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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1915)
5 i How to Raise Revenue to Meet Expenses; Stern Rebuke for the Disloyal Citizens THE BEE: OMAHA. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8. 1913. (Continued from Fug Four.) thtt great policies by which we winh to -1 make rood, now and always, our right to are few measures you could adopt which I lead In enterprise of peace and good will would mors servlceably clear the way for and economic, and political freedom. Where Will Money Come From to Carry Out the Defense Program? "The plans for the armed forces of the nation which I have outlined, and for the general policy of adequate prepara tion for mobilisation and defense. Involve of course very large additional expendi ture of money expenditures which will considerably exceed the estimated reve nues of the government. It is made my duty by law, whenever the estimate of expenditure exceed the estimates of revenue, to call the attention of the con gress to the fact and suggest any means of meeting the deficiency that It may bo wisa or possible for me to suggest. I am ready to believe that It would be my duty to do so In any case; and I feel particularly bound to speak of the mat ter when it appears that the deficiency will arise directly out of the adoption by the congress of measures which I myself urge it to adopt. Allow me. therefore, to speak briefly of the present state of the treasury and of the fiscal problems which the next year will probably dis close. Comdltlon of the Treasary . . "On the thirtieth day of June last there was an available balance In the general fund of the treasury of il04.170.106.78. The total estimated receipts for the year 1918, on the assumption that the emerg ency revenue measure passed by the last congress will not be extended beyond Its present limit, the thirty-first of December, 1915, and that the present duty of one cent per pound on sugar will be discontinued after the first of May, 1918, will be t670.366,M0. The balance of June last snd these estimated revenues come. therefore, to a grand total of 1774.536, 406.78. The total estimated disbursements for the present fiscal year, including twenty-five millions for the Panama canal, twelve millions for probable de ficiency appropriation, and $50,000 for miscellaneous debt redemptions, will be $753,891,000; and the balance In the general fund of the treasury will be reduced to J30.644.eO5.V8. .The emerg ency revenue . act, - if continued beyond its present " time limitation,, would pro duce, 'during the half year then remain ing, about, forty-one millions. ' The duty of one cent per pound on sugar, if con tlnued, would produce during , the two months of the - fiscal year remaining after the' first of May, about fifteen mil lions. These two sums, amounting to- twther-to fifty-six millions, if added to the revenues of the second half of the , fiscal year, would 'yield "the ' treasu ry at the end of the year an available bal ance of 176,644,606.78. estimates of Additions. The additional revenues , required to carry out the program of military and naval preparation of which I have spoken, would, as at present estimated, be for the fiscal year 1817, 193,800.000. Those figures, taken with the figures for the present fiscal year which I have already given, disclose our financial problem for the year 1917. Assuming t that the taxes Imposed by the emergency revenue ; act and the present duty on . sugar are to be discontinued, and that the balance at the close of the present fiscal year will be only 120,644,606.78, that the disbursements for the Panama canal will again be about twenty-five millions, ind that the additional expenditures for the army and navy are authorised by the congress, the deficit In the general fund of the treasury on the thirtieth of June, 1917, will be nearly two hundred and thirty-five millions. To this sum at least fifty millions should be added to repre- sent a safe working balance for the treasury, and twelve million to Include the usual deficiency estimates In 1617; and these additions would make a total ' deficit of some two hundred and ninety seven millions. , If the present taxes should be continued throughout this year and the next, however, there would ie a balance 1 In the treasury of some seventy-six and a half millions at the nd of the present fiscal year, and a : leficlt at the end of the next year of only some fifty millions, or. reckoning In sixty-two millions for deficiency ap propriations and a safe treasury balance at the end of the year, a total deficit of some one hundred and twelve millions The obvious moral of the figures Is that It la a plain counsel of prudence to con tinue all of the present taxes or their equivalents, and confine ourselves to the problem of providing one hundred and twelve millions of new revenue rather than--two hundred and ninety seven millions. New Taxes Proposed. How shall we obtain tha new revenue? We are frequently reminded that there are many millions of bonds which the treasury Is authorised under existing law to sell to reimburse the sums paid out of current revenues for the construction of the Panama canal; and It Is true that bonds, to the amount of approximately $222,000,000 are now available for that pur pose. Prior to 1913 il34.63i.ra or xneso bonds had actually been sold to recoup