Natchitoches populist., 1899-02-10
COST OF IMPERIALISM.
ARMY BUDGET THE HIGHEST
ON EARTH. 1H
Shall This Unheard-of Burden OF Taxa
tiOn Be Borne by the People or Shall
They Protest and Be Called An
arohIsts2

Secretary Alger, by asking for over
$165, 100000 for the support of the
regular army in time of peace, has
raised two questions that touch the
heart and the pocket of every Ameri-
can citizen who does not profit by le-
galized injustice and oppression. These
questions are: Shall the United
States be more heavily taxed for mill
tary purposes than any other country
on earth?" Shall this unheard-of bur-
den of taxation be carried almost ex-
clusively by people of small means.
while the wealth our ornaments pro-
tect goes free?" II we spend $166,000,-
600 year for the army, $150,0O0, 900 for
pensions and $50,0OO,00O for the navy,
we shall be paying 1866, OOO,O 900 for mill
tafy purposes That is nearly twice as
much as any power in Europe pays for
the same objects. 1t is more than we
paid in taxes for the entire support of
the government as lately as last year.
The amount Secretary Alger asks for
the army alone is more than Germany
pays for her army and navy combined.
We have been accustomed to COM
miserate the European peasant,
crushed under the intolerable burden
Of standing armies, and now We are
asked, with no necessity whatever, to
subject ourselves to a burden twice as
great But the distribution of this
burden of taxation is even worse than
the load itself. Mr.. Rockefeller, to
take the most conspicuous specimen of
a class, has fortune of over $500, 000,-
600. His power to accumulate, possess
and increase this fortune depends upon
the protection of the government Mr..
Rockefeller's income is over $40, 600, 900
a year. That is equal to the combined
incomes Of forty thousand families,
each living on annual earnings of $500.
Under the Republican system Of ma
ti0nal taxation, which is based not on
resources, but on personal consump-
ton, Mr. Roekefeller's income, il d.
vided among forty thousand families,
would be taxed forty thousand times;
concentrated In his hands, it need be
taxed only once. In other words, with
forty thousand times the means of a
workingman, Mr. Rockefeller is not
Obliged to pay more than working
mans taxes. In some respects he pays
less. He uses no beer or tobacco. and
so escapes the taxation levied on those
humble luxuries. He does not play
cards, and so does not pay for the rev.
enue stamp on every pack. He does
not live in rented rooms, and SO Is not
taxed for his lease and his rent re-
ce.ptS. He does not borrow moneJ on
mortgage, subject to a mortgage stump
tax. He has his family physician, and
so does not buy taxed proprietary med
ieines He drinks no more tea than a
sewing girl starving on four dollars a
week. and If he used a quality as fine
as that slipped by the emperor of China
be would still pay only the sewing
girls tax of ten cents a pound. He
uses no more taxed sugar than is con-
sun1ed by day laborer, and wears lit
tie more taxed clothing. Practically
all Of Mr.. Rockefeller's gigantic in
come is absolutely exempt from ma.
tional taxation, while every person oil
moderate means is taxed to the earth
Is that right? The Democracy does
not think so. 1t believes that incomes
and not family expenditures should be
the measure OF taxation. No extrava-
gance in government. Necessary ex-
ptnses to be met by fair methods Of
taxation. There is an issue ready
made to the hand of the Democracy
and II Is a winning one.