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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1906)
mw" V W i WRTK l""' m 8 "' interests of the employer. The employes are no more to be trusted to act unselfishly and disin terestedly than the employers. In their zeal to secure a present advantage they may not only do injustice but oven forfeit a larger future gain. The strike, the only weapon of the employe at present, is a two-edged sword and may injure the workman as much as the employer, and evon when wholly successful, is apt to leave a rank ling in the bosom of the wage-earner that ought not to be. Society has, moreover, something at stake as well as the employer and employe, for there can be no considerable strike without con siderable loss to the public. Society, therefore, is justified in demanding that the differences be tween capital and labor shall bd settled by peace ful means. If a permanent, impartial board is created, to which either party of an industrial dispute may appeal or which can of its motion in stitute an inquiry, public opinion may be relied upon to enforce the finding. If there is compul sory submission to investigation it is not neces sary that there shall be compulsory acceptance of .the decision, for a full and fair investigation will, in almost every case, bring about a settlement. INCOME AND INHERITANCE ,; (From Mr. Roosevelt's Message.) The question of taxation is difficult in any country, but it is especially difficult in ours "with its federal system of government. Some taxes should on every ground be levied in a small dis trict for use in that district. Thus the taxation of real estate is peculiarly for the immediate lo cality in which the real estate is found. Again there is no more legitimate tax for any state than a tax on . the franchises conferred by the state upon street railroads and similar corporations which operate wholly within the state -boundaries sometimes in one and sometimes in several municipalities or other minor' divisions of the state. But there are many kinds of taxes which can only be levied by the general government so as to produce the best results because, among other reasons, the attempt to imp'ose them in one particular state too often results merely in driving nLmtlon 0I:individual affected to some other locality or other state. tfo iTi1 national government has long derived Its chief revenue from a tariff on imports and frote an Internal excise tax. In addition to these ther? is every reason why, when next our system o : tax ation is revised, the national government shouTd Impose a graduated inheritance tax, S if Pos sible, a graduated income tax. ' P The man of great wealth owes a neculiar obligation to the state, because he derives Ipecia advantages from the mere existence of the kov- Hmenf' Eot 0nly 8hould he recognize this obH gation in the way he leads his daily life and in the way he earns and spends, his money but It should also be recognized by thS way in which nn ?ayS fr the Protectin the state gives h im assume Sffftff3' ? is deSirable that hrihouTd assume Tiis full and proper share of the burden of taxation; on the other hand1 it is auitJ 5 necessary that in this kind S 'taxation l where shoumi016 the tapay but U ttSS should be clear recognition of the dancer of in- augurating any such system save fin a spirit of entire justice and moderation ,3heilev.er ?' as a PeP1 undertake to re model our taxation system along the lines sS- turSete?h JG mfke ifc clear lerldvel MOTortfn0? t0 dIstribute the burden of supporting the government more eauitablv thin PooPrrran; on T ?? treat mL eei"1ida,St snoh a subject as this People may become 5? M the posed to be done, may clearlv bat Is pro" of proceeding with wistom anfl ?? necessIty and may make un tlipfr 2?i ?d .s?lf restraint, are willing to go X tt?J?t2?8 how far W legislators caopiTn?Stpr; hile only tramed detail. Bufi Si that ?"" in necessary national legislates should tne.. Dear future ur for a graduated inheritance a laJ Pding Hy increasing rJ0 a Stead" moneys or other valuables nSl?0 tut upon aJ1 quest, or devise to any iSSl, ig ?Y gift' be' ation. It may be well to n.5 T?"?1 or corPor proportion a, .the YndlvWuS f w ?, heavy ln of kin. in any event in v??flted is remote rata of the tax sSi w?y lud6ment, the pro the incveLl TitllfJF? heavi with dividual after a o.L???l eft any one in- -5As?.wKsa& The Commoner. tion is the desire on the part of the breadwinner to leave his children well off. This object can be attained by making the tax very small on mod erate amounts of property left; because the prime object should be to put a constantly increasing burden on the inheritance of those swollen for tunes which it is certainly of no benefit to this country to perpetuate. There can be no question of the ethical pro priety of the government thus determining the conditions upon which any gift or inheritance should be received. Exactly how far the inherit ance tax would, as an incident, have the effect of limiting the transmission by devise or gift , of the enormous fortunes in question it is not neces sary at present to discuss. It is wise that progress in this direction should be gradual. At first a per manent national inheritance tax, while it might be more substantial than any such tax has hither to been, need not approximate, either in amount or in the extent of the increase by graduation, to what such a tax should ultimately be. This species of tax has again and again been imposed, although only temporarily, by the na tional government. It was first imposed by the act of July 6, 1797, when the makers of the con stitution were alive and at the head of affairs. It was a graduated tax; though small in amount, the rate was increased with the amount left to any individual, exception being made in the case of certain close kin. A similar tax was again Imposed by the act of July l, 1862; a minimum sum of $1,000 in personal property being excepted from, taxation, the tax then becoming progressive according to the remoteness of kin. The war revenue act of June 13, 1898, provided for an in heritance tax on any sum exceeding the value of $10,000, the rate of the tax increasing both in accordance with the amounts left and in. accord ance with the legatee's remoteness of kin. The' supreme court has held that the succes sion tax imposed at the time of the civil war was not a direct tax but jm impost or excise which was both constitutional and valid. More recently the court, in an opinion delivered by Justice White which contained an exceedingly able and elaborate' discussion of the powers of the congress to impose death duties, sustained the constitutionality of the inheritance tax feature of the war revenue l act of 1898. In its incidents, and apart from the main purpose of raising revenue, an income tax stands on an entirely different footing from an inherit ance tax; because it involves no question of the perpetuation