Taxpayers in Revolt: Tax Resistance During the Great Depression
Index
Adams, James Ring, xi
All-City Publicity Committee (Chicago), 76: urges collection of taxes by teachers, 87; calls for tough action against tax strike, 89. See at so Teachers in Chicago
American Banker, 105
American City, 9, 101, 119
American Council on Education, 130
American Federation of Teachers, 181 (n. 17)
American Library Association, 15, 107
American Mercury, 119
American Municipal Association, 19, 21, 157; compares budget cutters to anarchists, 127; on a world without taxes, 127-28; and tax-limitation legislation, 128, 143; condemns across-the-board salary reductions for public employees, 150
American Political Science Association, 106, 130
American Public Welfare Association, 149, 181 (n. 17)
American Taxpayers’ League, 18
“Amos ‘n’ Andy,” 135
Anarchists: tax resisters and budget cutters compared to, 73-74, 106, 126-28
Anderson, William, 109, 118-19
Arnold, Frank G., 33
Association of Commerce (Milwaukee), 22
Association of Real Estate Taxpayers (Chicago), xii; formation of, 44-46; relationship to Chicago Real Estate Board, 46-47; leadership of, 46-49; endorses “funding,” 50; and personal property taxation, 50-56, 99; early program of, 50-59; campaigns for revenue article, 52-53; and lax strike, 54; and government spending, 54-55, 75; petition before the Illinois Tax Commission, 55-58; endorses legislation to limit general property taxation, 55-58, 99; hires services of law firm, 58-59; court litigation of, 58-59, 64-65; radio broadcasts of, 63, 65, 71-72, 86; and tax sales, 64-65, 95; calls for voiding the 1930 assessment, 64-65, 175-76 (n. 16), 177 (n. 35); campaign against the Kelly plan, 66-70, 177 (nn. 27, 31); growth in membership, 70-71; and movement to close the schools, 76-77; characteristics of membership, 81-86, 179 (nn. 3, 4); city government takes coercive measures against, 88-92, 94-95, 180 (n. 23); defeated in the courts, 92; factional dispute within, 92-95; calls general membership meeting, 93-95; injunction granted against, 94-95; demise of, 95-96; effectiveness in reducing taxes, 96-97; and tax delinquency, 97-100; leadership characterized as “silk hat reds,” 98; philosophy of, 99-100; Pratt and Bistor attend conference to settle tax strike, 177-78 (n. 45). See also Cermak, Anton; Chicago, III.; Pratt, John M.
Associations for Tax Reduction (Detroit), 24-28
Atlanta, Ga.: tax resistance in, 16-17, 32, 102
Atlanta Constitution, 17
Avery, Sewell, 56
Babcock, James, 11
Bane, Frank, 181 (n. 17)
Bankers: and tax resistance, 103-8, 135. See also Bond Buyer; Investment Bankers’ Association of America; National Pay Your Taxes Campaign; Traylor, Melvin; specific localities
Bankers’ Trust, 107, 123
Bardo, Clinton, 160, 187 (n. 1)
Barnard, Chester I., 117
Barrows, Edward M., 15-16
Beard, Charles A., 130
Beck, James Montgomery, 78, 178 (n. 67)
Bell, Hayden N., 78-79, 87-88, 90, 92, 97, 99; portrays strikers as wealthy, 81; attends conference called by Jarecki to settle tax strike, 177-78 (n. 45)
Benson. Lee, xi
Berkman, Alexander, 128
Bernstein, Barton J., 188 (n. 8)
Berry, Charles W., 28, 31-32, 103
Bertha, Edward M., 93
Big government, opposition to, xiii. See also Government spending, calls for reduction in; Tax resistance and revolt; specific localities
Bilharz, Millard J„ 74
Bingham, Alfred M., 85
Bird, Frederick L., 6
Bistor, James E., 49, 52, 64, 68-69, 78, 100; early life, 44-46; proposes budget reductions, 74; role in factional disputes, 92-95; aftermath of strike, 96-97; participation in the Governor’s Tax Conference, 176 (n. 22)
Blacks: ownership of real estate in Chicago, 85
Board of Commerce (Detroit), 26
Bogan, William J., 81, 88
Bond Buyer, 21, 104-5, 108, 110
Boston Tea Party, 74
Braeman, John, 161
Bremner, Robert H., 161
Brennan, Geoffrey, 154, 186-87 (nn. 35, 37)
Brinkley, Alan, xiii
Broadway Association (New York city), 30
Brody, David, 161
Brooklyn Real Estate Board, 30
Brooklyn Real Estate Owners’ Association, 102-3
Brownlow, Louis, 107
Buchanan, James M., 61,154, 186-87 (nn. 35, 37)
Buer, Edward, 23
Building and Loan Association (Milwaukee), 22
Building Managers’ Association (Chicago), 38
Burns, Robert, 143
Butler, Nicholas Murray, 20
Buttenheim, Harold S., 107, 162; decries rise of tax revolt, 9; laments popularity of budget cutting, 101-2,109; extols martial virtues, 126
Calhoun, John C, 169
California Taxpayers’ Association, 159
Canadian Wheat Pool, 48
Capone, Al, 35
Carnegie Corporation, 130
Carr, William G., 18
Casey, M. V., 31
Cermak, Anton, 65, 74, 79-80, 81, 86, 90-91, 99; condemns Thompson’s tax increases, 63; and Kelly plan, 66-68; accused of corruption, 71; puts pressure on radio stations, 72; launches “shame” campaign, 72-73; proposes budget reductions, 75; criticizes movement to close schools, 76; makes appeal to Congress, 77-78; urges prosecution of lax strikers and appeals to Federal Radio Commission, 89; conference with Jarecki, 177-78 (n 45). See also Chicago, III.
