How you can resist funding the government →
the tax resistance movement →
birth of the modern American war tax resistance movement →
Benny Bargen
Today: some things from hither and yon that have caught my eye, but that I haven’t managed to weave into a Picket Line post yet:
Thanks to Amazon’s on-line reader, you can read excerpts from Gregory Vistica’s Fall From Glory: The Men Who Sank the U.S. Navy concerning the anti-WMD activism of Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen, and the FBI / Naval Investigative Service / Knights of Malta campaign to discredit him.
Hunthausen at one point resisted a portion of his federal taxes to protest against the United States government’s policy of threatening to attack its enemies with nuclear weapons.
Here’s an old article from The Libertarian Forum about a property tax strike in Chicago in that bears a lot of resemblance to the organized Chicago property tax strikes of the 1930s. I wonder if we’ll see more of this during the current economic troubles.
Here’s an undated report about Australian war tax resister Robert Burrowes.
“Robert has been refusing to pay part of his taxes in ‘legal tender’ (as stipulated by Regulation 58 made pursuant to the Tax Act ) because he does not want to contribute to military expenditure.
Instead he has attempted to pay ‘in kind’ with such constructive and symbolic items as shovels, trees and Aboriginal land… and by donating the balance of the claimed money to various peace and development organisations.”
There’s other stuff on-line about Burrowes’s case but I haven’t had time to look into it yet.
Glenn D. McMurry wrote up some memories of his time at Bethel College in the 1930s, including his recollections of Benny Bargen.
I had the opportunity of living in the Bargen home for an entire summer session.
That experience further confirmed my knowledge of Bennie’s character.
He was a dedicated Christian and a staunch pacifist, believing and practicing all forms of non-violence.
In conversations with Bennie one could almost be persuaded that all wars in which our country had participated could have been prevented by pacifist methods.
Non-violence for Bennie didn’t end with his war philosophy.
He didn’t want any of his money to be used for violence of any type.
Therefore, in order not to pay federal tax on his income, he would accept only a very low salary.
The Bethel administration wanted to raise his salary.
They tried every loophole in the book to help Bennie, and still conform to his desire to pay no income tax.
He remained content to live on his meager salary in order to be true to his moral beliefs.
To live out such a life style, Bennie had to make decisions that made life difficult for his family.
Near poverty became the family’s lot!
The administration gave the most meager housing.
Usually it meant an upstairs apartment requiring his climbing to the top with great difficulty [Bargen’s legs were paralyzed from polio].
It didn’t bother him, but it bothered Esther, his very dedicated wife.
She had high aspirations for herself and her two children, and she found it difficult to attain them because of Bennie’s demands.
Even his eating habits were affected.
He would figure his calories and eat only the minimum amount of food he felt he needed to keep alive.
In excerpts from his book Experiments in Moral Sovereignty, taxpatriate Jeff Knaebel investigates the link between war and taxes, as exemplified in Thomas Paine’s observation that “In reviewing the history of the English Government, its wars and its taxes, a bystander would declare that taxes were not raised to carry on wars, but wars were raised to carry on taxes.”
I haven’t yet visited any archives that hold material from the Peacemakers,
that group that coordinated the early modern American war tax resistance
movement beginning in the . But while I
was following another thread, I found the following article which gave the most
complete membership run-down of the tax refusal committee of Peacemakers that I
have yet seen:
43 Pacifists Won’t Pay U.S. Tax in Arms Protest
Special in The [Philadelphia] Inquirer and New York Herald Tribune
New York, . — Forty-three pacifists throughout the United States
declared that they would refuse to
pay all or a part of their Federal income taxes this year as a protest against
the Nation’s military expenditures.
The group, including a number of Quakers, conscientious objectors, and several
who have refused payment of taxes before, issued a statement through
Peacemakers, [a] national pacifist group with headquarters here, in which they
said:
“Believing that men are accountable for their actions, and that laws requiring
immoral acts should not be obeyed, we have after serious consideration
determined upon a course of civil disobedience with relation to the income tax
laws of the United States.”