of fortunes swollen to an unhealthy size. The question is in its essence a question of the proper adjustment of burdens to benefits. As the law now stands it is undoubtedly diffi cult to devise a national income tax which shall be constitutional. But wheth'er it is absolutely impossible is another question; and if possible it Is most certainly desirable. The first purely 5c?imt w, law was passed b the congress in 1861, but the most important law dealing with the subject was that of 1894. This the court held to be unconstitutional. Tfie question is undoubtedly very intricate, delicate and troublesome. The decision of the court was only reached by one majority. It Is the law of the land, and of course Is accepted as such and loyally obeyed by all good citizens. Never theless, the hesitation evidently felt by the court as a whole in coming to a conclusion, when con sidered together with the previous decisions on the subject, may perhaps Indicate the possibility of devising a constitutional income tax law which shall substantially accomplish the results aimed at. The difficulty of amending the constitution is so great that only real necessity can justify a resort thereto. Every effort should be made in dealing with this subject as with the subject of the proper control by the national government over the use of corporate wealth in Interstate business, to devise legislation which, without such action shall attain the desired end; but if this fails, there will ultimately be no alternative to a constitutional amendment. (From the Madison Square Speech.) The income tax, which some in our country nav denounced " a socialistic attack upon wealth, has, I am pleased to report, the endorse ment of the most conservative countries in the old nfaf JB Permaf?nt Pt of the fiscal system of most of the countries of Europe and in manv places it is a graded tax, the rate being hiffi upon the largest incomes. England hSlonfde- SS? Gnf TU the Income te for a constable part of her revenues and the English commis. sion is now Investigating the proposition toSge from a uniform to a graded tax. S I have been absent too lomr to nnonir muu any authority on the puWIc segment in ttS country at this time, but I am so convinced of the VOLUME G, NUMBER justice of the income tax that t fnn1 people will sooner or a JeSan, F? that ment to tho nnnafitJ ::.-., .mana an am.. ment to the nnnRMtntw .i.!rnan.4 .,,-!- i-J ."''"'" !vuln Will snPHfw,r il Posslbln apportioned among the people X , n5?entob their ability to bear t.hnm?f . '?.tSroP?'m to amend. authorize an income tiw ,??; . sPecifically for tlm lntnn d 4-t. . , . x"'lKe It nnsalKu for the burdens of the federal go JLW n apportioned amontr tho ifa,"veinment to their ability to bear them i is little T"?11 to disgrace to our country tha whl 0 ? S",1,01 a command the lives nf u i Jl- A is able to "a s?1 t rZ:z:i vvAAAiJci. ivtraiLii in nonr t-r -.i- 'vj of the government winIr Zl 7Z.?tiQ Senses If we can but repeal the laws which , men to reap where they have not qowniable which enable them to garner into the r IZrZ barns the harvests that belong to othern g will be able to accumulate elough to n7akP Z fortune dangerous to the country Spec?5 SrHf lege and the use of the taxing powerfo PrK gain-these are the twin pillars upon which nlut ocracy rests. To take away these supports f and I to elevate the beneficiaries of special legis ation t of 'oSrTarty.1101163' Ught to be "he And who can suffer injury by just taaUnn SS1? JfTS aDd the S ofthSeffer: sonian doctrine of equal rights to all and special privileges to none? Only those whose accumula tions are stained with dishonesty and whoso im moral methods have given them a distorted view of business, of society and government. Accumu lating by conscious frauds more money than they can use upon them-selves, wisely distribute or safely eave to their children, these denounce as public enemies all who question their methods or throw a light upon their crimes. CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS (From Mr. Roosevelt's Message.) I again recommend a law prohibiting all cor porations from contributing to the- campaign ex penses of any party. Such a bill has already passed one house . of congress. , Let individuals contribute as. they desire; but let us prohibit in effective fashion all corporations from- making contributions for any political purpose, directly or indirectly. (From the Madison Square Speech.) The investigations which have' been in pro .gress during the past year have disclosed the business methods of those who a few years ago resented any inspection of their schemes and hid their rascality under high-sounding phrases. These investigations have also disclosed the source of enormous campaign funds which have been used to debauch elections ' and corrupt the ballot. The people see now what they should have seen before, namely, that no party can ex terminate the trusts so long ad it owes its po litical success to campaign contributions secured from the trusts. The great corporations do not contribute their money to airy party except for immunity expressly promised or clearly implied. The president has recommended legislation on this subject, but so far his party has failed to respond. No important advance can be made until this corrupting Influence is eliminated and I hope that the democratic party will not only challenge the republican party to bring forward effective legis lation on this subject, but will set an example by retuslng to receive campaign contributions from corporations and by opening the books so that every contributor of any considerable sum may be known to the public before the election. The great majority of corporations are engaged in legiti tnate business and have nothing to fear from hos tile legislation and they "should not be permit ted to use the money of the stockholders to ad vance the political opinions of the officers of the corporations. Contributions should be individual, not corporate, and no party can afford to receive contributions even from Individuals when the ac ceptance of those contributions secretly pledge th party to a course which it can not openly avow. JXa?eP !?r.dB P0lIUcs 8houJd bG honest, and I mistake political conditions in America if they do paIg5seSage improvemont In the conduct of cam- COLLECTING DEBTS BY NAVY (From Mr. Roosevelt's Message.) inn1? my essae to you on the 5th of December, w' Cailetyour attentIon to the embarrassment that might be caused to .this government by the assertion by foreign nations of the right to col lect by force of arms contract debts due by Amer- Sne??,ll?B to citIzens of the collecting nation, and to the danger that the process of compulsory collection might result In the occupation of terri tory tending to become permanent. I then said: Our own government has always refused to en force such contractual obligations on behalf of V PW5B - W-r! Jl.'flJelilfcii1 --mt.-iiagjyj ?. V