(The optical character recognition they’re using is pretty sub-par, or perhaps it’s the quality of their scans that’s the problem.
But they’ve taken an approach that I haven’t before seen in on-line digitalization of newspaper archives — they’re inviting users to proofread and correct these automated transcriptions, wiki-style.
So over time the archive may improve in quality.)
The Workers’ Industrial Union of Australia submitted a motion calling for tax resistance — a tactic I haven’t seen much evidence of in the labor movement otherwise (though it was a tactic of Marx-aligned democrats in Germany, and of anti-Czarist revolutionaries in Russia):
[Resolved] That the working class movement throughout Australia refuse to pay State and Federal income taxes on incomes of £500 or under that amount per annum.
The motion passed.
An article in the same paper reported that some union activists had already started using tax resistance in the Northern Territory:
Eight cases for the non-payment of income tax were heard .
The following were sent to gaol for 28 days:— James Fitzgerald, R.H. Green, K. Spain, John O’Neill, Albert Colley, R.J. Doling.
They all admitted having the means, but declined to pay.
The defendants are well-known unionists.
One group of miners’ unions took up a similar tax resistance proposal and went further: “It is also suggested that if any member is imprisoned, or has his wages garnisheed, for refusing to pay tax, a general strike will be declared until the member is released, or his money refunded.“
The Christian churches have a bad tendency to kiss up to political authority in particularly stinky-nosed ways.
And this tendency started so early that it was preserved in sections of the New Testament, giving later preachers scriptural support for their kowtowing.
The context was a campaign of tax resistance that had begun in the Northern Territory of Australia.
The people who lived there were taxed by a government in which they had no vote or representation, and so in the classic “no taxation without representation” manner, denied the latter, they denied the former.
But a man of God took to the pulpit and told them to knock it off:
A Sermon on Taxation.
Preached by the Rev. C. W. Light at the Anglican Church, .
Text, Ⅰ Peter Ⅱ, 13 and 14.—“Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether it be for the King, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well.”
We have been reminded during the last few days that history repeats itself, and I wish to put before you a repetition which unfortunately has escaped the notice of those who during the last few days have caused some stir in the community.
In the first half of the first century, A.D, there was a society formed of which one of the leading features was Brotherhood.
This society which grew very quickly claimed no particular country as its own — it was a world-wide society.
Some of its members, feeling that the government of the great empire in which they lived did not quite represent their views, refused to pay taxes and one of their leaders — an agitator, he was called by his enemies — wrote to these resisters in this strain — “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.
For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God.
Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves condemnation.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?
Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
For he is a minister of God to thee for good.
But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending upon this very thing.
Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.”
Now it is not right to bring politics into the church and I do not intend to do so.
But there are occasions when we have to consider what is our duty as Christians in public affairs.
Our Lord had to face this question; St. Paul found it necessary to put the Romans in mind of what was due from them to the government of the country in which they lived, and St. Peter also had to instruct the early Christians on their duty as citizens of the Roman Empire.
So, too, must I at this time review the Christian conception of government and what is our resultant duty.
…The condition of governing is simply that it is in accordance with the scheme of God for the benefit of mankind.
Now some people think that words like these refer only to a government which is Christian, But that is not so!
Those words (quoted above) refer to the Roman Government which was pagan in almost every way — the only way in which it was not Pagan was in its sense of justice and the Roman code of laws has been the foundation of justice ever since.
If such words could be used of a heathen government which was persecuting Christianity, how much more does it apply to-day!
The form of government we have to-day — whatever party is in power makes no essential difference — is a Christian one, and one which is the outcome of 2,000 years of Christianity.
If the Roman Government could be considered to be ordained of God for the preservation of social order and the material welfare of the peoples in its charge, how much more must our own form of government be ordained of God!
Two errors have been based on that passage of Scripture.
The first is the Divine Right of Kings whereby in times past they have claimed that any actions of theirs are right because they are “ordained of God,” and all power is theirs by Divine Right.
But it must be remembered that being God’s earthly representative demands obedience to God’s laws and when a king or government disobeys the laws of God in governing the people, the “powers that be” cease to be “ordained of God.”
The moral Law of God is the standard to which all Governments must bow.
The second error is that of passive obedience to the government no matter what the government ordains.
There are occasions when it is not against the Law of God to resist the government.
Here again the standard must be the Law of God.
If the action of the government does not represent God’s Law, passive resistance is permissible, though, of course, not always wise.
We have an example of such resistance in our own times.
A few years ago Parliament passed an Act legalising marriage with a deceased wife’s sister.
The Church considers it contrary to God’s Law and refuses to marry such cases.
These two extremes of Divine Right and passive obedience are therefore to be avoided and it leaves Christians in the position of judging the actions of a government by the standard of the Law of God.
The question then arises[:] is the fact that the citizens of the Northern Territory are not franchised against the moral law of God?
And no one can say that it is, There is no doubt but that the franchise would be acceptable to everyone in the Territory, and that what has been recognised as a principle in the British constitution should be extended to this part of the empire.
But it is not a question of moral right and wrong that the Government should be resisted on the point.
It is purely a political question as to what is a desirable form of government.
It is against God’s Law to resist the Govt. because there is no franchise in the Territory.
And particularly is it against the Law of God to refuse to refuse to pay taxes.
Our Lord was asked whether it was lawful in the eyes of God to pay taxes to Cæsar and He replied “Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”
To use the coinage current in a country is tantamount to recognising the Government which issues the coinage, and by the word “render” which our Lord used He meant that to pay taxes was an absolute duty of a citizen to the State.