Cesar, Lillian, 69-70, 78
Chase, Stuart, 162
Chase National Bank, 105
Chatters, Carl H., 101, 123-25, 126
Chicago, III,, 124; tax resistance and strike in, xii, 12, 34-100, 102-4, 160-61; corruption in, 35-41, 60-61, 173 (n. 12); government fragmentation in, 36; teachers’ salaries in, 37; reform assessment in, 40-41; “payless paydays,” 41; tax-anticipation warrants and reliance on debt in, 41, 80, 173 (n. 16), 178 (n. 56); rescue program in, 42-43; tax holiday in, 41-43; decline in real estate values in, 43-44; personal property taxes in, 50-58, 176 (n. 20); and state income tax amendment, 52-53; and breakdown of tax-appeals system, 60-61; cynicism about government in, 60-61; ownership of homes among various groups in, 62; and tax-delinquency problem, 66, 81-82, 97-100, 176 (n. 21); campaign to reform assessment process in, 66-70; unemployment and relief rolls in, 70; and “pay your taxes” campaign, 71-73, 86-88; budget reductions in, 75; campaign to close schools in, 76-77; city government receives loans from Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 79; debt service payments, 80; “tax war board” set up to break strike, 90-91; tax-collection reforms enacted in, 95; tax reductions in, 96. See also Association of Real Estate Taxpayers; Cermak, Anton; Pratt, John M.
Chicagoan, 61
Chicago Association of Commerce, 90, 98
Chicago Board of Education, 37, 75-76
Chicago Civil Service Commission, 60
Chicago Daily News, 55, 66, 68, 69, 73
Chicago Evening Post, 65, 69
Chicago Federation of Labor: and income tax, 53; opposition to Kelly plan, 67; and Association of Real Estate Taxpayers, 98
Chicago Principals’ Club, 73-74
Chicago Real Estate Board, 12. 95, 98; relationship to Association of Real Estate Taxpayers, 46-47, 63; refuses representation on “tax war board,” 90; policy toward nonpayment of taxes, 175-76 (n. 16); sends representative to conference to settle tax strike, 177-78 (n. 45)
Chicago Teachers’ Federation, 37-41, 67, 166
Chicago Tribune, 39, 55, 65, 73, 91, 95, 133
Chinnock, Ronald, 165
Chrysler Corporation, 26
Citizens’ Committee (Chicago), 56-57, 146, 176 (n. 22); formed to deal with fiscal crisis, 42-43
Citizens’ Committee for the Collection of Taxes (Newark), 114-17
Citizens’ Councils for Constructive Economy, 104, 118, 124, 149; formation, leadership, and program of, 106-7, 181 (n. 17); on constructive and destructive economy, 108-10, 131, 133-34, 154-59;’in-volvement with “You and Your Government,” 130-39; pursues policy of co-optation, 155, 157-59; dismantled, 158, 187 (n. 48). See also Good-government ideology; National Pay Your Taxes Campaign
Citizens’ Councils News Bulletin, 110, 137
Citizens’ League (Detroit), 26
Civic Federation of Chicago, 56-57; characteristics of leadership, 42; condemns movement to call tax strike, 62-63
Civil Works Administration: participates in campaign against tax delinquency, 186 (n. 17)
Clansey, James, 79
Clarke, Phillip R., 42-43
Class theory: tax resisters’ version of, xii, 14, 16-21, 25, 68, 118-20, 133, 149, 160, 169 (n. 5), 171-72 (n. 43)
Cleveland, Grover, 163
Cleveland, Ohio: tax-limitation law in, 143
Cleveland Bureau of Municipal Research, 38
Clohesy, Agnes, 76
Collins, Thomas D., 92
Colorado Real Estate Board, 12
Commerce, 98
Committee for Constitutional Government, 49
Committee on City Finances (Detroit), 26-27
Committee on Civic Education. See National Advisory Council on Radio and Education; “You and Your Government”
Committee on Public Expenditures (Chicago), 74-75
Common Sense, 85
Communist party, 28
Conkin, Paul, 163-64
Connery, John C, 79
Constitution (Illinois, 1870), 50-51, 69
Constitutional restrictions on taxation: debate over, 152-55, 186-87 (nn. 35-37)