Headed by Pastor
Forty-one of the tax refusers acted under a tax refusal committee of
Peacemakers, headed by
Rev. Ernest Bromley, of
Wilmington, O. Their
statement was issued by
Rev. A.J. Muste,
secretary of the organization, and also secretary of the Fellowship of
Reconciliation. Mr. Muste, former director of the Presbyterian Labor Temple,
and one-time president of the defunct Brookwood Labor College at Katonah,
N.Y., has long been
known in the labor movement, and as a pacifist and campaigner against military
conscription.
Two additional persons were listed as tax refusers in a statement issued on
behalf of 11 Philadelphians by Walter C. Longstreth, Philadelphia lawyer. The
other nine were all included in the Peacemakers list.
Some Withhold 36.4 Pct.
Mr. Muste, who said he personally would refuse to pay any income taxes
, as he did
, declared that some of the signers would
follow his course of action; while others will withhold the 36.4 percent
estimated by the Bureau of the Budget as that portion of tax money expended
for military purposes.
Others on the list issued by the Peacemakers were:
Ross Anderson, of Portland
Ore.; B. Bargen, of Newton,
Kas.; Marilyn Blaise, religious
education director, New York City; Marion Bromley, of Wilmington,
O.; Lindley Burton, of Bryn Mawr,
Pa.; Horace Champney, of
Yellow Springs, O.; Miriam Keeler
Cornelius, labor economist, Washington
D.C.; Aleck
D. Dodd, clergyman, of Toledo, O.;
Margaret E. Dungan, of Wallingford,
Pa.; William Bacon Evans,
of Morrestown, N.J.;
Caleb Foote, of Arden, Del.;
Hope Foote, of Arden, Del.;
Marion C. Frenyear, clergyman, of Plainfield,
Mass.; Robert C. Friend,
religious education director, of Schenectady,
N.Y.; Walter Gormly, of
Mt. Vernon,
Ia.; J. William Hawkins, of
Winters, Calif.; Ammon
Hennacy, of Phoenix, Ariz.;
George M. Houser, of New York City; Sander Katz, of New York City; Raymond E.
Kinney, of Los Angeles; Emily Longstreth, of Philadelphia; Walter Longstreth,
of Philadelphia; Mary Bacon Mason, of Newton Center,
Mass.; Milton Mayer, of
Chicago; Mary McDowell, of Brooklyn,
N.Y.; Wallace Nelson, of
Cincinnati; James Peck, of New York City; Paula Beck, of New York City;
Caroline Philips, of Wilmington,
Del.; Lydia Philips, of
Wilmington, Del.; Grace
Rhoads, of Moorestown,
N.J.; Francis B. Riggs,
of Cambridge, Mass.;
Valerie Riggs, of Cambridge,
Mass.; Igal Roodenko, of
Bronx, N.Y.; Max Sandin,
of Cleveland; Laurence Scott, of Kansas City,
Mo.; Ralph Templin, of Yellow
Springs, O.; Louise Thomas, of
Cherry Valley, N.Y.; Mrs.
Caroline Urie, of Yellow Springs,
O.; Beverly White, of Wichita,
Kas..
Many of these names I’ve encountered before, but several were new to me.
There were fewer than 3,000 people living in Yellow Springs, Ohio at the time,
and three of them were among the 43 public war tax resisters in the United
States. I wonder what that was all about.
This is the twentieth in a series of posts about war tax resistance as it was
reported in back issues of The Mennonite. Today we
reach 1973.
The Paris Peace Accord is about to be signed, beginning the eventual withdrawal
of U.S. troops from
Vietnam. Will the growing war tax resistance movement in the General Conference
Mennonite Church be able to sustain its momentum as anti-war urgency slackens?
Of all the varieties of tax resistance, the pay-taxes-but-complain method seems
the least likely to satisfy or impress. But some people do seem to like it. For
example, a letter from Sem and Mabel Sutter to the Commissioner of the
IRS,
dated explained that they
were paying “the two-thirds of our federal
income tax which is budgeted for military purposes… under protest.” Because
“the money is already in your hands in the form of withholding tax, we have no
recourse but to pay it, while stating that it violates our conscience to do
so.” The typical complaints about “the wholesale destruction of human life” and
the opportunity costs of military spending followed, along with a patient
explanation of the Mennonite point of view on “resistance to war.” Finally the
letter concluded that “until such time as legislative provision is made for
conscientious objection to war tax, we shall pay our tax under protest.”