the expenditures at the Isthmus; andnow constitute a considerable Item of tha public debt. But I. for one, do not be lieve that the people of this country ap prove of postponing the payment of their "While we speek of the preparation f the nation to make sure of Its security and Its effective power we must not fall Into the patent error of supposing that Its real strength comes from armaments and mere safeguards of written law. It comes, of course, from Its people, their energy, their success In their undertak ings, their free opportunity .to use the natural resources of our great home land and of the lands outside our continental borders which look to us for protection. for encouragement, and for assistance In their development from the organi sation and freedom and vitality of our economic life. The domestic questions which enraged the attention of the last congress are more vital to the nation in this Us time of test than at any other time. We cannot adequately make ready for any trial of our strength nnless we wisely and promptly direct the force of our laws Into those all-Important fields of domestic action. A matter which It seems to me we should have very much at heart Is the creation of the right In strumentalities by which to mobilise our economlo resources In any time of na tional necessity. I take It for granted that I do not need your authority to call Into systematic consultation with the di recting officers of the army and navy men of recognised leadership and ability from among our cltisens who are thor oughly familiar, for example, with the transportation facilities of the country and therefore competent to advise how they may be co-ordinated when the need arises, those who can suggest the best way In which to bring about prompt co operation among the manufacturers of bills. Borrowing money Is short-sighted flnanoe. It can be justified only when ) the country, should It be necessary, and permanent things are to be accomplished I those who could assist to bring tho technl- whlch many generations will certainty benefit by and which It seems hardly fair that a single generation should pay for. The objects we are now proposing to spend money for cannot be so classi fied, except In the sense that everything wisely done may be said to be done In tho Interest of posterity as well as In our own. It seems to me a clear dictate of prudent statesmanship and frank finance that In what we are now, I hope, about to undertake we should pay as we go. The people of the country are entitled to know Just what burdens of taxation they are to carry, and to know from the outset, now. The new bills should be paid by Internal taxation. "To what sources, then, shall we turn? This is so peculiarly a question which the gentlemen of the house of representatives are expected under tho constitution to propose and answer to that you will hardly expect me to do more than discuss It in verj reneral terms. We should be following an almost universal example of modern governments If we were to draw the greater part or even the whole of the revenues we need from the Income taxes. By somewhat lowering the present limits of exemption and tho figure at which the sur-tax shall begin to be imposed, and by Increasing, step by step throughout the present graduation, the surtax Itself, tha Income taxes as at present apportioned would yield sums sufficient to balance the books of the treasury at the end of the fiscal year 1917 without anywhere mak ing tho burden unreasonably or oppres sively heavy. The precise reckonings are fully and accurately set out in the report of tha secretary of the. treasury which will be Immediately laid before you. Other laarcFi to Tapped. "And there are many additional sources of revenue which an Justly be resorted to without hampering the Industries of the country, or putting any too . great charge upon Individual expenditure. A tax of 1 cent per gallon on gasoline and naphtha would yield, at the present esti mated production, 110,000,000; a tax of 60 cents per horse power on automobiles and Internal explosion engines, 816,000,000; a stamp tax on bank checks, probably $18,000,000; a tax of 25 cents per ton on pin iron, 810,000,000; a tax of 25 cents per ton on fabricated Iron and steel, prob ably $10,000,000. In a country of great In dustries like this It ought to be easy to distribute the burdens, of taxation with out making them anywhere bear' too heavily or too exclusively upon any one set of persons or undertakings. What la clear is, that the Industry of this gener ation should pay tho bills of this generation. Disloyal Element of Citizenship Most Serious Menace Present "l have spoken to you today, gentle - men, upon a single theme, the thorough preparation of the nation to care for its own security and to make sure of entire freedom to play the impartial role In this hemisphere and in tho world which . we ' all believe to have been providentially as ; signed to It I have had In my mind no thought of any immediate or particular : danger arising out of our relations with other nations. We are at peace with all ; the nations of tho world, and there is reason to hope that no arueatlon In con , troversy between this and other govern- tnents will lead to any serious breach of i vnlcable relations, grave as some dlffer i ences of attitude and policy have been and may yet turn out to be. I am sorry , to say