The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1904-12-29
REVENUE.


taxation in some form. 1t nigh
have been different. Once l
possessed inexhaustible resource
in it's public domain, but that wa
frittered away in accordance with
business policy that must have beef
formulated by some inspired lido
who had reached the thirty-thirt
degree of folly and then stopped
because there were no more degree'
for him to take. Our priceless
public domain has been disposed O.
on the principle of area and not O.
value. The Nelson law of 1889 ii
the first and only public lane
legislation that recognizes TIT
possibility of one acre of govern
ment land being worth more thar
another and that is limited in it
application to Indian lands II
Minnesota.
If man were to sell packages Of
diamonds for the same price as NJ
would packages of soap of thu
same size his friends would sene
him to the mad-house to keep him
from the poor house; yet 'oul
governmental fnanciers have prac
tically disposed of all our public
lands under the theory that one
acre of land under no condition OF
circumstance could possibly BIZ
worth more than another; which i:
just as crazy a notion as selling
soap and diamonds at the same
price per pound, and the only
reason the nation did not 60 into
hopeless bankruptcy was because
it's financial assininity exhausted
itself in it's public land policy, OF
impolicy, and along other lines ii
acted with reasonable sanity. But
the errors of the past cannot be
rectifed. Nothing is so unprotit
able, as Indians put it, as ''counting
ghost ponies," but have long
wanted to express my opinion on
the former and present public land
policy of this government and now
that have done so l feel relieved.
The principal sources from which
the national government now de-
rives it's revenue are:
Tariff,
Internal Revenue.
The theory and tendency of a
protective tariff is to reduce
customs receipts, as one of the
principal objects of its institution
is to encourage the making and
producing of home wares and
discourage importation. and unless
this result Is attained one of the
purposes for which it was instituted
fails. In the years to come, i'm
portations must and will decrease.
We are making more things we use
and importing less than ever before.
The less the importation the less
the duty and there is no doubt but
that in the future the revenue from
this source will show a decrease
instead of growing greater.
The internal revenue cannot very
we'll be increased as it is now levied
upon as many articles as ought to
be burdened with it and the tax is
as great as can be carried by the
industries upon which it is imposed.
There is much discrimination in
this matter. Many articles are
taxed out of proportion to other
articles and in number of
instances this tax ought to be re-
duced or removed altogether. The
same is true of internal revenue.
There will be reduction rather than
an increase of revenue from this
source.
There is no prospect of increase
of revenue from present sources
except that which will naturally
follow from the increase of our
population and the increase in ex-
penditure which will follow such
increase will absorb that. There
are new and worthy enterprises
demanding national expenditure
and it will devolve on Congress to
devise some measure to raise money
to meet these as well as to make up
the deficit which sooner or later
viii result from decreased tariff and
internal revenue receipts. Let me
state how this can be done. Impose
a tax on all incomes of five thousand
dollars or more.
The next two or three editorials
ON the subject of revenue will he