The issue included
a
letter from Steven G. Schmidt. Similarly anguished about the Vietnam War,
he suggested something a bit stronger than paying-under-protest:
I would like to suggest one further action to people who follow Christ and to
people who believe in God. Income tax money is due soon. Most of that money
will go to disrupt and destroy lives. Perhaps church people would serve God
best by sending this money to nonmilitary agencies or to local charities or
the church. I, for one, pledge my support to you — and I know others who do,
too. Let me know if we can help you in any way, for it takes courage to follow
conscience.
As Joshua put it (24:15), “Choose ye this day whom you will serve… as for me
and my house, we shall serve the Lord.” We at our house have come to believe
that putting the money that would have gone to
IRS into
life-giving investments is serving the Lord.
A letter from David Janzen, dated , hoped to keep the war tax resistance momentum going as the
anti-war movement’s urgency was being deflated by the withdrawal of the United
States from the Vietnam War:
Dear [The Mennonite editor] Larry [Kehler]: I have
been asked by a number of friends, “Now that the war is over in Vietnam, will
you end your war tax resistance?” Since most of my friends read
The Mennonite, I wanted to share my answer here,
hoping it may be helpful to others.
No, I will not pay the telephone excise tax (now 9 percent); I will do my best
to owe no income tax and will refuse to pay whatever I do owe.
I am glad that the United States has finally agreed to withdraw all troops
from Vietnam and exchange prisoners with Hanoi, but… the war is not over and
U.S. complicity in
it has not ended. Our bombers in Indochina have not been brought home, rather
they are raining destruction on Cambodia and Laos in in unprecedented levels.
The victims of these bombs are not my enemies. Why should they suffer for the
sins of their rulers, or mine?
Furthermore, the President has requested a $4.7 billion increase in the
Pentagon’s budget, and this in supposed peace time. What is the purpose of all
this war spending that consumes 60 cents of every income tax dollar? It is, it
seems to me, getting ready to put down with massive violence, the next threat
to the American empire, or worse, to win the nuclear showdown of World War Ⅲ.
By contributing to this kind of terror politics, I do not demonstrate God’s
nature nor bring his peace. So, for the foreseeable future, I plan to reinvest
my war taxes into works of mercy.
If anyone wants information on how to refuse taxes for war, even if you are in
a withholding situation, write me or War Tax Resistance, 912
E.
31st
St., Kansas City, Missouri
64109.
I haven’t really looked into the question of whether Canadians are doing more
good than evil by paying their taxes. C.J. Hinke of 918 Center
St. South in Whitby, Ontario,
is apparently the only open tax resister in Canada, and would be glad to share
his reasons with inquirers.
Walton Hackman, executive secretary of the Mennonite Central Committee’s “Peace
Section” noted that war tax redirection to support that Section’s work had
increased:
During the past year the
MCC
Peace Section has received $4,000 in contributions made in lieu of tax
payments. This was a new phenomenon. In previous years only several hundred
dollars were contributed in this way. The contributions were unsolicited; they
were made by individuals whose consciences would not allow them to pay taxes
which were used for war purposes.
Since a substantial number of individuals from the
MCC
constituency are looking for an alternative way to use tax monies otherwise
collected for war purposes, the Peace Section took action at its
meeting to establish a
taxes-for-peace fund to which such contributions could be made.
Some of the funds contributed last year were contributions made in lieu of the
10 percent (now 9 percent) telephone excise tax which, according to Wilbur
Mills, chairman of the United States House ways and means committee, is a tax
needed to pay for the Vietnam war. Other funds contributed in lieu of tax
payments came from individuals who withheld part of their federal income tax.
Contrary to what many people hoped, the end of United States military action
in Vietnam does not mean a reduction in military spending. The proposed budget
increase for the Pentagon next year is $4,200,000,000.
Those who have made contributions to the Peace Section in lieu of tax payments
during past years are not, as some might suspect, the young activists, but
include businessmen, medical doctors, teachers, farmers, and administrators
representing a good cross section of the Mennonite brotherhood.
Young people, especially students who are not in earning situations of paying
taxes, contributed very little in lieu of tax payments. Most of the
contributions came from people over thirty.