that the gravest threats against ! our national peace and safety have been ' uttered within our own borders. There ' are cltisens of the United States, I blush i to admit, bora under other flags but wel corned under our generous naturalisation laws to the full freedom and opportunity , of America, who have poured the poison . of disloyalty Into the very arteries of our national life; who have sought to bring the authority and good name of our gov- ' eminent into contempt, to destroy' our . Industries wherever they thought it ef- fcctlve for their vindictive purposes to ' strike at them, and to debase our politics ': to the uses of foreign intrigue. Their I number is not great as compared with , the whole number cf .those sturdy hosts i by which our nation has been enriched In recent generations out of virile foreign . slocks; but it is great enough to have brought deep disgrace upon us and to have made it necesaary that we should promptly make use of processes of law ; yy which we may be purged of their cor i tupt distempers. America never wit- jt uessed anything like this before. It never dreamed it possible that men sworn into its cltlsenahlp, men drawn out of . great free stocks such as supplied some cf the best and strongest elements of ' that' little, but how heroic, nation that In a high day of old staked Its very life : to free Itself from every entanglement that had darkened the fortunes of the older nations and set up a new standard here, that men of such origins and such ' free choices of allegiance would ever turn in malign reaction against the govern ment and people who ha4 welcomed and u . nurtured them and seek to make this I proud country once more a hotbed of European passion. A little while ago such a thlnr would have seemed Incredi ble. Because It was Incredible we made no preparation for It. We would have been almost ashamed to prepare for It, as if we . were suspicious of ourselves. our own comrades and neighbors 1 But the ugly and Incredible thing has actually come about and we are without adequate federal laws to deal with with it, I urge you to enact such laws at tha earliest possible moment and feel that In doing so I am urging you to do nothing less than save the honor and self-respect of tho nation. Such creatures of passion, disloyalty and anarchy must bo crushed out. They are not many, but they art infinitely malignant, and the hand of our power should close over them at once. They have formed plots to destroy prop erty, they have entered Into conspiracies arainst the neutrality of tha government. they have sought to pry Into every con fidential transaction of the government In order to serve interests alien to our own. It Is possible to deal with these things very effectually. I need not suggest the terms In which they may bo dealt with. These Arc Disloyal. "I wish that It could be said that only a rew men, misled by mistaken sentiments of allegiance to the governments under which they were born, had been guilty of disturbing the self-possession and misrepresenting the temper and prin ciples or the country during these days of terrible war, when it would seem that every man who was truly an Ameri can would instinctively make It his duty and his pride to keep the scales of Judg ment even and prove himself a partisan or no nation but his own. But It can not. There are some men among us, and many resident abroad who. though born and bred in the United States and call lng themselves Americans. have so for- rotten themselves and their honor ai citisens as to put their passionate lym pathy with one or the other aide In the great European conflict above their re gard for the peace and dignity of the United Btates. They also preach and practice disloyalty. No laws, I suppose, can reach corruptions of the mind and heart; but I should not speak of others without also speaking of these and ex pressing the even deeper humiliation and scorn which' every self-possessed and thoughtfully patriotic; American must feel when ha think of them and of the dis credit they are dally bringing upon us. cat skill of the country to the aid of the government In the solution of particular problems of defence. I only hope that If I should find It feasible to constitute such an advisory body the congress would be willing to vote the small sum of money that would be needed to defray the ex penses that would probably be necessary to give It the clerical and administrative machinery with which to do serviceable work. Moblllsatloa of Factories. "What Is more Important Is. that the Industries and resources of the country should be available and ready for mobili sation. . It Is the more Imperatively neces sary, therefore, that we should promptly devise means for doing what we have not yet done: that we should, rive tn teligent federal aid and stimulation to In dustrial and vocational education, as we have long done In the large field of our agricultural Industry;-that, at the same time that wo safeguard and conserve he natural resources of the country we should put them at tho disposal of those who will, use them promptly and Intelli gently, as was sought to be done In the admirable bills submitted to the last con gress from Its committees on the publlo lands, bills which I earnestly recommend In principle to your consideration; that we should put Into early operation some provision for rural credits which will add to the extensive borrowing facilities already afforded tha farmer by the re serve bank act adequate Instrumentalities by which long credits may be obtained on land mortgages; and that wo should study more carefully than they have hitherto been studied tha right adaptation of our economlo arrangements to chang ing conditions. Let Us Kec Awake. 