“Constructive economy.” See Citizens’ Councils for Constructive Economy; Good-government ideology; National Pay Your Taxes Campaign
Continental Illinois Bank and Trust Company, 56, 66, 75
Cook County (III.) Board of Assessors, 36-40; plan for reform of, 66-70
Cook County (III.) Board of Review, 36-38, 59, 60, 177 (n. 35); plan for reform of, 66-70
Coolidge, Calvin, 1
Corruption and inefficiency: as checks on governmental expansion, 156-57
Coughlin, Father, xiii, 71, 85
Counts, George S„ 130
Couzens, James, 25
Cutmore, Harry S., 40-41
Dawes, Charles G., 42
Dawes, Rufus C, 42
Demuth, Frank, 29
“Destructive economy.” See Citizens’ Councils for Constructive Economy; Government spending, calls for reduction in; Tax resistance and revolt
Detroit, Mich., 41, 80; tax delinquency in, 4, 24-28, 125-26, 170 (n. 15); tax resistance in, 24-28, 32; government debt in, 26-27
Detroit Bureau of Governmental Research, 25, 26
Detroit Real Estate Board, 24-26
Detroit Security and Trust Company, 26
Dever, William, 37
Diller, Ted, 165
Dobyns, Fletcher, 74
Dodds, Harold W., 132
Dun and Bradstreet, 6
Dunstan, E. Fleetwood, 105, 123
Dykstra, Clarence A„ 19, 126
Economist and Magazine of la Salle Street, 55
Edwards, Alba M., 166
Elementary School Teachers’ Union, 76
Elwood, John, 130, 133
Ely, Richard, 145
Emmerson, Louis L., 58, 176 (n. 22)
Emporia Gazette, 140
Erickson, Alfred G., 71
Evans, Peter B., 170 (n. 8)
Experts, in government, 148-55, 186 (n. 36). See also Good-government ideology
Eyre, Virginia L., 4
Fairchild, Fred, 109-10, 132
Fairweather, George O., 38
Faribault County, Minn., 10
Farmers’ Holiday movement, 85
Farr, Newton C., 46
Federal Housing Administration, 145
Federal Radio Commission, 89
Federation News, 53, 98
Federation of Women High School Teachers (Chicago), 67
Fine, Sidney, 27-28
First Detroit Company, 27
First National Bank of Chicago, 56, 66, 75
Flint, Mich., 125
Foote, Peter, 77, 176 (n. 22)
Forbes, 158
Ford Motor Company, 26
Forsythe, Dall W., 170 (n. 8)
Forum, 1
Foster, William Z., 85
Fox, Kenneth, 23, 149
Frank, Glenn, 19-20
Franklin, Jay, 1
Freeborn County, Minn., 10
Gannett, Frank, 49
Garrett, Garet, 155, 159, 160; analyzes good-govern men I ideology, 156-57
Geiman, Louis E., 79
General revenue bonds, 142-43
General Welfare Tax League, 120
George, Henry, 48-49
Gilded Age, xi
Goldman, Emma, 128
Gompers, Samuel, 165
Good-government ideology, xiv, 105-12, 132-33, 149-57, 159, and constitutional restrictions on taxation, 152-55. See also Citizens’ Councils for Constructive Economy; Garrett, Garet; National Municipal League
Government debt: change in amount of during 1920s, 5-6; legislation to limit, 5-6, 143; debt service payments, 178 (n. 56). See also Municipal securities; specific localities
Government spending, calls for reduction in, xii, 8-11, 14, 16-17, 54-55, 101-2, 108-10, 117, 127, 150-51. See also Citizens’ Councils for Constructive Economy; Tax resistance and revolt; specific localities and organizations
Governor’s Tax Conference (Illinois), 176 (n. 22)
Grady, Michael, 39
Graham, Otis L„ Jr., 161, 163
Graham Act, 95, 97
Grain Growers’ Guide, 48-49
Grass, Leonard, 23
Gray, Welles A., 140
Greater Brooklyn Property Owners’ Association, 29
Grimm, Peter, 103
Groves, Harold, 15, 152
Habermas, Jürgen, 170 (n. 8)
Haig, Robert Murray, 152
Haley, Margaret, 37; supports Kelly plan, 67; supports closing schools, 76; opposes use of teachers to collect taxes, 88
Hallgren, Mauritz A., 10-11, 73, 162
Hanson, Florence Curtis, 181 (n. 17)
Hard, William, 132
Harris, Walter, 101
Hart, Henry, 27, 105
Hart, Merwin K., 147, 160; applauds tax-limitation legislation as method to force spending reductions, 154