It is a great pity that such hysterical and inflammatory speeches were uttered as were poured into the ears of the people of Darwin .
Many people can be carried off their feet by impassioned utterances and regretful happenings result.
Apart from any political feeling whatever, our Christian duty is to pay our dues to the Government of our country and to avoid lawlessness and disorder.
The New York Call, in its “Socialist Party News” section, covered tax resistance in Australia in one of its 1921 issues:
People Demand Representation in Parliament — Move to Free Jailed Rebels.
Red Flag Displayed
Banners and Songs of Revolution Greet Minister on Steamer — Sailors Join Movement.
by W. Francis Ahern. (Federated Press Staff Correspondent.)
Sydney, N.S.W., (by mail) — Residents in the Northern Territory of Australia are in a state of revolt.
They refuse to pay any taxes unless given direct representation in the Australian Parliament.
At the present time they are denied direct political representation on the grounds that the population of the territory (2,500) does not entitle them to a parliamentary representative.
Several hundreds have been prosecuted for refusing to pay the taxes, and every one brought before the court has preferred to go to jail rather than pay the taxes.
The government imprisoned about a score, then got “cold feet” and refused to send any more to jail.
Then the residents drew up a monster petition, which almost everybody signed, and insisted on the government standing up to its own laws by taking action against them.
They also defied the government to put them into jail.
Demand Release.
They also made a demand that the men in jail be released, threatening to take steps to release them if the government did not do so.
They were only restrained from taking direct action by their leaders — who prefer a policy of passive resistances.
Meanwhile, the local bands assemble daily outside the jail at Port Darwin and play the “Red Flag” and the “Marseillaise,” while the residents hold meetings, listen to red-hot addresses, and give cheers for the men behind the bats.
The Australian Minister for Home and Territories, Mr.
Boynton, who was on an official visit to the territory at the time, trying to pour oil on the troubled waters, was forced to fly.
Anticipating trouble, a gunboat was wirelessed for, and policemen and blue-jackets protected his ungracious exit from the territory.
On the day of his departure, , the people assembled in force, flew red flags, decorated the streets leading to the wharf with red bunting and red streamers.
As the minister made his way to the waiting steamer at the wharf he was hooted and jeered by the residents.
A handful of government officials gave three cheers for the minister — 2,000 residents answered with hoots.
The government officials started to sing “God Save the King” — but the bands refused to play the national air.
They played “The Red Flag” instead, the residents joining in the singing in great spirit.
It was significant that the sailors joined the people in singing “The Red Flag.” The attitude of the people is distinctly revolutionary, and big developments are pending.
Ninety-five per cent of the residents are militant unionists and say that they do not intend to pay the taxes or recognize the laws of the national parliament so long as they are denied direct political representation.
Google got off to a great start digitizing old newspapers, and then ran out of enthusiasm for the project, alas.
The Trove project is doing good work with old Australian newspapers, though, and they allow their users to correct the mistakes made by optical character recognition software when scanning the old microfilm images, so over time the database will become more searchable.
Today I’ll reproduce some of the articles from this database, concerning various tax resistance campaigns and feints in Australia.
First, this article from the Australasian Chronicle:
Whatever improvements may be made in our body politic during the present
session of council, one determination seems to pervade the minds of those at
the helm of affairs — a determination to tax the colonists both in town and
country. In addition to the bill for instituting corporations, with the
provisions of which our readers are already acquainted, the Governor has
brought forward another bill, for the purpose of appointing rural
corporations, under the name of Police Commissioners, with power to levy
rates for the support of police and the improvement of roads,
&c.
Now, as we have before said in reference to the Corporations Bill, we think
this altogether premature, as it is certainly contrary to the principles of
the British constitution. In the worst times of English history we find that
the representatives of the people were extremely jealous of anything in the
shape of taxation which was levied without their consent; and since that
period of history, during which the British government has been conducted
upon something like fixed principles, the representatives of the people have
exercised the sole right of disposing of all money bills. We have moreover
the best legal authority, as quoted by his Honor Chief Justice Dowling, last
session, that an English man, go where he will, carries with him the
constitution of his country, with all the privileges which it secures for
him. If this be true, then, we ask, by what right does Sir George Gipps
require the people of this colony to submit to direct taxation, destitute as
they are of any thing like representative government?
It appears that his Excellency, or his advisers, have forgotten the cause of
the American revolt, which ended in the overthrow of British sway after years
of angry feelings and civil war; and, although it may be said that in the
present case the tax is small, and would be for our good — we stop not to
discuss this matter — it is for the principle we contend. The tax
resisted by [John] Hampden was only of small amount. Had it been a farthing
instead of a pound he would have resisted it; for he contended, as we do, not
for great or small details, but for right — the right of free-born subjects to
be taxed by their representatives, and by them alone. “Without representation,
no taxation.” Once depart from this maxim, and, no matter how small the
present demand, we allow the Governor to insert his wedge in the block; how
far it may ultimately penetrate will depend upon the force which he brings to
bear upon it. In other words, consent to taxation without representation, and
you open a door through which arbitrary will can stalk in, whatever
shape or guise it may please to assume. Sir George has no doubt read the fable
of the horse, the stag, and the man. The horse was at enmity with the stag,
and entreated the man to assist him to catch and conquer him. He did so; the
horse thanked the man for his assistance, and requested to be released. “Oh!