'Many conditions about which we have repeatedly legislated are being altered from decade to decade. It is evident, un der our very eyes, and are likely to change even more rapidly and more radically in the days Immediately ahead of us, when peace has returned to tho world and the nations of Europe onoo more take up their tasks of commerce and Industry with the energy of those who must bestir themselves to build anew. Just what these changes will be no one can certainly foresee or confidently predict. There are no calculable, because no stable, elements In the problem. The most we can do Is to make certain that we have the necessary Instrumentalities of Information constantly at our service so that we may bo sure that we know exactly what wo are dealing with when wo come to act. If It should be necessary to act at all. We must first certainly know what It Is that we are seeking to adapt ourselves to. I may ask the privi lege of addressing you more at length on this important matter a little later In your session.' . Problem ef Traaaportatloa. In the meantime may I make this suggestion? The transportation problem Is an exceedingly serious and pressing one in this country. There has from time to time of late been reason to fear that our railroads would not much longer be able to cope with It successfully, as at present equipped and co-ordinated. I suggest that it would be wise to provide for a commission of Inquiry to ascertain by a thorough canvass of the whole ques tion whether our laws as at present framed and administered are as service. able as they might be in the solution of the problem. It is obviously a problem that lies at the very foundation of our efficiency as a people. Such an Inquiry ought to draw out every circumstance and opinion worth considering and we need to know all sides of the matter If wo mean to do anything In the field of federal legislation. "No one. I am sure, would wish to take any backward step. The regulation of tho railways of the country by fed eral commission has had admirable re sults and has fully Justified the hopes and expectations of those by whom the policy of regulation was originally pro posed. The question is not what should we undoT It Is. whether there Is any. thing else we can do that would supply us with effective means. In the very process of regulation, for bettering the conditions under which the railroads are operated and for making them more use ful servants of the country as a whole. It seems to me that It might be, the part of wisdom, therefore, before further legislation In this field Is attempted, to look at the whole problem of co-ordina tion and efficiency In the full light of a fresh assessment of circumstances and opinion, as a guide to dealing with the several parts of it. - Service is tho Watchword "For what we are seeklnr now, what In my mind la the single thought of this mesaare. is national efficiency and se curity. We serve a rreat nation. We should serve It in the spirit of its peculiar genius. It Is the genius of common men for self-government. Industry, Justice, lib erty and peace. We should see to It that It lacks no Instrument, no facility or vigor of law. to make It sufficient to play Its part with energy, safety, and assured success. In this we are no par tisans but heralds and prophets of new age." I or brave, or earnest, , If an' you've said some- yss-ist-j ' I thing. 'Say, "he's a &&0lBSB 1 man" air you've said mA I all. When I say I VELVET is tobacco as WMMh M SI it should be, I've said it fe5 ' t sssssssaBssssssssssssssssawsssssasj ;;:ftx f V 7 ,VWfJMr. .. i4f n wmw aarr The of VELVET Tobacco is an Open Secret mm: There is no hocus-pocus no mystery aboutvVELVET Smoking Tobacco. Anyone with the experience, and facilities, who is willing to spend the money, can produce VELVET. Here is the recipe: 1 Take the choicest obtainable selections of the famous "white" Burlcy tobacco of Kentucky. 2 Have this "judged" by tobacco experts, who specialize on Burley tobacco. 3 Take their selections and pack them in1 great hogsheads. 4 Store these hogsheads with their valuable con tents for a period of not less than two years, permitting eight seasons of natural "maturing." 5 Under guidance of skilled blenders take selec tions from various plantations, and so blend these as to produce the smoothest tobacco. 6 Manufacture this, in accordance with the highest standard, into tobacco, with just the right degree of richness, and proper aroma and mildness. While this is simple enough it involves a great deal of knowledge, money, patience arici time. The rapidly increasing VELVET sales, how ever, justify our natural method of ageing it We absolutely guar antee that no tobacco used in VELVET is artificially aged . Panama-Paclfie ii(s' kighmtt mwardThu Grand Prim -Ka, lamn snswreW fo VELVET "for ill muparia quality." Cr, 1919 10c Tks U Metal-Baea lags OaereeaaCUssUssaUsrs With each Oristmat Humidor of VELVET there is a genuine surprise that makes it an even. more acceptable gift j: t r . nVw iSi hi! w f , ;' ,i"'""' " '