At the time someone said: "Only two things are inevitable-death and taxes," it was unlikely that one could be contributory to the other. Today all this is changed. Not only does death activate many taxes on the estate of the deceased and the inheritance of the surviving heirs, it also works in reverse. Taxes cause death, just as death causes taxes. Every time a small business fails, one of the major contributing factors is the high rate of taxation. In the case of those businesses unfortunate enough to have competition from their own government invading the realm of private enterprise, taxes are the major cause of business failure. Government operates with an unfair competitive advantage by being financially able to continue indefinitely at tremendous capital losses then taxes competitive private enterprise to support these losses and perpetuate the unfair competition. Another way of saying this is to point out that government ownership of business is the aim of the socialist who believe that government is better able to do for man those things which he ought to do for himself. Socialism is, therefore, governmental take-over of business whether it be by outright mandate or by taxing private enterprise out of business. Government competition certainly helps hasten the latter.

The leasing and rental industry, the automotive industry and the many companies in all industry that operate automotive fleets, are certainly aware of the tax grab that is on. As individuals we can feel the increases not withstanding the current administration's guarantee that this really was a tax cut. The percentages might have been lowered as a token to show good faith with the electorate, but this did little good when the exemptions were reduced so that while, the government assures us, we are paying less taxes-it's costing us more money. And this is only the beginning.

Twenty-three states are increasing taxes on everything from cigarettes to personal savings accounts. The operator of a car leasing or rental company is in for it twice. In the case of fleet operation this newest clout can be tremendous. Gasoline prices will be raised from 2c to 5c a gallon. This is a certainty in most states although some of them won't get around to it until next year. But this isn't the only blow. Illinois, under the usual guise that the new proposal is actually cutting taxes, would put a 4 percent use tax on all leased and rented property. This hits the newlyweds when they rent the traditional punch bowl for the reception; the home-owner who wants to rolo-till his tomato garden; the businessman who uses rental office equipment, and ALL RENTAL AND LEASE VEHICLES in the state.  Illinois already collects the 4 percent on cars when the title is issued in the State. Now this collection will become an annual event. It is easy to see that leasing companies in Illinois are placed in the impossible competitive position which, for example, would allow a company in Chicago to enjoy a savings of as much as $100 on each leased vehicle simply by going to an out-of-state source. With such a tax, Illinois is penalizing local business. With a tremendous back-log of road repairs, Illinois is seeking a 3c per gallon increase on gasoline taxes, only one third of which is intended for road maintenance. The remaining 2c per gallon is slated for "other" uses. This is a discriminatory tax which penalizes the man who uses a car to earn his living. Between the two tax proposals, the Illinois fleet operator will be faced with double and discriminatory taxation for highway taxes, most of which will be diverted to deficit areas such as Aid to Dependent Children. It would appear that Illinois is proof that taxes can cause death by driving business out of state at the expense of its own businessman.