no, my friend,” said the man, “you have boon so useful on this occasion, I
must retain you for my service.” It is in this way his Excellency calls upon
the Legislative Council to pass his unconstitutional bills, in order, he says,
to recommend the colony to the Home Government, and “prove that we are worthy
of a representative assembly.” Let the Council pass these bills, say we, and
the Home Government will “retain it for further service.” Depend upon it, the
British Ministry will not readily part with so obsequious a a body, to give
place to one which would not, assuredly, prove so easy of management. We have
another plan which we would recommend to Members of Council, by which they may
prove to the Home Government that the colony is “worthy of being entrusted
with a legislative assembly.” We would say to the independent Members — Prove
that you know the rights of free British subjects; throw out the Ordnance
Bill, and the Municipal Bill, and the Police Commissioners Bill, as involving
subjects which can only be settled by the representatives of the people; and
you will thereby prove effectually that you are worthy of freedom, and know
its value. On the other hand, should these bills pass in their present state,
we would advise the colonists to refuse the payment (unless under the extreme
penalty of the law) of a single farthing levied under the two last mentioned
Acts. We maintain that this may be safely done, upon the acknowledged
principle of “no taxation without representation;” and we are convinced that
this constitutional system of passive resistance would prove beyond measure
more convincing to the Home Government that we are worthy of possessing our
rights, than the plan proposed by his Excellency, of submitting tamely to be
taxed in such manner as he or they may choose to dictate. But more of this
anon.
A monster meeting had been held at Castlemaine,
Capt. Trewartha in the chair,
advocating passive resistance to the license tax. The following resolutions
were unanimously adopted:—
That as the Legislature have taken no satisfactory steps to redress the
grievances of the residents on the gold fields, this meeting protests
against the injury done them, and resolves to take out no more licenses for
gold digging, and to quietly abide the consequences; and as it is necessary
that the diggers should know their friends, every miner agrees to wear as a
pledge of good faith, and in support of the cause, a piece of red ribbon on
his hat, not to be removed until the license tax is abolished.
That as all men are born free and equal, this meeting claims their right to
a voice in the framing and passing of laws which they are called upon to
obey; and look upon nomineeism as a compromise of their just rights, and
will not accept as a gift that which is their inherent right, and will have
nothing short of their full and fair share in the representation of the
country.
That as the public lands belong by right to the people, and were given by
the Creator for the use of man, and cannot, with justice, be alienated from
him, this meeting declares that the government cannot any longer, with
propriety, withhold them from the people; that the present pernicious land
system should, with delay, be abrogated, and the standing orders in Council
revoked.
That this meeting resolves to unite with the people on the various
gold-fields, and of the towns of Melbourne and Geelong, in every just effort
to secure their rights.
That this meeting indignantly protests against the violent and illegal
resort to arms on the part of the Government against the people of Ballarat,
and the hostile attitude assumed by them towards the naturally peaceably
disposed and industrious inhabitants of the gold fields, by placing them
illegally under martial law, and deliberately records its unalterably fixed
determination, in the event of the Government refusing to immediately
withdraw the military from all the diggings, to use every just means within
its power to obtain their sacred and inalienable rights.
That in the opinion of this meeting the late disturbances at Ballarat have
been entirely occasioned by the exasperating and imprudent conduct of the
authorities; that the men who are at present in custody should immediately
be liberated, and that the Government should alone be held responsible for
the consequence.
That for the purpose of carrying out the foregoing resolutions, and as soon
as the necessary steps shall have been taken for organising and uniting all
the gold-fields with the cities and towns, a great national conference be
held in Melbourne, to secure the full and free rights of our adopted country — Australia.
That a committee be elected for the purpose of corresponding with the other
gold fields, and of carrying out the objects of the Gold-Fields Reform
League.
That this meeting from their very souls sympathise with the true men of the
people who are unjustly imprisoned for taking part in the late out-break and
also desire to publicly express their esteem for the memory of the brave men
who have fallen in battle, and that to shew their respect every digger and
their friends do wear tomorrow () a
band of black crape on his hat, and in their public and prívate devotions
remember the widows and orphans of the dead warriors.
The resolutions were all received with a great deal of cheering, except the
last, on the reading of which, every hat was lifted from the head with an
expression of deep reverence.
It was explained that the rule of action to be adopted was this:— If the
police went round to search for licenses, no resistance would be offered, as
they were simply executive officers, but on an arrest taking place it should
be reported to the committee by the nearest observer; they would immediately
call a monster meeting, and the whole of the people would deliver themselves
into custody. The men of Bendigo it was said meant to abide by the
consequences of that resolution. If the people of Forest Creek thought it was
right, they would adopt it, so that there should be united action on all the
gold fields of the colony.
On , before Mr. E.C.
Playford, S.M., Robert Toupein (Mayor of Darwin) was charged on an
unsatisfied judgment summons with the nonpayment of his income tax.
Defendant admitted owing the money, but stated that he declined on principle
to pay taxation until people resident in the Northern Territory were granted
political representation. An order was made for payment forthwith, but no
payment has yet been made.
Recent threats from residents of the Northern Territory that they will refuse
to pay taxes until they have been given the right to send a representative to
the Federal Parliament, have had little effect on the authorities, and in the
Court at Darwin to-morrow a batch of property owners will be called to pay or
give reasons why they should be excused. Not all residents have taken up this
defiant attitude, and the Secretary to the Department for Home and
Territories (Mr. J.G. McLaren) said on Saturday that the large holders of
land paid without demur.…
Darwin
(N.T.),
. — Several leading unionists were
before the Court on charges
of not having paid their income tax, and were ordered to be imprisoned for 28
days, without hard labour. The order for committal has not yet been put in
execution, and the defendants are still at large.