Hartz, Louis, 188 (n. 9)
Havrilla, Alois, 137
Haylett, H. H., 63
Hays, Samuel R, 150
Hedberg, Henry E., 44-46
Heer, Clarence, 99
Hoan, Daniel, 25, 155; decries taxpayers’ leagues, 15-16; on tax resistance in Milwaukee, 22-24; on duplication in government, 121; creates special division of tax enforcement, 123; praises federal policies to reduce tax delinquency, 145
Hodes, Barnet, 46, 52, 63, 69, 175 (n. 12)
Hofstader Committee (New York City), 31
Holmes, Lawrence G., 14, 148
Holmes, Stanley S., 115, 117
Home Owners’ Loan Corporation: policies to reduce tax delinquency, 144-45, 162
Honest Money Founders, 95-96
Hoover, Herbert, 163
Hopkinson, Edward, 109
Hopper, Elmer, 114
Homer, Henry, 11, 93-95
Horton, George S., 102-3
Hudson, John A., 161
Hurley, Joseph H., 114
Ickes, Harold; and tax and debt limitations, 142-43, 185 (n. 10)
Igoe, Michael: opposes Kelly bill, 67-68, 177 (n. 31)
Illinois: proposal for income tax in, 52-53
Illinois State Federation of Labor, 67
Illinois Supreme Court, 64, 69, 78, 95
Illinois Tax Commission, 38, 40, 55-58, 108, 146, 152
Illinois Teacher, 18
Illinois Teachers’ Federation, 67
Income taxation, 52-53
Indiana: tax-limitation law in, 143
Indianapolis Real Estate Board, 13
International Association of Comptrollers and Accounting Officers, 141, 150
International Association of Public Works Officials, 138
International City Managers’ Association, 19, 107, 157
Investment Bankers’ Association of America, 21, 105, 109, 123
Investment Banking, 108
Iowa Taxpayer, 19
Jackson, Kenneth T, 145
Jarecki, Edmund K., 78; voids assessment, 69-70; dismisses tax objections, 92; calls conference to settle tax strike, 177-78 (n. 45)
Jefferson, Thomas, 18
Jensen, Jens P., 141
Johnson, Hiram, 106
Joint Commission on Real Estate Valuation (Chicago), 37-41, 51
Jones, Howard P., 133, 137, 140; comments on popularity of taxpayers’ leagues, 15-16; notes willingness of municipal bond holders to support good-government reform, 108; recommends installment payments to reduce delinquency, 124
Judd, Charles R., 107
Jump, Ronald, 114
Juul Law, 37
Keehn, Roy, 69
Kelly, D. F., 66, 72; testifies before Congress, 77
Kelly plan, 66-70, 176 (n. 23)
Kerner, Otto, Jr., 68
Kesner, Jacob L., 90-94, 97
Kloske, Ralph, 113
Koester, George E, 64, 92, 177 (n. 35)
Kropotkin, Peter, 128
Kuester, Edwin J., 44-45, 94, 98, 165
La Follette, Philip, 163
Laissez-faire, xi
Larkin (Chicago teacher), 76
Laski, Harold, 67
League of Wisconsin Municipalities, 102
Leuchtenburg, William E., 126
Left, Mark H., 169 (n. 6)
Leggett, William, xi
Lehman Brothers, 104-5, 119, 144-45
Leitch, Mary L., 87
Leland, Simeon E., 108, 110, 132, 146-47, 152; defends tax receiverships, 180-81 (n. 47)
Lenhardt, L. G., 23
Leslie, Harry G., 163
Lesser, Lee ].: predicts bloodshed at general membership meeting of Association of Real Estate Taxpayers, 94
Lewis, Marple, 115
Liberty Bond drives, 42
Lindheimer, Benjamin, 44, 46-47, 63
Linen, John S., 105
Link, Arthur S., 150-51
Lippmann, Walter, 151
Literary Digest, 70
Locofocos, xi
Long, Huey, xiii
Ludington, Katherine, 138
Ludlow, E Milton, 114
Lutz, Harley L., 20; on breakdown of tax-sale system, 101; and constitutional restrictions on taxation, 152
MacArthur, Douglas, 96
MacChesney, Nathan William: criticizes role of expert in government, 67, 147
McCormick, Anne O’Hare, 8-9
McCormick, Richard L., 150-51
McCormick, Robert, 133, 160; views on tax strikes, 65-66; opposition to increased personal property taxation, 176 (n. 20)
McDonald, Terrence J., 169 (n. 2)
McDonough, Joseph B„ 66, 86-87
McElvaine, Robert S., 162-43
McColdrick, Joseph H., 131-32
Malone, William, 55-58
Mangan, John J., 75, 160, 187 (n. 1)
Massachusetts Association of Real Estate Boards, 13
