tax on amusements is too high. The rate is the same as that now imposed by the Dominion Government, which was designedly excessive. During the war, it was necessary to use every reasonable means to draw off surplus purchasing power, and whether or not such a rate was equitable in relation to: the price of amusement, or proportionate to other forms of taxation, was not considered. What was patriotically accepted as justified then, however, is much more difficult to defend now. Since no small proportion of the cost of living, which bears so heavily on lower incomes, is due to taxation, the Ontario Government would have been very wise to have reduced this levy. The severity of the tax may lower the revenue which will be derived from it, especially as admissions to most forms of entertainment have been decreasing. . There was a time when ‘professionally supplied amusement was a luxury in the lives of most people. That time has gone. With the rise of mass entertainment, paralleled with the reduction of working hours, the relaxation afforded by cheap amusement has become a yirtual necessity. This should have been recognized by the government, and the additional burden of one-fifth of the basic price of admission lightened. If a simple amendment had been made to the wording of the bill, making the 20 ‘per cent tax a maximum, the Government would have given itself some leeway in setting a lower rate, adjusting it to suit circumstances or need, One thing the matter does clear up. It should settle for this year, at least, the rumors that the Government intends to go to the country. The imposition of such an extreme tax, affecting such a wide section of the voters, however worthy its use, is scarcely the action of a Government which seeks to build popularity with the electorate. It is on questions like this that voters’ decisions are based. "Be Nice To Emily’ Ronald Reagan and Viveca Lindfors will star in Warners’ forthcoming production, “Be Nice to Emily.” Alex Gottlieb will produce the Matt Taylor story. Wilder To Script Robert Wilder has been signed by Paramount to script “Web of Days.” Opera Singer Signed Theodora Lynch, lyric soprano, has been signed to a long-term contract by Allied Artists. e Bing Crosby Bing Crosby is doing the narration and singing for Walt Disney’s “Ichabod Crane,” which will be released as part of “Two Fabulous Characters,” Canadian FILM WEEKLY Ont. Theatre Branch Grossed $225,000 Revenue of the Motion Picture Censorship and Theatre Inspection branch of the Ontario Treasury was $225,000 for 1947-48, according to the budget of Provincial Treasurer Leslie M. Frost, while estimates allowed the branch for that period totalled $186,000. Estimates for 194849 are $198,000, an increase of $12,000. ; The fiscal year ends March 3lst and the revenue is ten months actual and two months estimated. THE BEST POST-WAR PREMIUM NEWS! 69 York Street IY CCCCCCRRCORR ce OO RPEEEIR > Real Silverware (E.P.N.S.) THE SURE-FIRE BOX OFFICE ATTRACTION 42-Piece Set, Service for Eight For exclusive rights in your zone write, telephone or wire TODAY N. FRIEDLANDER SALES COMPANY 4 WB Subsidiary } Dies In Philadelphic Leonard §, Schlesinger 4 president of the newly-organjy % Warner Brothers Service Co iis ration, a subsidiary Which fae ages and supervises the theatres’ concessions, died recently jn a Philadelphia hospital after @ lon illness. : Schlesinger started in the in. dustry at the age of 14, In 1928 he joined Warners and was Made assistant to Joseph Bernhard in New York in 1937. He Served jn the Seabees during the War and in 1946 he was named president. 46 7e7e “eZ e/47e/ es BOO OOS OS Toronto, Ont. 8D ee “eee “eee “eee “ee area axe aero aoa are, P, OOS COON RR RRO LOE A sie