Gloucester County Democrat., 1905-04-06
A Tax on Coffee.

they do, the Republican bigwigs are
confronted with an enormous and
growing deficit. Last fall they bella
bored ex-senator Henry G. Davis for
fatty stating in his speech of accept
ance what all intelligent persons knew
that there was a large monthly def
icit Their denial of that fact was on
a par with the preposterous statement
of the Republican commissioner of la
Dor to the effect that the cost of living
was no higher in 1904 than in preced-
ing years-a statement contradicted by
the information possessed by every
householder. male and female, and by
every boarder in the land. 1t helped to
elect Republican candidates, just as
did the denying of a deficit in the rev.
enues. Now the deficit is so pressing
and alarming that already the Repub-
lican chieftains are casting about for
some new taxes. They can't economize
They don't know how. Therefore they
must levy new taxes or issue new in
terest bearing bonds. Either alternative
gives them the cold shivers. But it is a
condition and not a theory that con-
fronts them. Hence the search for ar
ticles on which to clap a new tax to
raise the revenues rendered necessary
by their wicked and wanton waste of
the public revenues. They are consid-
ering the feasibility of taxing coffee,
but they shrink from that idea because
this is the greatest coffee consuming
nation on earth, using more than one
half of the worlds output of coffee.
Nearly every American man, woman
and child drinks coffee. Habit, good Or
bad, has made it necessary. Put up the
price of that universal beverage, and a
howl will go up that will not only star
tie the man in the moon, but, what is
more to the point. will elect a Demo
cratic house at the next election, per
formance which gives the Republican
bigwigs a buck ague every time they
think of it. for Democratic house in
the hands of brave and resolute men
would conduct such thoroughgoing in
vestigations into the corruption and
maladministration of certain depart
ments as to furnish the campaign ma
terial with which to elect Democratic
president in 1908 Consequently the
Republican leaders will think a good
while before they clap tax on coffee.
Every merchant will be compelled to
explain to every woman who buys
pound of coffee that the wicked and
reckless Republicans have forced him
10 y,oie Io Iai
to her husband, sons and brothers. 1t
will be a clear case, one out of which
no Republican statistician can lie. Con-
sequently the chances are that they
will not dare to tax coffee but will per
haps try to raise certain taxes which
will not make so clear case-new tax
es which they can confuse with old
ones and whose influence on the cost of
living they can in some way falsely
charge to Democrats with some hope of
concealing the truth.
Unless they cut down appropriation
bills-which they seem utterly power
less to do-they must in some way in
crease the revenues by somewhere
from $S0,000 900 to S100,000,O00 q year.
That's clear, no matter how much or
how sfillfully they try to conceal it.
The Washington Post, thoroughgo-
ing tariff advocate, seems to think that
because the government has large de-
posits with certain favored national
banks there is no deficit. 1t is not Ger
tain, but rather inclines to that opin-
ion. Usually the Post is well posted,
but it appears to have overlooked the
fact that these deposits are all account
ed for in the treasury statements
Again, it is not the actual cash on hand
that determines whether there is a def
icit. The way to ascertain that is to
compare current revenue receipts with
current expenditures. That the current
revenues are not equal to current ex-
penses is not to be gainsaid
Admitting a deficit for the sake OF
argument, the Post suggests three rem
edies-frst, a great reduction of ex-
penditures; second, an increase Of In
ternal taxes third, such revenue taxa
- f.g. ek.I.s