Massachusetts Federation of Taxpayers Associations, 158-59
Mayer, Milton, 38
Memphis, Tenn., 124; “pay your taxes” campaign, 121-22
Mencken, H, L., 160; criticizes cooperative model of government, 119-20; comments on decline of tax revolt, 145-46
Men Teachers’ Union (Chicago), 67
Meredith, Albert, 130
Merriam, Charles E., 19, 107, 126-27, 130, 150-51, 154; evaluates effectiveness of Chicago tax strike, 97; criticizes anti-big-government attitudes, 101-2; and role of political experts, 153-54
Michigan: tax-limitation law in, 14-15, 106, 133, 153
Michigan Education Association, 21
Michigan Fanner, 14
Michigan Municipal League, 21, 106, 155
Michigan Real Estate Board, 14
Michigan State Grange, 14
Milam, Carl, 107, 158, 181-82 (n. 25)
Milwaukee, Wis., 15, 123; threats of tax strike in, 22; tax resistance in, 22-23; proposals to reduce government spending in, 22-24; tax delinquency in, 23
Milwaukee Contractors’ Association, 23
Milwaukee Leader, 22
Milwaukee Real Estate Board, 22
Minnesota: tax resistance in, 10, 22-24, 32
Minnesota Taxpayers’ Association, 159
Mississippi: tax auction in, 9
Missouri River Diversion program, 147
Monkkonen, Eric, 172 (n. 56)
Montemartini, Giovanni, 14
Morse, Frank H., 104-5, 107-8; compares taxes to dues for club, 119
Municipal Finance, 101, 110
Municipal Finance News Letter, 144
Municipal Finance Officers’ Association, 21, 100, 149, 157
Municipality, 102, 109
Municipal securities, 5-6; poor state of market (or, 104-5; relationship to tax collections stressed, 104-5; as incentive for business opposition to tax resistance and government budget reductions, 107-8
Munro, William B., 18
Murphy, Frank: and tax resistance in Detroit, 24-28
Murphy. Marjorie, 37
Nation, 73
National Advisory Council on Radio and Education, 130-39; and government control of radio, 135-36
National Association of Real Estate Boards: role in tax resistance, 12-15, 32, 133, 141-42, 148, 171-72 (n. 43); property owners’ divisions of, 12-15, 26, 148
National Broadcasting Company: and “You and Your Government,” 130, 135-36
National Conference on City Planning, 181 (n. 17)
National Education Association, 107, 119
National Federation of State Leagues of Municipalities, 19, 150
National League of Women Voters, 138
National Municipal League, 15, 21, 122, 123, 128, 130, 148-49, 158, 187 (n. 48); relationship to National Pay Your Taxes Campaign, 104; relationship to Citizens’ Councils for Constructive Economy, 106-7; involvement with “You and Your Government,” 132-33, 136; proposes model tax-collection law, 185-86 (n. 15)
National Municipal Review, 8, 15, 20, 21, 110, 126, 128, 136, 138, 142; praises decline of tax revolt, 140, 143
National Pay Your Taxes Campaign, 107, 109, 118; organized, 104-5; and Citizens’ Councils for Constructive Economy, 107-8; campaign strategies of, 110-12, 118-29; promotes coercive policies, 122-24; invokes patriotism and war analogies, 126-27; “You and Your Government” as publicity outlet for, 130-39; on government spending reductions, 182 (n. 33); use of unemployed to promote tax collections, 186 (n. 17). See also Citizens’ Councils for Constructive Economy; Good-government ideology
National Physicians’ Committee for the Extension of Medical Service, 96
National Recovery Administration, 115
National Tax Association, 6
National Taxpayers’ Union, 165
Nation’s Business. 10, 133, 134
Nation’s Schools, 119
Nebraska Federation of County Taxpayers’ Leagues, 33
Nelson, Julia O’Keefe, 17, 102
Nelson, Oscar, 43
Newark, N.J., 126; tax delinquency in, 112, 114, 117-18; debt of city government, 112-13; efforts to prevent default, 113; “pay your taxes” campaign in, 114-18
Newark Chamber of Commerce, 115
