The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1894-01-26

Grafton Of Labor, is credited with hav-
ing proclaimed at the late session Of
that body that the present depressed
condition Of labor in this country was
caused by overproduction more than
anything else. Mr.. Gompers is right
an overproduction Of fools with good
" sprinkling Of the other kind. Mr.
Gompers was reelected. 1t is reason
able to suppose that he would be after
such 4 brilliant discovery.-Denxer
Road.
GRADUATED INCOME TAX.
The Taxing Of Big Salaries a Fair
System.
The Question Of an income tax is now
before the people Of the country and is
being discussed by all classes Of people.
In the light Of the fact that 100000
families have accumulated all the
wealth produced by the united ener-
gies and efforts of the entire nation,
some plan to restore a portion of this
wealth to those to whom it rightly be-
longs is vitality necessary. If Adam
tad lived to this day and had received
$40 per day ever since his creation,
and had lived on herbs and fruit and
continued to wear the primitive garb
worn by him in the Garden Of Eden
and. spending nothing, had saved the
whole amount, he would have accumu-
lated less than forty million dollars.
And yet we haye men in the United
States who have accumulated fortunes
Of hundred million dollars in short
lifetime.
Then as to the incomes. Broadly
speaking, it may be said that one mans
labor Is worth as much as another's.
But am willing to waive that point.
Indeed I must confess that labor Is
valuable in the ratio that it is health
and life destroying. A man engaged in
an avocation in which the lives Of those
20 engaged only average twenty years,
should receive twice the wages received
by those engaged in avocations In
which the average duration Of life Is
forty years. This is simply applying to
wages the system Of computation en-
plOyed by life insurance actuaries. For
instance glass blowers, zinc smelters,
coal miners and all railroad trainmen
should receive twice the wages paid
bankers, lawyers, preachers and insur-
ance agents. But waving this point
and the fact that, under the present
system, those entitled to the highest
wages get the lowest, and vice versa,
we will assume that all get the same
wages and all earn and receive 5000
q year, that Ia eight times the average
wages of the average wageworker.
Having assumed, then, that all can
honestly and justly earn $1,000 year
with their labor, and no more, is 1t not
I perfectly justifable conclusion that
those who receive a greater income
than that steal it from the community?
They may steal it legally, but as all
wealth is produced by labor, those who
accumulate wealth, which is not the re-
mlt of their labor, surely steal it, legal
Y or otherwise.
This being the case, why not enact
measures wherewith the people may
legally recover portion Of the wealth
taken away from them?
And here is where the graded income
tax comes in. Having decided that an
should and ought to earn, even if they
DO not get $1,000 year, let us exempt
from taxation to every man an income
Of $1,000, and then pile on the gradu-
tied rate Of taxation, in rapidly increas-
ing per cent, to all incomes above ~
300. In New Zealand the exempt on
Is $500.
What injustice can any one point out
IN this plan? All men are treated alike,
rs they are allowed the same amount of
income exempt from taxation, such
amount being decided upon as the limit
Of labor's honest earnings. And why
should man be allowed to keep that
which he does not honestly earn?