The New South Wales Trades and Labor Council carried a motion of protest against the imprisonment of a number
of residents at Port Darwin for refusing to pay Federal income tax.
This action was taken in response to the following wire from union officials
at Darwin:— “Eleven more residents appeared before the court to-day for
refusing to pay tax until they receive representation. Mr. Nelson (secretary
of the A.W.U.),
Mr. Brennan (secretary of the A.M.I.E.U.),
and four others, received 28 days’ gaol. The other cases were adjourned. We
call upon the council to hold public protest meetings; also to raise
subscriptions to carry on the fight. Nine men are now in prison, seven of
whom have young families. More prosecutions are to follow. Of the imprisoned
men four are leading speakers, while the rest are committeemen.”
The western miners will probably soon sound a call to arms, as the whole of
the lodges in the west are being asked to express an opinion as follows:
“That we, members of the western district of the Coal and Shale Employees’
Federation, ask the general secretary to get into touch with the executive
officers of all industrial organisations in Australia, with a view of
obtaining co-operation in refusing to pay State or Federal income tax on
wages of £300 or under per annum; also, in the event of a motion being
carried, and any member being sent to prison for refusing to pay, that all
unionists be called on immediately to stop work, and refuse to recommence
until such member is released, or the garnished money is refunded.”
So far all the western miners’ lodges which have dealt with the proposal to
exercise passive resistance to the income tax, unless the exemption is raised
to £300, have unanimously endorsed the scheme.
Only two lodges have yet to deal with the matter, after which the proposal
will be sent to the general secretary of the federation for endorsement by
the central council.
The secretaries of all the industrial organisations in Australia will be
written to and requested to resist payment of both Federal and State taxes
unless the exemption is raised.
In the Darwin Local Court. to-day, before a Special Magistrate (Mr. Playford)
five people were charged with refusing to pay their income tax. Four of the
cases were adjourned at the request of the Taxation Commissioner’s solicitor,
who was up country. The Magistrate granted an adjournment without hearing the
defendants. In the remaining case the defendant received the maximum penalty
of forty days’ imprisonment. The total number of residents imprisoned for
refusal to pay income tax is now twenty of whom seven are in prison. The
ex-Mayor (Mr. Toupin) and Mr. Bakling, who was appointed by the Government to
the Northern Territory Food Prices Board, were released this morning.
Joe Cook is a most unfortunate humorist. Speaking of the Lithgow miners’
passive resistance to income tax unless the exemption is raised to at least
£300, Joseph said he “would himself be a passive resister if he thought it
would be any good.” What an inspiration to public-spiritedness! How well
calculated to make a Lithgow miner feel ashamed of himself to be told that
the Treasurer of the Commonwealth would gladly evade the income-tax if he
could!
People will be less reluctant to take risks in a tax resistance campaign if
they know other people are willing to share those risks. One way of providing
this sort of reassurance is for resisters to join together in a mutual
insurance plan, so that if the government takes legal action against a
resister, or retaliates against them in some other way, they won’t have to
bear these consequences alone.
Today I’ll review some examples of how a variety of tax resistance campaigns
have created mutual insurance plans to protect resisters.
War Tax Resisters Penalty Fund
The War Tax Resisters Penalty Fund
reimburses American war tax resisters who have penalties & interest
seized by the
IRS.
The fund is operated by a team of resisters and sympathizers, and has hundreds
of subscribers:
In a core group of 83 people across the
country decided we could easily share $463.14 in penalties and interest
incurred by a few military tax resisters who appealed to the war tax
resistance community for help. The more people we could recruit to shoulder
the penalties and interest of resisters, the lighter the burden for everyone.
With the modest help we could provide, conscientious resisters were able to
keep on keeping on.
The penalty fund had the added benefit of making us all tax resisters, not
just those who withheld all or a portion of their income taxes. The base list
of supporters has been as high as 800 people sharing the weight. In nearly
every appeal, at least 200 people respond, usually more. In all we’ve paid
out about $250,000 to help resisters stay in the struggle.
Resisters who have had money seized by the
IRS
send the fund documentation showing how much of the seizure was the result
of interest and penalties, and then the fund sends out an appeal to its
members to help reimburse the cost:
We divide the total amount for all resisters by the number of active names on
the membership list to arrive at a “share.” We then send out an appeal to
both actives and inactive members. Each contributor pays all of a share or
whatever amount she can afford. Some pay more than a share. If we collect 75
percent of the total we ask for, each resister gets 75 percent of the amount
they requested. We cannot promise that we will collect the total amount
requested; usually, however, we can reimburse between 50% and 80% of each
appeal.
I have personal experience with this mutual insurance plan. In
the
IRS
seized some bank accounts of mine to recover taxes I had refused to pay. This
included $813 in interest and penalties. I applied to the War Tax Resisters
Penalty Fund, which sent me a check for $649 from the amount the subscribers
to the fund pledged.
Irish Land League
When the
National
Land League launched a rent strike targeting English absentee landlords in
Ireland in , it made sure resisters knew
it would have their backs if the landlords tried to evict them. The leaders
of the League issued a rent strike manifesto from Kilmainham Jail that
declared:
If you only act together in the spirit to which within the last two years
you have countless times pledged your vows, they can no more evict a whole
nation than they can imprison them.
The funds of the National Land League will be poured out unstintingly for the
support of all who may endure eviction in the course of the struggle. Our
exiled brothers in America may be relied upon to contribute if necessary as
many millions of money as they have contributed thousands to starve out
landlordism and bring English tyranny to its knees.