Newark Evening News, 117
New Deal, 126, 131, 160-64, 187 (n. 1), 188 (n. 8)
New Jersey Taxpayers’ Association, 159, 160
New Republic: on tax resistance, 9-10
New York, N.Y., 41; tax resistance in, 28-32, 102; demands for reduction of government spending in, 29-32; threats of tax strike in, 29-32
New York Herald Tribune, 30-31
New York Real Estate Board, 29-31
New York State Economic Council, 147, 160
New York Times, 29-30
North Dakota Taxpayer, 18, 147
Norton, John K„ 107
Ohio: tax-limitation law in, 11, 13-14, 132
Ohio State Grange, 11
Oklahoma Municipal Review, 151
Olney, Richard, 6
Otis, Charles, 105
Otjen, Henry H., 23
Paine, Thomas, 18, 118
Parnell, Reginald C. S., 114, 117-18
Patterson, James T, xiii, 1, 161
Patterson, Richard C, 136
“Pay your taxes” campaigns: Sanders Shanks, Jr., of Bond Buyer proposes, 103-5; unemployed used in, 186, (n. 17). See also National Pay Your Taxes Campaign; Tax delinquency; Tax resistance and revolt; specific localities
Pedderson, John E., 79
People of Illinois v. Association of Real Estate Taxpayers, 166
Person, Harlow S., 157
Porter, Sylvia, 158
Pratt, Bennett R., 47
Pratt, John M., 59, 62, 65, 98-100, 160, 164, 165; early life, 47-49; and government spending, 53; files demand before Illinois Tax Commission, 55-56; proposes tax-limitation legislation, 56; speaks against Kelly plan at rally, 68; accuses Cermak of corruption, 71, 74; radio broadcasts of, 71-72, 85-86; investigated, 88; kidnapping threat against family, 89; controversy over salary, 91; role in factional dispute, 92-95; aftermath of strike, 95-96; participation in Governor’s Tax Conference, 176 (n. 22); attends conference called by Jarecki to settle tax strike, 177-78 (n. 45). See also Association of Real Estate Taxpayers
Pratt. John T„ 165
Pratt, Thomas G., 47
President’s Conference on Home Building, 4
Printers’ Ink, 113
Progressive Era, 105-6
Progressive party, 106
Property owners’ division (Chicago Real Estate Board), 47
Property owners’ divisions. See National Association of Real Estate Boards; specific localities
Public Administration Clearing House, 107, 149
Public Administration Service, 138
Public Administrators’ News Letter, 107
Public employees, 16-21, 151. See also Experts, in government; Teachers; specific localities
Public Management, 19, 113
Public Service Corporation (Newark), 114
Public Works Administration: policy toward tax and debt limitation, 142-43, 185 (n. 10)
Real Estate Board of New York, 103
Real Estate Defense Committee (Chicago), 95
Real estate values, 5-7. See also specific localities
Realty Club of Chicago, 62
Reconstruction Finance Corporation: loans for Illinois, 79
Reed, Thomas H., 107-8, 150, 154. 184 (n. 16); comments on taxpayers’ leagues, 15; becomes chairman of National Pay Your Taxes Campaign, 105; background, 105-6; philosophy of, 120, 133-34; becomes chairman of Committee on Civic Education of National Advisory Council on Radio and Education, 130; coordinates “You and Your Government,” 131-39; praises decline of tax revolt, 140, 143-44, 185 (n. 1); lauds role of expert in government, 153; and co-optation of tax resistance, 158. See also Citizens’ Councils for Constructive Economy; National Pay Your Taxes Campaign
Rees, John O., 38
Reinecke, George W., 45
Reinecke v. McDonough, 45, 81, 166
Ribuffo, Leo P., xii
Ridley, Clarence E., 107
Roche, Alfred E., 138-39
Rockefeller, John D., Jr., 130
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 49, 71, 161, 162-64
Roosevelt, Theodore, 106
Rosen, Elliot, 161
Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, 170 (n. 8)
Rush, Benjamin, 127
St. Petersburg, Fla., 125
Sandburg, Carl, 73
