davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05

bal. To no other country has there
been such an increasing number OF Wis
itOrs from this land as to Japan. In
return Japanese have come here in
great numbers. They are welcome, So
cially and intellectually. in all our col
leges and institutions OF higher learn
ing. in all our professional and social
bodies The Japanese have won In a
single generation the right to stand
abreast of the. foremost and most en-
lghtened peoples of Europe and Amer
lea; they have won on their own merits
and by their own exertfons the right
TO treatment on a basis of full and
frank equality.
The overwhelming mass OF our peo-
pie cherish lively regard and respect
for the people OF Japan, and in almost
every quarter Of the Union the stranger
from Japan is treated as he deserves
that is, he is treated as the stranger
from any part of civilized Europe is
and deserves TO be treated. But here
and there most unworthy feeling has
manifested itself toward the Japanese
the feeling that has been shown in
shutting them out from the common
schools in San Francisco. and in NUT
terings against them in one or two
other places because of their efficiency
as workers
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05

the issue to be taxed at so high rate
as TO drive the notes back when not
wanted in legitimate trade. This plan
would not permit the use of currency
to give banks additional profits, but to
meet the emergency presented by times
of stringency.
1 do not say that this is the right
system. 1 only advance it to emphasize
my belief that there is need for the
adoption of some system which shall be
automatic and open to all sound banks,
so as to avoid all possibility of dis
elimination and favoritism. Such a
plan would tend to prevent the spasms
Of high money and speculation which
now obtain in the New York market,
for at present there is too much cur
rency at certain seasons of the year,
and its accumulation in New York
tempts bankers to lend it at low rates
for speculative purposes, whereas at
other times, when the crops are being
moved, there is urgent need for large
but temporary increase in the currency
supply. 1t must never be forgotten
that this question concerns business
men generally quite as much as bank
ers; especially is this true of stockmen,
farmers and business men in the West,
for at present at certain seasons of the
year the difference in interest rates be-
tween the East and the West is from
to 10 per cent, whereas in Canada the
corresponding difference is. but 2 per
cent. Any plan must of course, guard
the interests of the Western and South
ern bankers as carefully as it guards
the interests of New York or Chicago
bankers, and must be drawn from the
standpoint of the farmer and the mer-
chant no less than from the standpoints
of the city banker and the country
broker.
The law should be amended so as
specifically to provide that the funds
derived from customs duties may be
treated by the Secretary of the Treas
ury as he treats funds obtained under
the internal revenue laws. There
should be no considerable increase in
bills of small denominations PERMITS
sion should be given banks, If neces-
sary, under settled restrictions to re-
tire their circulation to larger
amount than 100000 month.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05

latter's level; for the man who becomes
4 lswbreaker in one way unhappily
tends 70 lose all respect for law and TO
be willing TO break il in r~any ways.
10 more scathing condemnation could
be visited upon a law than is con-
tanned in the words OF the Interstate
Commerce Commission when. in com
menting upon the fact that the numer-
Gus join traffic associations do techni-
cally violate the law, they say: The
decision Of tn United States Supreme
Court in the Trans Missouri case and
the Joint Traffic Association case has
produced no practical effect upon the
railway operations of the country.
Such associations, in fact. exist now
Is they did before these decisions, and
vFAfh the same general effect. In jus
tice to all parties, we ought probably
20 add that il is difficult to see how
our interstate railways could be oper-
ated with due regard to the interest
Of the shipper and the railway without
concerted action Of the kind afforded
thru these associations"
This means that the law as construed
by the Supreme Court is such that the
business Of the country can not be
conducted without breaking it. I rec
ommen0 that YOU give careful and
early consideration to this subject, and
II you find the opinion Of the Inter
state Commerce Commission justified,
that you amend the law so as to OBJ
waite the evil disclosed.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05
Income Tax Difficult