One of the ways this played out was for evicted tenants to be temporarily
put up, along with their livestock if any, on the property of unevicted
tenants and sympathetic landowners, in what came to be called “Land League
Villages.” Each family was given a small monthly allowance from the Land
League.
Dublin Water Charge Strike
In , the resistance campaign against the
water charge in Dublin initiated a mutual insurance fund. One of the campaign
leaders recalls:
Obviously the council/government tactic was to try to individualise their
intimidation. By summonsing individuals to court maybe they could bypass the
mass participation that the protests against disconnections had seen. The
campaign immediately took a decision that when any individual was summonsed
to court, we would turn up and contest every case — and that we would turn up
in force. It was at this time that we made a decision which would prove
crucial to the success of the campaign. We decided to initiate a membership
of the campaign at £2 per household. This money would go into a warchest to
pay legal fees so that no individual would be left facing a legal bill. The
idea that the individuals being taken to court were representing all of us
was paramount. Within weeks 2,500 households had paid the £2 membership fee,
and within 12 months there were over 10,000 paid-up households making the
campaign without doubt the biggest to have existed in decades.
Breton Association
When Charles Ⅹ of France attempted to bypass the legislature and enact his own
taxes in , French liberals in the Breton
Association organized tax resistance and created a fund to defray the costs of
any tax resisters who were prosecuted. By the terms of the Association’s
manifesto:
We declare… [t]o subscribe individually for ten francs… This subscription
will form a common stock or fund for all Brittany, destined to indemnify the
subscribers for any expense they may be put to by their refusal to pay any
illegal contributions imposed upon the public…
And this is how the fund was to be administered:
[Elected procurators are to] receive the subscriptions, to afford indemnities
conformably to the [section quoted above], at the request of any subscriber
prosecuted for the payment of illegal contributions; to sue in his name…
for justice against the exactors by all possible means allowed by law…
War of the Regulation
The Regulator movement, a tax resistance rebellion in pre-American Revolution
North Carolina, had an oath that members took that committed each of them to
come to the aid of any others who might be arrested or whose property was
being seized for nonpayment:
I will, with the aid of other sufficient help, go and take, if in my power,
from said officer, and return to the party from whom taken; and in case any
one concerned should be imprisoned, or under arrest, or otherwise confined,
or if his estate, or any part thereof, by reason or means of joining this
company of Regulators, for refusing to comply with the extortionate demands
of unlawful tax gatherers, that I will immediately exert my best endeavors to
raise as many of said subscribers as will be force sufficient, and, if in my
power, I will set the said person at liberty…
The oath also created a mutual insurance pledge:
I do further promise and swear that if, in case this, our scheme, should be
broken or otherwise fail, and should any of our company be put to expense or
under any confinement, that I will bear an equal share in paying and making
up said loss to the sufferer.
Reformed Israel of Yahweh
Members of the small Christian group called the Reformed Israel of Yahweh
were, like its founder, conscientious objectors to military taxation. When
some of the members of the group were convicted on tax evasion charges, the
Reformed Israel of Yahweh organization paid their fines.
Pacific Yearly Meeting
A committee of the collection of American Quaker congregations known as the
Pacific Yearly Meeting administers something it calls “the Fund for Concerns:”
Its purpose is to assist members and attenders of Monthly Meetings to follow
individual leadings arising from peace, social order, or spiritual concerns.
… Up to $100 per fiscal year per person will be available to help with the
interest and penalty expenses of war tax resisters who are members or regular
attenders of a Monthly Meeting. The Monthly Meeting must indicate approval
and provide matching funds.
New York Yearly Meeting
During the Vietnam War, the New York Yearly Meeting advocated war tax
resistance and “promised financial help through special committees if [Quaker
resisters] changed jobs or refused to pay taxes in protest against the war.”
Papuan Courier
In 1919, Papua, which had been a territory occupied and run by the German
Empire until World War Ⅰ when Australia took over, began to agitate against
taxation without representation, and many people refused to pay.
The Papuan Courier, which was sympathetic to the
tax resisters,
…as evidence of its bona fides on the question, has decided, to form a fund
for the defence of any resident who may by victimised, persecuted, or
prosecuted for failure to pay the tax, and to that end we open the list with
a contribution of Five Guineas.
Tithe War
In , Irish Catholics rebelled
against paying government-mandated tithes to the Anglican church. In this
case, the Catholic church itself provided some insurance to the resisters.
The Anglican archbishop Richard Whately complained:
Every possible legal evasion has been resorted to to prevent the incumbent
from obtaining his due. A parish purse has been raised to meet law expenses
for this purpose, and the result has been that in most instances nothing
whatever, in others a very small proportion of the arrears, has been
recovered. … [One Anglican clergyman] instituted a tithe-suit which was
decided in his favour; but, instead of receiving the amount, he was met by an
appeal to the High Court of Delegates, and is informed that a continued
resistance to the utmost extremity of the law is to be supported by a parish
purse.
Addio-Pizzo Movement
In , a number of individuals and businesses
opposed to paying mafia protection money began to use a number of techniques
to interrupt the payments and to support those resisters whom the mafia was
threatening with reprisals. The mayor of Palermo, Diego Cammarata, pledged
€50,000 to assist merchants who had been victims of extortion.
Peacemakers
The group “Peacemakers,” which launched the modern American war tax resistance
movement , had a mutual
insurance component from the beginning:
Peacemakers at the Ohio cell… established the Peacemaker Sharing Fund, a
mutual aid plan designed to insure aid to dependents of imprisoned
Peacemakers and to help finance group projects. During the Vietnam war, the
sharing fund became the main vehicle for donations to meet the needs of war
resisters’ families.