Sargent, Fred W„ 71, 77, 99; becomes chairman of Committee on Public Expenditures, 74-75; urges coercive measures against Chicago tax strike, 89-90
Sargent Committee. See Committee on Public Expenditures
Saturday Evening Post, 16, 155-56
Say, Jean Baptiste, 146
Schaeffer, Moms, 69
Schantz, Adam, III, 133, 141-42, 148, 164; becomes head of national tax-limitation campaign, 13; analysis of bureaucratic expansion, 14, 147; on state tax commissions, 152; praises constitutional restrictions on taxation, 154-55
Scheck, Morris, 114
Schnackenberg, Elmer j., 74
Schneider, Carl, 138-39
Schwerin, Charles, 93-94
Sears Roebuck, 42
Seasongood, Murray, 130-31, 159, 183 (n. 70), 187 (n. 48)
Setten, J. M., 11
Sexton, William H., 72, 90
Shallenberger, Ashton C., 18
Shanks, Sanders, Jr., 103-5
Shanks, William F. G., 104
Shays’s Rebellion, 169 (n. 1)
Shepard, William G., 61
Shilton, Earle A., 92
Shultz, William L.: on jailing of delinquents, 123
Shurtleff, Flavel, 181 (n. 17)
Simpson, Herbert D., 39; on tax corruption in Chicago, 35-36, 51, 60; supports closing schools, 77
Skarda Act, 95, 97, 112, 144, 185-86 (n. 15); Leland describes rationale for, 180-81 (n. 47)
Skocpol, Theda, 170 (n. 8)
Smith, Harold D., 155
Smith, Wade S., 8, 123-24
Social Forces, 11
Socialist party, 15; on tax resistance in Milwaukee, 22-24 Social Register (Chicago), 42, 46
Spooner, Lysander, 128
Sprague, Albert A., 90-91
Steed, Hal, 16-17, 33, 171 (n. 33)
Stillman, W. Paul, 115-16
Stone, Donald C, 138-39
Stone, Ralph, 26-27
Stover, James D., 93
Strawn, Silas, 50, 98; becomes head of Citizens’ Committee, 41-43; testifies at Illinois Tax Commission hearing, 56-57; comments on decline of taxpaying habits, 61
Strawn Committee. See Citizens’ Committee (Chicago)
Strawn Plan, 43, 50-54, 57, 62
Strayer, George D., 76
Strayer Report, 76
Sutherland, Douglas, 57-58
Swanson, John A., 88; promises to “wipe out” Association of Real Estate Taxpayers, 89, 91
Swierenga, Robert P., 9, 124
Tax-anticipation warrants, 5-6, 41, 56, 98
Taxation: of real estate, xi-xii, 1-4, 57; amount collected during 1920s, 1-2, 4; general property tax, 1-4; methods of assessment and collection, 2-3, 5, 7-8; of personal property, 2-4, 12, 57-58; increase 1930-32, 6; broadening the base, 12-13, 32-33, 154-55; analogy made between taxation and dues to a club, 119-22; proposals to exempt homesteads, 141-42. See also National Pay your Taxes Campaign; Tax delinquency; Tax-limitation legislation; Tax resistance and revolt; specific localities
Tax commissions (state): creation of 151-52; opposition to tax-limitation laws, 152
Tax delinquency: increase during 1920s, 4; increase 1930-33, 6-7; relationship to breakdown of tax sales, 8-10, 101, 123-24; receiverships used to prevent, 95, 112, 144, 185-86 (n. 15); blamed on demands for reduction of government spending, 102; laws to impose jail sentence or revoke licenses for nonpayment, 123; as symptom of low taxpayer morale, 123; relationship to reduction of tax penalties, 123-24, 143-44; taxpayers’ clubs and installment payments used to reduce, 124; characteristics of, 125-26; blamed on wealthy, 125-26, 137; delinquents compared to draft dodgers and anarchists, 126-28, 185 (n. 1); starts to decline, 143-44; role of Home Owners’ Loan Corporation in reducing, 144-45. See also National Pay Your Taxes Campaign; Tax resistance and revolt; specific localities
“Tax fixing”: in Chicago, 36, 61
Tax-limitation legislation, 55-58, 147, 161; movement for, 13-15; opposition to, 21; movement for goes into decline, 141-42; Public Works Administration helps to undermine, 143; during nineteenth century, 169 (n. 4). See also Tax resistance and revolt; specific localities
Taxpayers’ Advisory Council (Milwaukee), 22-23
