Arizona daily citizen., 1901-10-25
OUR BAD TAXING SYSTEM.

lIe people Ot Ane NepHDIlC Oh FRANCE,
after paying enormous taxes collected
by vexatlous system. are confronted
at the end Of each fiscal year with an
ever.Increasing deficit. and are compel
led To add to their already enormous
debt by borrowing money to pay the
current expense Of government. They
must caet an cnvious eye upon the
Treasury OF the United States, which is
full to overilowing. and in which there
il an ever-ncreasing surplus, even after
meeting every extravaganza OF Congress.
But the evils OF deficit in public re.
venues are not so much greater than an
excess a. might appear To the unthink-
ing
full treasury is Of course we'll under.
stood to he the great promoter OF extra
vagRncc. II it were only temporary ex-
trayagance, ii Congress we're satisfied
with spending or even squandering the
surplus and there stop, t|would not be
30 bad But the evils are continuous
and exist long after the surplus has dis
appeared. In spending the surplus
Congress usually makes a permanent
increase in expenditures which will
meet the existing scale OF taxation and
make it, or an increase rate, necessary
for an indefinite period. The taxpayers
Of the country, that is to say every per.
son in the land are suffering today from
the surplus left by the Cleveland ad
ministration in 1899. 1t was that sur
plus which inspired the Fifty-frst Con-
gress to enact the pension bill which has
cost the country countless millions and
which will continue to be a heavy bnr-
den upon the taxpayers for years to
come. When the revenues OF the Gov
ernment are greater than the expendi-
tures, then it is the policy of Congress
to increase the expenditures rather than
decrease taxation. This is one of the
real evils OF an overfowing treasury.
In one of his messages to Congress,
urging the reduction of taxes. Mr.. Cleve-
land said "When more OF the peoples
BuDblNuCG ~ SAb WIG AoA III
OF taxation than is necessary to meet
the Just obligations of the Government
and the expense OF its economical ad-
ministration, such exaction becomes
ruthless extortion and violation OF the
fundamental principles OF free govern
ment" There is suspicion abroad,
he added, "that the surplus of our re-
venue indicates abnormal and excep-
tonal business profits, which, under the
system which produces such surplus,
increase without corresponding benefit
to the people at large the vast accumu-
lations OF few among our citizens
whose fortunes, rivaling the wealth OF
the mos: favored in anti-democratic ma
tions, are not the natural growth of a
steady, plain and industrious republic. "
This message, which set forth with 80
much precision and clearness the neces-
sity for reducing taxes. the wrong OF IN
necessary taxation and the dangers to
free institutions, was shortly followed
by the enactment OF what was up to
that time the most grievous tariff law
which had ever been enacted at Wash
ington. The Presidents exhortation to
economy and the alleyiation Of the bur,
dens of taxation was answered shortly
by an immediate, permanent and an
unnecessary increase OF expenditures.
ln order to get rid OF portion OF the
present vast sum, unne cessarily and un-
lastly extorted by taxation from the
sweat and labor OF the people, the Secre-
tary of the Treasury has been paying
holders of the United States bonds at
the rate of $l3G for each dollar due
them. 1t may be that under the exist
ing conditions the Secretary was justifi-
ed in pursuing this policy, but could
anything he more absolutely wrong and
unjust to labor than a system which cx-
t0rts from it one dollar which the bond
holder has not earned for each two
dollars that is due him? Congress az
soon as it meets should address Itself to
u reduction Of taxation and not merely
to a reduction OF revenues. The reven-
ues can be decreased by increasing tax
alton, and this ia one Of the most glaring
deficiencies OF the tariff system. If the
duties are increased beyond certain
point importation will cease and the
American manufacturers will collect the
tax instead OF the custom-h houses, but
the people will have to pay them all the
same, and in greater proportion. A GER
tain reduction OF the tariff tax, on the
other hand, by promoting foreign trade,
may increase revenues. 1t is the ad-
justment OF the duties to produce sufi-
cient revenue and no more which is one
OF the most important as well as most
difficult things which Congress is called
upon 70 perform.
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II Chauncey Depew's honeymoon
could be extended oyer at least year
and spent in strict secluson from the
world, IL would be relief to newspaper
readers. The persistent posing and self
advertising OF Mr.. Vanderbilts own
United States senator long since made