Cinemanipulation

Cinema stars are seldom good mathematicians. Confronted with the U. S. income tax, many of them are reduced to flabby incompetence. They journey across the U. S. from Hollywood to "fix things up" personally at the Treasury Department. That grey classic building, they have found, affords a new and unusual background for "still" pictures of themselves on business bent. Last year Secretary Mellon's department had the honor of professional calls from Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Richard Barthelmess.

But the Hollywood habit of turning income tax matters over to "counselors" who promise to save a taxpayer large sums provided the benefits are equitably divided, has now led to a terrifying state of affairs. Two such "counselors" for cinema folk, Miss Marjorie Berger and Edward H. Hayden, were last week indicted by a U. S. grand jury in Los Angeles on charges of preparing fraudulent tax returns for their big-salaried clients. Cinemactors and actresses quaked at the possibility of conspiracy charges.

The U. S. contended that Miss Berger had saved Rod La Roque some $24,000 tax payments on a $182,779 income in 1927. Other of her clients were William Haines and Dorothy Mackaill.

Against Hayden was the charge that by fine manipulation he had reduced the tax payments of Fred Niblo, director, about $10,000, Ramon Novarro, $8,000, Raoul Walsh, $12,000 and George O'Brien, $2,000.

Most of these cinema taxpayers were only too anxious to meet large penalty assessments rather than criminal charges. A large migration from Hollywood to the Treasury Department may be shortly anticipated.