Taxpayers’ League of Atlanta and Fulton County, 16
Taxpayers’ Protective Association (Detroit), 24
Tax Polity, 110, 119, 141, on election of assessors, 151; condemns constitutional restrictions on taxation, 151-53
Tax Policy League, 151, 157
Tax resistance and revolt: in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, xi-xii; during early twentieth century, xii; rise of during early depression, 8-21; in rural areas, 9-11, 14; as expressed in taxpayers’ leagues, 15-18; relationship to tax delinquency, 101-29; business opposition to, 103-8, campaigns against, 118-29; and “You and Your Government,” 132-39; goes into decline, 140-59; influence on taxation and spending, 146; strategy of resisters, 147-48; strategic shortcomings of, 147-50; tax commissions and, 152-54; “constructive” economy served to undermine, 155-59; relationship to New Deal, 160-64; numbers of taxpayers’ organizations, 161, 187 (n. 50). See also Government spending, calls for reduction in; National Pay Your Taxes Campaign; Tax delinquency; Tax-limitation legislation; Tax strikes; specific localities
Tax sales. See Tax delinquency
Tax strikes, xii, 11-12, 161; fears of, 101-7; and businessmen, 103-8; tax-limitation law compared to, 128; becomes less popular, 140-41, 158. See also Tax delinquency; Tax resistance and revolt; specific localities
Taylor, John, of Caroline, 18, 118
Taylor Society, 157
Teachers, 11, 115. See also specific localities
Teachers in Chicago, 37-38; support Kelly plan, 67-68; volunteer to serve as tax collectors, 86-88; express concern about hostility toward, 88; mass meeting of urges prosecution of strikers, 88; provide inspiration for National Pay Your Taxes Campaign, 103-4
Ten Hoor, Perry, 45, 58
Teninga, Cornelius, 52-53, 55
Thomas, Norman, 85
Thompson, William Hale, 38, 41, 63
Thorpe, Merle, 10, 133, 160, 164; political philosophy of, 128, 141; comments on need for tax consciousness, 149
Tickton, Sidney, 25
Traxler, Henry, 102, 127
Traylor, Melvin, 34, 56, 66-68, 79-80
Tremaine, Morris, 121-22
Truman, Harry S, 96
Trunk, Anton L., 29-31
Tucker, Benjamin, 128
Tyson, Levering, 135-37
United Real Estate Owners’ Association (New York City), 30
United States Chamber of Commerce, 42, 140-41
United Slates Office of Education, 136
United States Supreme Court, 64
University of Chicago: property holdings of, 38
Walker, “Beau” James: and tax resistance in New York City, 28-31
Walker, Mabel, 120
Waller, William, Jr., 94
Ward, Sally K., 169 (n. 3)
Warterfield, J. Soule, 90
Washington: tax-limitation law in, 128, 142, 147
Washington State Taxpayers’ Association, 148
Washington Taxpayer, 20, 147
Watkins, Ferre C., 45, 58-59, 92
Wayne, Frederick A., 24
Weber, Max, xiii
West Side Chamber of Commerce (New York City), 30
West Side Taxpayers’ Association (New York City), 29
West Virginia: tax-limitation law in, 33, 132
West Virginia Taxpayers’ Association, 18
Whiskey Rebellion, xi, 169 (n. 1)
White, Leonard D,: on low prestige of civil servants in Chicago, 60-61; on vacant lots as contributors to tax delinquency, 125
White, William Allen: on decline of tax resistance, 140
Who’s who in Chicago, 46
Wilson, Irvin A., 73-74
Winnetka, Ill.: “voluntary” tax bill, 69
Wisconsin State Tax Commission, 15
Wisconsin Taxpayer, 20
Wisconsin Taxpayers’ Alliance, 17, 159
Wolfe, Alan, 120, 170 (n. 8)
Wolfskill, George, 161
Wolin, Sheldon S., xiv Wood, David M., 33-34, 105
Yearley, Clifton, xi-xii, 39
Yonkers, N.Y., 186 (n. 17)
“You and Your Government” (radio show), 157; creation of, 130-31; characteristics of guests, 131-33; political slant of, 132-39; scope of listening audience, 135, 184 (nn. 13, 16); promotional publicity for, 135-36; sponsors dramatization, 136-37
