Judge — September 1938 — page 16: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Loopholes Chief of Internal Revenue, Washington, D.C. Dear Chief: I finally succeeded in tracking down Mr. Joseph P. Burr; also known as J. Prentice Burr, J. P. Burr, Joe Burr, The Newfoundland Sand & Gravel Com- pany, The Panama Holding Corporation and The Jamaica Ginger Exporting Co., Ltd. When I showed him my credentials, and accused him of income tax evasion, he emphatically denied any deliberate intent on his part to defraud the Gov- ernment, claiming, further, that to his knowledge and belief he had paid us every cent that was legally due us. Morally, he may still owe us a million dollars, but try and get it! In order that you may get a clear picture of exactly what I was up against, by JACK CLUETT I will quote directly from my cross ex- amination of the ambidextrous Mr. Burr: Q. What is your name? A. The Newfoundland Sand & Grav- el Company, Inc. Q. I didn’t ask for your company’s name. I want your own name. A. The Newfoundland Sand & Grav- el Company, Inc., is my own name. Q. Do you mean to infer that if a friend of yours were to introduce you to someone he would say: “Mr. Smith, I'd like you to meet my good friend, The Newfoundland Sand & Gravel Com- pany, Inc."? A. Yes. Q. Very well, then—who are the offi- cers of this corporation? A. J. Prentice Burr, J. P. Burr, Jo- seph P. Burr and Joe Burr. Q. Where are these other gentlemen? I'd like to question them. A. They're right here. They're me. Q. How do you get that way? A. Easy. I split my- self in four parts and incorporate. Q. What, may I ask, is J. P. Burr Jr., Inc.? A. That's a small subsidiary of mine. Q. What is the na- ture of its business? A. It's in the eighth grade of public school. “He said it made him feel like he was a kid again.” Q. In other words, it’s your son, isn’t he? A. On the side, yes. Q. Tell me, is Mrs. Joe Burr & Com- pany your wife? A. Partly. Right now she happens to be a New Jersey trucking concern. Great little woman—Mrs. Burr. Q. What's this item, 8B, where you wrote off $25,000? A. I lent myself $25,000, couldn't pay it back, so wrote it off as a bad debt. By this time, you can see, I was so befuddled I didn’t know whether I was coming or going, while the New- foundland Sand & Gravel Company was in perfect control of the situation. Legally, he was in the clear, and he knew it. My reference books, tax blanks, papers and copious notes on the case were scattered all over his office. I felt like a bird dog, crawling around the floor on my hands and knees, trying to piece together some evidence which would bring this captain of industry to bay. Finally I slumped down in a chair, exhausted, “Mr. Burr,” I said, almost tearfully, “let's be reasonable about this. The Bureau of Internal Revenue is not accusing you of violating the law, but we are condemning you for resorting to a corporate device to avail yourself of “I beg your pardon, sir. a H income deductions and exemptions not I'm a collector of dimes!” THE JUDGE FOR SEPTEMBER comicbooks.com