The taxes-for-peace fund, as it is being called, is being established for
persons whose conscience against war and killings will not allow them to pay
the portion of their taxes that goes for war purposes. It should be
clearly understood, that contributions made to this fund will not satisfy the
Internal Revenue Service. It will, however, provide individuals with a
receipt proving that their intentions were not to defraud, but that their
withholding some portion of their tax monies was a matter of conscientious
objection to war and militarism.
The monies contributed to the fund will be used for the work of the Peace
Section and will be a small effort toward waging peace rather than war.
With the need for manpower in the armed forces greatly reduced and with the
use of more sophisticated remote-controlled technical weapons, it is
increasingly difficult to express one’s conscientious objection to war.
Mennonites have traditionally withheld their bodies as a protest against war.
Now few bodies are needed and many more dollars are needed for the development
and maintenance of expensive war machinery.
Contributions to the taxes-for-peace fund may be one tangible way in which
conscientious objectors can positively express peace through their tax
dollars.
A
letter by Gus Konkel, dated , shows the first sign of backlash for some time. Excerpt:
It seems to me the whole question about war taxes is a prime example of utter
question begging. In the final analysis all the taxes go in and out of the
same pot. Tagging a name to any particular tax doesn’t really mean anything. I
don’t ever expect to live under a government that has no defense system, be it
capitalist or communist. How directly I support that defense system through
the tax dollar doesn’t seem to me to be of any great import one way or the
other.
American Telephone and Telegraph reports that 22,000 people refused to pay the telephone excise tax in protest against the Vietnam War in , up from 17,000 in and 12,000 in .
The Internal Revenue Service wants AT&T to disconnect all those phones, but AT&T says tax problems are IRS’ business.
Apparently IRS wants as little to do with 22,000 prosecutions as AT&T wants to do with the $200,000 a month it would cost to disconnect protesters’ phones.
The edition reported on three
anonymous donors, young people from Goshen, Indiana, “with an average income of
$4,000” had together donated $5,000 to a fund for financially-needy Goshen
College students. “They have decided to give away their earnings,”
the
article reported, “rather than keep them and pay federal taxes, much of
which goes for war.”
The edition gave a second
example of a Mennonite organization practicing war tax resistance corporately
(see ♇ for the first example):
Faith Mennonite Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has recently voted to
withhold payments of the 9 percent federal excise tax on its telephone bill
“in protest against the Vietnam War and
U.S. militarism.”
The church council had discussed the issue in
and
and had recommended that the tax issue
be brought up at the annual business meeting
. On
, the issue was debated during the
Sunday school hour and voted on at the annual meeting in the afternoon.
“There was not complete consensus in our case,” said Pastor Donald Kaufman.
“But a significant group feels that this is an important Christian witness.”
Congregational moderator Richard Westby drafted a letter to Northwestern Bell
to be sent with each month’s phone payment. The letter reads in part:
“The Faith Church has traditionally opposed war and continues to pay for war
(although tax withholding does not have a long tradition within our history.)
This contradiction between profession and practice within our congregation is
now being changed so that we are more consistent in our faith. We are opposed
to war and do not want our tax payments to support, endorse, or pay for
U.S. war efforts.
“As a church organization, we realize that we have a responsibility to our
country and government for services rendered. We support our government except
when it contradicts Christian morality and conscience… We feel obligated to
challenge our government’s reckless and immoral military deeds. By our small
action we join with many other moral people in strongly urging our government
to change its priorities and reduce its dependence upon the military. Without
money, modern warfare could not be fought…”
The telephone tax, formerly 10 percent, was restored by President Lyndon B.
Johnson in , during the escalation of the
Vietnam War. Beginning this year, it will be decreased 1 percent annually
until it disappears in .
The edition carried
a
brief news item about the the strange
AFSC
lawsuit in which they were trying to have the withholding taxes they had
already paid for their conscientiously-objecting employees refunded to them.
(See ♇ for more about that suit.)
The edition included a
tribute to Mennonite professor Benny Bargen,
who had died . It touched
briefly on his war tax resistance, saying: “His opposition to war had led him
to request that his salary be held at a level that would not require him to pay
taxes.”
