As the week ahead will remind us, filing federal income taxes has become a kind of civic ritual for the vast majority of Americans. In its hold on the collective imagination, tax day is now a bit like Thanksgiving or the Super Bowl. With one big difference, of course: Thanksgiving and the Super Bowl are generally a pleasure, while our mid-April tax rush is a shared ordeal, like final exams or an annual physical.

Who is to blame for saddling us with the income tax? Look no further than the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union...