Penalty Sharing Community
The Iowa Peace Network maintains a mailing list of persons who have made a
commitment to the Penalty Sharing Community
to share in the penalties assessed to individuals and families who have
chosen to resist war taxes or have participated in civil disobedience or
non-violent direct action. When a request for assistance is received, a
mailing is sent out which explains the resister’s situation and the amount of
money needed. For example, if the resister was assessed a $300.00 penalty,
each of the persons in the Community would pay an equal portion of the
$300.00. Thus if there were 200 people in the Community, each would pay
$1.50. The Iowa Peace Network will also add into the amount requested its
costs for printing and mailing. Such costs have proven to be minimal.
Pioneer Valley War Tax Resisters
Members of the Pioneer Valley War Tax Resisters redirected their federal taxes
into an “alternative fund” that served partially as an escrow account, and
partially as a way of redirecting some of the money to charitable
organizations. Part of the fund was reserved to help defray any legal costs
incurred by members in the course of their resistance.
“New Rush” Resisters
White miners at the “New Rush” in Kimberly, South Africa, voted in
to form “a Defence League and Protection
Association… not to assail the Government, but to protect individuals if
assailed unrighteously by the Government.” The pledge of the association said
in part:
I shall to the utmost of my power, with purse and person, protect any and
every officer and member of the League against coercion or consequences of
what nature soever arising out of the action necessitated by this pledge.
The pledge had a clause that made it binding when it would be signed by 400
men, whereupon:
The Government will be defied if they dare to touch a single claim for
non-payment of license. The diamond buyers will refuse to pay further license
and will be defended from harm.
Ruhrkampf
When the Ruhr region of Germany began resisting reparation payments to the
victorious nations of World War Ⅰ, France and Belgium occupied the region
to take the payments by force. Germans responded with a campaign of mass
nonviolent resistance, including tax resistance, and were backed up by their
own government.
One of the ways the German government supported the campaign was by paying
the strikers itself, to the tune of 715 million marks. It did this in part by
printing off more currency, which helped fuel the hyperinflation of
(itself a sort of resistance strategy that
made it difficult or impractical to account for reparations payments).
Louisiana Anti-Reconstructionists
During the “Reconstruction” period after the American Civil War, white
supremacists in Louisiana refused their allegiance to a federally-backed,
mixed-race state government, and demonstrated this through tax resistance.
Several attorneys issued a statement offering to “engage themselves, without
compensation, and as a matter of public service, to defend professionally all
[tax resisters].” A mass-meeting issued a tax resistance pledge, and resolved:
That a committee of five be appointed to draw up a plan by which the citizens
may co-operate, to employ counsel and mutually assist each other in their
refusal to pay taxes.
Satyagraha in South Africa
Gopal Krishna Gokhale, an officer in the Indian National Congress fighting
for the independence of India, pledged £2,000 a month to support Indian
satyagrahis in South Africa who were engaged in tax resistance and other
tactics under Gandhi’s direction.
If resisters can encourage more people to evade more taxes, even if they do so
for non-idealistic reasons, this both takes resources away from the government
and increases the number of targets the tax enforcers have to pursue, thereby
taking some pressure off of the resisters.
Today I’ll cover how tax resistance movements can contribute to tax evasion
in the culture at large. (At the same time I’ll give a sneak preview of some
of the slides I’m preparing for my upcoming talk in Colombia — beware: I
haven’t asked anyone to proofread my shoddy Spanish translations yet.)
Taxpayer compliance is a challenge for governments to create and maintain,
and they spend a lot of effort trying to understand the mechanics of it and
engage in a lot of propaganda and other forms of manipulation in order to
bring it about.
I’m reminded of the Disney short The Spirit of
which told theatergoers that it
was Taxes that would Defeat the Axis… or the
short film The Tsippori Affair produced by Israel’s
propaganda department (with American help) that showed shocked audiences what
would happen if nobody paid their taxes (for instance, the schools would all
shut down, and school-aged children would lounge about playing cards, drinking
wine, and smoking cigarettes).
I’ve noted before one of the ways the
IRS
supports this pillar. Every year they conduct something they call the
“Taxpayer Attitude Survey” in which they ask a set of questions to 1,000
randomly-phoned American households. The survey contains carefully-loaded
questions like these (emphasis mine):
How much, if any, do you think is an acceptable amount to cheat
on your income taxes?
[Do you agree that] it is every American’s civic duty to pay their
fair share of taxes?
[Do you agree that] everyone who cheats on their taxes should be
held accountable?
Predictably, people overwhelmingly report that cheating is bad and fair shares
are good. The
IRS then
puts out a press release about how Americans overwhelmingly believe everybody
should pay what the government tells them to. Typically the news media go
along with it, composing stories that follow the press release script.
The government is always eager to draw your attention whenever it spends your
money on something nice. There’s hardly a bridge, library, overpass, park,
or other partially-public-funded thing in my town that doesn’t come with a
plaque attached, listing the names of the city councillors and mayor who
signed off on it — though that’s about all they had to do to get such credit.
This is why in the weeks before Tax Day, the
IRS
breathlessly announces indictments against famous people and big-time tax
evaders. Don’t think of stepping out of line, they’re saying, because you’re
sure to get caught. Anecdotes speak stronger than statistics here.
It takes a lot less work for the government to keep taxpayer compliance from
slipping from 90% to 80% than it does for the government to raise
taxpayer compliance from 80% to 90%.
