The National tribune., 1906-12-06

| employers OF S143,0UU,oOO ana TO EN-
ployes of s307, 100000, making tota
! of $3.50, ,000.0 with j great loss to tht
/ public and anguish and suffering en-
dured by wives and children. 1t is be
! lieved that this can be avoided by th'
/ exercise of a judicial spirit by a disin
terested body representing the Fedora
Government. In this age of great cor
| porate and labor combinations neither
side should be left completely at the
mercy of the stronger party.
Coal Lands.
The President has temporarily with
| drawn from settlement all lands which
| the Geological Survey has indicated Il:
| probably containing coal Legislation
| should provide that these lands should
| remain under the ownership of the
United States. with permission to work
them by private individuals under q
royalty system. the Government keeping
such control as to regulate prices and
also the rates charged by common car
riers. The coal, like the forests. should
be treated as the property of the public.
Regulating Corporations.
The present Congress has taken long
strides in the direction of securing
proper control over corporations en-
gagged in Interstate business. The pas
| Food bill, etc. mark an important ad-
vance in the proper direction. 1t may
| be well to wait to see how these laws
operate. yet legislation which seems i'm
mediately desirable is that to put a
date on the packing-house labels and
for charging the cost of the inspection
to the packers.
The Railroad Rate bill has falsified
the prediction that it would ruin the
/ T..
shown increased earnings and some of
them unusual dividends, while, on the
other hand, there has been unheard of
voluntary reductions in freight and
fares. More than 5000 tariffs have been
adopted. representing reductions from
previous rates.
Experience has shown the impossi-
bility of securing concerted action by
nearly half a hundred different State
Legislatures. and therefore there must
be some more comprehensive and gem
eral way of dealing with corporations.
This may be by National license law
but whatever form there should be a
control which will prevent excessive
overcapitaliZation and will compel the
disclosure of ownership of properties
put stop to inordinate profits by fav
ored individuals and promote the in
terests of the general public, the stock
holders and the wageWerkers. COnsoli-
dation need not be prevented. but it
should be controlled SO as to bring no
harm to the people. The President says:
SO the proper antidote TO the dam
Gerous and wicked agitation against the
men of wealth as such is to secure by
proper legislation and executive action
the abolition of the grave abuses which
actually do obtain in connection with
the business use of wealth under our
present system-or. rather. no system
of failure TO exercise any adequate con-
troll at all. Some persons speak as if
the exercise of such governmental con-
troll would do away with the freedom
of individual initiative and dwarf in
dividual effort. This is not a fact. 1t
would be veritable calamity to fail to
put premium upon individual initia-
tive. individual capacity and effort; up.
on the energy, character and foresight
which it is so important to encourage
in the individual But as a matter of
fact the deadening and degrading effec:
of pure socialism, and especially of its
extreme form communism, and the de-
struction of individual character which
they would bring about, are in par>
achieved by the wholly unregulated
competition which results in a singls
individual or corporation rising at the
expense of all others until his or its
rise effectually checks all competition
and reduces former competitors to a
position of utter inferiority and subor-
dination.'
Inheritance and Income Tax.
The President devotes much space to
the discussion of his proposed inner
itance and income tax, of which the
following is the essential part:
'HrThe uupCtinp of tayafinp i.
in any country. but it is especially diff
cult in ours with its Federal system of
government. Some taxes should on
every ground be levied in a small dis
trict for use in that district Thus the
taxation of real estate is peculiarly one
for the immediate locality in which the
real estate is found. Again, there is no
more legitimate tax for any State than
tax on the franchises conferred by
that State upon street railroads and
similar corporations which operate
wholly within the State boundaries
sometimes in one and sometimes in sew
eral municipalities or other minor di-
visions of the State. But there are many
kinds of taxes which can onl" be levied
by tn: General Government so as to
produce the best results, because
among other reasons, the attempt to
impose them in one particular State too
'iN'Ii III uFIbiilS the cor
poration or individual affected TO some
other locality or other State. The Ma
tional Government has long derived its
chief revenue from a tariff on imports
and from an internal or excise tax IN
addition to these, there is every reason
why, when next our system of taxation
is revised. the National Government
should impose graduated income tax
The man of great wealth owes a pc
culiar obligation to the State, because
| he derives special advantages from the
| mere existence of Government. Not only
| should impose a graduated inheritance
| tax and If possible a graduated income
| tax. The man of great wealth owes a pc
| the way he leads his daily life and in
| the way he earns and spends his money,
/ but ii should also be recognized by the
way in which he pays for the protection
the State gives him. On the enc hand,
| it is desirable that he should assume
| his full and proper share of the burden
| OF taxation; on the other hand. IL is
quite as necessary that in this kind OF
taxation, where the men who vote the
tax pay but little of it. there should be
clear recognition of the danger of in
augurating any such system save in 4
! spirit of entire justice and moderation
/ Whenever we, as people, undertake
to remodel our taxation system along
the lines suggested, we must make 4,
clear beyond peradventure that our aim
Is to distribute the burden of supporting
the Government more equitably than
at present; that we intend to treat rich