We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
SSfff __E_ X HIBITORS HERALD fi%y
The Truth About the War Tax
The war tax on films has cost the undersigned a total of approximately $100,000.00 a WEEK ever since October 4th — not beginning November 1st, as so many exhibitors think — but October 4th, the day President Wilson signed the bill.
The government never expected us to pay that money out of our own pockets, but it does hold us responsible for that amount, and i: is not concerned in our method of getting it.
Uncle Sam merely says "Pay me."
He expects us to COLLECT that amount and turn it over to him at the rate of about $400,000.00 on the first of every month.
The only possible place we can collect it is from the public, but we can't do this direct because we don't own the theatres. We therefore have to do our collecting through the people with whom we deal directly — the exhibitors.
Nor does the government expect the exhibitors to stand this drain on their own bank accounts. It expects the exhibitors to COLLECT the money from the public — because every tax ultimately comes from the people.
Every school boy knows that if a tax is placed on cigars, this tax becomes a part of the COST of producing and marketing the cigars, and is therefore paid by the men who ultimately CONSUME the cigars.
If a tax is placed on telephone calls, the tax is paid by the USERS of the telephone.
Any tax that is levied on the theatre you occupy is added to the rent by your landlord and in the end you pay the tax — not the landlord. And you, in turn, operate your theatre for a profit and in so doing you pass that tax, plus all your other expenses, PLUS YOUR PROFIT on to the public for ultimate payment.
And so on with everything and anything that is taxed or taxable.
Some exhibitors have scolded us for announcing that we intend to obey the government's command to come through and act as tax collector. Some of them have cancelled their orders with some of our exchanges.
But the cold, hard fact remains that we MUST collect the tax for Uncle Sam and we intend to obey orders from Washington.
That's the whole story of the tax in a nutshell. We can't dodge it and you can't. Your clear duty is to collect the tax from your patrons.
And if any of your patrons kick about it or threaten to quit patronizing your theatre because you do your plain duty, you'll know how we felt when exhibitors did the same thing to us.
Incidentally, and to set any fears or suspicions at rest, there is not a penny of profit in it for us to collect FIFTEEN CENTS PER REEL PER DAY from exhibitors. As a matter of
10