If taxpayer compliance is high, taxpayers will convince themselves
of the attitudes in the pillars. Why am I allowing myself to be fleeced like
this? Well, I must have good reasons: it’s because I’m a good citizen, and
I want to contribute to useful things, and besides if I don’t I’ll get caught.
Everybody knows these things.
If taxpayer compliance is low, taxpayers have to be convinced — they
ask instead: Why am I allowing myself to be fleeced like
this (when so many other people aren’t)? Am I getting played?
It is easy to point out how many wealthy people and fat corporations get away
with paying little or no taxes. I won’t list examples here as I’m sure you’ve
heard plenty, but here’s one way a group of war tax resisters made this a
little more in-your-face:
At , a merry band of activists from the
local [Bangor, Maine] Peace & Justice Center swapped their cozy jeans
& t-shirts for swanky gowns & tuxedos, hopped in a verrry conspicuous
white stretch-limo, and motored their way to the
P.O./Federal
Bldg., to perform a bit of
satire-filled street theater.
This division of the “Rich People’s Liberation Front” did a skit to expose
the huuuge tax breaks which America’s corporations & our wealthiest
citizens receive; then thanked intrigued passersby with Dum-Dum lollipops.
(“Suckers for the suckers!”)
This is related to what tax geeks call the “salience” of taxation — that is,
how aware you are of the hand that is picking your pocket. If you had to write
a check to Washington every couple of weeks, your income tax would be very
salient. If the money is automatically withheld from your paycheck before you
get your hands on it, it’s less salient. If it’s invisibly included in the
price of the goods you buy, it’s less salient still. Governments are eager to
find ways to tax people in ways that make them less aware that they’re being
taxed, because the less you’re aware of it the less you’ll resist.
There are many other similar examples, both from the war tax resistance
movement and from other movements:
The Tax Foundation raises a ballyhoo every year about what it calls “Tax Freedom Day” — “the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay off its total tax bill for the year” and which lately has been arriving about the same time as federal income tax returns are due, which increases the publicity impact.
The Mennonite Central Committee turned the penny poll idea into an on-line game; another site put together a $3 trillion dollar shopping spree to give people an idea of what kind of cool things they could be investing in if the government weren’t spending all that money on war.
Libertarian Party activists often will hand out fake million dollar bills, each one printed with an estimate of how quickly the government spends that much money.
Another tack is to hand out “Certificates of Debt” that show how much government debt each American taxpayer is on the hook for.
One war tax resistance group held a “Tax Day” protest in which they facetiously labeled the mailboxes down at the post office with the names of military contractors like Lockheed-Martin, Halliburton, and Bechtel, to point out where the money was really going to end up.
“April 15th is ‘Support the Pentagon’ Day” read ads in the New York Times .
Under this headline, a cartoon showed a hapless taxpayer with a bit in his mouth, with a load of generals, admirals, and armaments on his back.
On a few occasions, tax resisters have turned themselves in to law
enforcement as a way of showing how little they are afraid of prosecution. For
instance, in Australia’s Northern Territory in
, “the residents drew up a monster petition,
which almost everybody signed, and insisted on the government standing up to
its own laws by taking action against them. They also defied the government to
put them into jail.” And in , three war tax
resisters went to the
IRS
headquarters in Washington to turn themselves in. “If the resisters are not
arrested and prosecuted,” Mary Loehr of NWTRCC
said (and they weren’t, and still haven’t been), “it will expose the myth that
people go to jail for not paying their taxes.”
As professor James C. Scott said of his studies of resistance to
government-mandated tithes in Malaysia, once tax resistance “has become a
customary practice it generates its own expectations about what is permissible
[and] raises the political and administrative costs for any regime that
subsequently decides it will enforce the rules in earnest. For everyday
resisters there is safety in numbers and successful resistance builds its own
momentum.”
The examples I have given here are largely indirect ways of promoting
a cultural atmosphere in which tax evasion seems like more of a good idea. But
there are also more direct ways in which people can assist in the tax evasion
of others. I’ve already mentioned the tactic of
paying in cash so that your
transactions leave less of a paper trail for the government to follow. Here
are a couple of others:
You can spread rumors that a tax has been abolished. This worked with
great success at the time of the French Revolution, when such rumors
became self-fulfilling prophecies. This was also common in Czarist Russia,
when people extrapolated from the propaganda-fuelled image of a benevolent
Czar to conclude that such a Czar must have abolished such awful
taxes. And the present day United States has long had a cottage industry
of people who are convinced (and convincing) that the real United
States Constitution would never permit something as awful as the federal
income tax.
You can manufacture the paraphernalia of tax evasion. For example, in
Mexico City, you can visit a taco stand and walk away not only with lunch,
but — for a small price — with fake receipts from a variety of
restaurants, hotels, and stores, that you can then use to declare business
expenses on your tax returns.
Tax resistance campaigns can sometimes get some mileage out of contrasting themselves with more fearsome or objectionable opposition groups.
For example, union leader Hardie Gibson, in recommending the strategy of nonviolent tax resistance in Australia’s Northern Territory in , warned the government against trying to crack down on the resisters:
“He did not want trouble like they had last year, he could not see the necessity for it, but unless the Government adopted different methods they would spread the seeds of Bolshevism faster than by any other method.”
The Women’s Tax Resistance League in Great Britain won a lot more sympathy than they might otherwise have because they were able to contrast their “passive resistance” tactics with those of the “militant” wing of the movement, whose members resorted to arson, assault, and other violent tactics.
