Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-09-15

ifled they shall be modified with the ut |
most care and conservatism and by the |
friends and not tho enemies OF the pro |
toctive system. They cannot afford to
trust the modification TO those who treat
protection and robbery as synonymous
terms.
In closing what I have 20 sny about
the system OF promoting American Indus
try let me add word OF cordial agree
ment with the policy OF In some way In |
Guiding within its benefits by appropriate
legislation the American merchant ma
rine. 1t Is not crcditable to us IA M
ton that our great export and Import
trade should be we'll nigh exclusively In
the hands OF foreigners.
REDUCTION OF THE ARMY.
II Is difficult 20 know II our opponents
are really sincere in their demand for
the reduction of the army. If insncere
there is no need for comment. and II sin
cere what shall we say in speaking 10 ra-
tional persons OF an appeal to reduce an
army OF CO. 900 men which Is taking care
OF the interests Of over $1,000, coo people?
The army Is now relatively smaller than
It was In tho days Of Washington. when
on the peace establishment there were
5000 soldiers. while there were a little
less than 40l0.0n) OF population; smaller
than It was IN the peaceful days OF JEFF
ferson, who, there were 5.loo soldiers to
! 400 60 population There Ia now one sol
der to every .i0o Isron,c In this country
less than oro-tcHth Of l per cent we
cannot ho arkcd seriously to argue as to
the amount az possible tyranny contained
in these ngrrcs. The army rs 1t Is now is
as small az Il can possibly be and serve
its purpoTe az an effective nucleus for
the organise tion. equipment and supply
Of volunteer army In time Of need. II
Ia now wed. n. nevc' before. for aiding In
Nal
the country. The war department Ia on
gagged in Il Systematic effort 20 strengthen
ard develop the national guard in the
several statca-cs witness. among many
other instni~'cs. the great field inaneuvers
at Manassas wt.ch have just closed. II
our opponents should come into power
they could not reduce our army below its
present size without greatly ir1pairng its
efficiency ard abandoning part OF the ma
tional duty. In short. In this matter II
our opponents should come into power
they would either have to treat this par
ticular promise of to year 1904 as they
now treat tho promises they made In 1896
and l900-that Is, as possessing no binding
force--or else they would have to embark
on a policy which would be ludiorous at
the moment and frauSht with grave dan
ger to the national honor In the future.
TALK ABOUT EXTRAVAGANZA
''uT opponents COptrnl mat III" gov
eminent IL now administered cXtrava-
gantly and that whereas there was "a
surplus OF sso.0o0n1O In 1900" there IL "a
deficit OF more than s4o.o .ooo'' In the year
that has Just closed.
This deficit Is Imaginary and IA obtain
ed by including in the ordinary current
oxpenccs the sum of so 000. 900 which was
paid for the right Of way Of the Panama
canal out Of the accumulated surplus in
the treasury. Comparing the current or
ordinary expenditures for the two years,
there was Il surplus Of nearly $50. 00l or
for tho year 1890 and of only little more
than sSG0.Cc9 for the year that has Just
closed. I,at his diminution OF the annual
surplus V; , b. ought about deslEn"dly by
the aholitiyo OF the war taxes in the In.
terval between the two dates. The acts
Of March 2 1901. and April IL. 1892. cut
down tho internal revenue taxes 10 an
amount estimated at &05. 00o, coo year. In
other words. the reduction of taxation has
been considerably greater than the reduc.
ton in tho annual surplus. Since the close
Of tho war with Spain there has been nc
substantial change In tho rate of annual
! expenditures. AS compared with the rs
| cal year ended In June 1901 for example.
T." fiscal year that has just closed show
n relatively small increase in cTpendi'
turc excluding the CANAL payment nj
ready referred to. while the year previous
showed relatively small decrease.
Tho cynt nd.turcs Ok the nation have
been mnnarcd IN 4 spirit OF economy as
far removed from vast" as from mig
gardlness. md in the future every EFFORT
will be corttn.t. i t. secr-e on economy as
strict is Consistent with efficiency
once more our opponents have promised
what they cannot or should not perform
| The primo reason why the expenses OF the
| governmc Mt have increased of recent
| years is TO be found In tho fact that the
| people after mature thought have deem e6