Mary Russell, when she began resisting her property tax, said:
“I am very strongly opposed to the militant tactics adopted by a portion of those who are in favour of women’s franchise, and I have therefore taken this, the only course open to me, which appears justifiable, of protesting against the way in which the question of woman suffrage has been treated by the Government.”
In the United States, where the suffrage movement was considerably more restrained, there was no substantial “militant” wing to act as the bad cop to the tax resisters’ good cop, and this may have contributed to the slower adoption of the topic in the U.S..
One American suffragist, commenting on Russell’s resistance, noted that “this was [her] manner of protesting against militancy, though I fancy we should have considered it rather militant here.”
Darwin, . A public meeting was held in the town hall last night, presided over by the Mayor (Cr. Watts), under the auspices of the State Hotel Bar Boycott Committee.
The speakers, generally, announced their intention to refrain from payment of income tax until the rights of citizenship had been secured by the appointment of a local advisory board, and advised those present to do likewise.
Lists of passive resisters will be opened throughout the Territory, and a levy of 10/ has been struck.
Unionists have made an appeal to non-unionists and the townspeople for a voluntary subscription of a similar amount.
Sr. Ferricks will be met by a monster procession on his arrival, and existing grievances will be laid before him.
Darwin, . At a well-attended meeting, held in the Town Hall, and presided over by the mayor, it was resolved to enter upon an organised campaign against the payment of income tax, pending the rights of citizenship being granted.
Towards the expenses a levy of 10/ has been struck for all unionists, and an appeal has been made to citizens to fall into line.
Under a self-imposed ordinance, Gilruth decreed that beer, when bought wholesale at his liquor store, must return at least 35 per cent profit, while whisky at 50 per cent is not enough, for the Administrator not only insists but demands a profit of 75 per cent on all retail sales, even including recognized brands of bottled goods.
Added to this law is another than any person cannot import any liquor from Brisbane, Sydney, or anywhere else; that you must drink only one brand of beer (Carlton Brewery, Melbourne) and three brands of whisky.
If you violate this glorious law you are a felon, and you shall receive a £100 fine and 12 months’ imprisonment, and dwell with niggers in jail.
On an ordinance decreed that, owing to the new Federal supertax of 5–6d. per pint increase on beer, the Administrator passed on the tax by charging an increase of threepence per pint.
A meeting was held in the Town Hall, Darwin.
The Mayor presided, and a resolution was carried to boycott the State hotels until such time as a satisfactory reason was given for this latest act of the Administration.
A deputation was appointed to meet Gilruth, with the usual result.
What must the Southern taxpayer think when he knows that here in Darwin, where we have a white population of roughly 2300, he has to pay to keep a warship, as well as 80 soldiers, to force us in free Australia to knuckle down to the dictates of an individual who is not an Australian and, worse still, has not the slightest regard for Australian sentiment, and obstinately denies us what is enjoyed elsewhere in Australia.
If you think it reasonable or logical to live like human beings down South, while we, who are pioneers and deserve far greater consideration, are crushed down to the same level as Chinamen and aborigines, then the time has come for you to thoroughly awaken, for we are refusing to pay the Territory and Commonwealth income taxes, and no warship will compel the citizens to respect an Administrator or his precious system after a six years’ glorious trial, brimful of tragedies, or to permit the Government to continue an unrepresentative, rotten system at the point of a bayonet or by the intimidation of a gunboat.
Pay on, pay on, brothers of the South, for we absolutely refuse to upkeep this state of affairs.
In his concluding remarks the Mayor [Watts] congratulated the people of the Northern Territory upon the loyal manner in which the boycott of the State Hotel Bars, which had now lasted six weeks, had been adhered to.
No one in Darwin was drinking at the State Hotel bars now except among “the heads,” some of whom might be looking for another billet before long when the people got their rights.
Mr. Hardie Gibson, who followed, dealt chiefly with the payment of income tax, and referred to the anomaly of residents of the Northern Territory being asked to contribute towards the cost of their own coercion, and the upkeep of a most despotic regime.
Mr. R.M. Balding briefly endorsed Mr. Hardie Gibson’s remarks, and stated that, if the men of the Northern Territory were true to their own interests, the Fannie Bay penal establishment would have to be considerably enlarged before it could hold all those who refused to pay income tax.… Cr. [Harold] Nelson also read out a statement of receipts and expenditure in connection with the boycott committee.
A motion was proposed to the effect that a levy of ten shillings be struck on all residents of the Northern Territory, but this was amended so as to provide for a levy of ten shillings being struck upon all unionists, and for a voluntary subscription of a like amount being asked for from all other men in the Northern Territory, with the exception of those out of employment, who would not be expected to contribute.
A collecting committee was appointed to canvass the town for subscriptions.
A reception committee was also appointed to meet Senator Ferricks upon his arrival by steamer from the south, when another monster procession will take place, regarding which due notice will be given as soon as is possible.
With regard to income tax, those who purpose resisting payment thereof were asked to affix their signature to lists which will be prepared and left at certain business places for that purpose.
A meeting of the reception committee was afterwards held, presided over by Cr. Robt Toupein, at which a number of details connected with the visit of Senator Ferricks were discussed, and certain arrangements decided upon.
Boycott hotel bars and liquor store still strictly observed by citizens, and is now commencing tenth week, also citizens making determined stand, on passive resistance lines, to refuse to pay Commonwealth and Territory income taxes until such time as Australian citizen rights are restored.
Gilruth fled Darwin on , never to return.
Harold Nelson did do time in Fannie Bay for his tax resistance, but had the last laugh when he became the first parliamentary representative of the Northern Territory.