In its incidents, and apart from the
main purpose of raising revenue, an
income tax stands on an entirely diff
ferent footing from an inheritance
tax; because it involves no question
Of the perpetuation of fortunes swol-
len TO an unhealthy size. The question
is in its essence a question of the
proper adjustment Of burdens to bene-
fits. AS the law now stands il is I'M
doubtedly difficult to devise national
income tax which shall be constitu-
tiOnal. But whether it is absolutely
impossible is another question; and if
possible II is most certainly desirable
The first purely income-tax law was
passed by the Congress in 1851, but
the most important law dealing with
the subject was that of 1894. This
the court~held TO be unconstitutional
The question is undoubtedly very
intricate. delicate and troublesome
The decision of the court was only
reached by one majority. It is the
law of the land. and of course is ac-
cepted as such and Loyalty obeyed by
all good citizens. Nevertheless the
hesitation evidently felt by the court
as a whole in coming to a conclusion,
when considered together with the
previous decisions on the subject, may
perhaps indicate the possibility of de-
vising a constitutional income-taX law
which shall substantially accomplish
the results aimed at The difficulty
Of amending the constitution is so
great that only real necessity can JUS
tify a resort thereto. Every effort
should be made in dealing with this
subject, as with the subject of the
proper control by the National Gov
eminent over the use of corporate
wealth in interstate business, to de-
wise legislation which without such
action shall attain the desired end:
but If this fails, there will ultimately
be no alternative to a constitutional
amendment
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05
Farming a Profession

The only other person whose well
fare is as vital to the welfare of the
whole country as is the welfare Of
the wageworkers are the tillers of the
soil, the farmers. 1t is a mere truiSm
to say that no growth of cities, no
growth OF wealth, no industrial de-
velopment can atone for any falling
off in the character and standing OF
the farming population. During the
last few decades this fact has been
recognized with ever-increasinS clear
ness. There is no longer any failure
TO realize that farming, at least in GER
tain branches, must become a techni-
cal and scientific profession. This
means that there must be open to
farmers the chance for technical and
scientific training, not theoretical
merely. but of the most severely prac-
teal type. The farmer represents q
peculiarly high t.-pe of American citi-
zenship, and he must have the same
chance to rise and develop as other
American citizens have. Moreover, it
is exactly as true of the farmer, as it
is of the business man and the wage
worker, that the ultimate success Of
the nation of which he forms a part
must be founded not alone on material
prosperity but upon high moral, men
tai and physical development This
education of the farmer-self- educa-
liOH ny DuI also SuuCd-
ton from the outside as with all
other mems peculiarly necessary here
in the United States, where the from
tier conditions even in tl.S newest
States have now nearly vanished
where there must be a substitution of
a more intensive system of cultiva-
ton for the old wasteful farm man
agement, and where there must be a
better business organization among the
farmers themselves
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05
Make Porto RicanS
American Citizens

American citizenship should be con-
ferred on the citizens of Porto Rico.
The harbor of San Juan in Porto Rico
should be dredged and improved. The
expenses of the federal court of Porto
Rico should be met from the Federal
treasury. The administration OF the
affairs Of Porto Rico, together with
those of the Philippines. Hawaii and
our other insular possessions, should
ALI be directed under one executive de-
nartment: by preference the Depart
ment of State or the Department of
The needs of Hawaii are peculiar;
every aid should be given the Islands;
and our efforts should be unceasfng to
develop them along the lines of a
community of small freeholders, not
of great planters with coolie-tilled es-
tates. Situated as this Territory is,
in the middle of the Pacific, there are
duties imposed upon this small COM
munity which do not fall in like de-
gree or manner upon any other Amer
lean community. This warrants our
treating it differently from the way
in which we treat territories con-
tiguous to or surrounded by sister ter
ritories or other States, and justifies
the setting aside of a portion OF our
revenues to be expended for educa-
tional and internal improvements
therein Hawaii is now making an
effort to secure immigration fit in the
end to assume the duties and burdens
of full American citizenship, and when
ever the leaders in the various in
dustries of those islands finally adopt
our ideals and heartily join our adj
mfnistration in endeavoring to de-
yelop a middle class of substantial
citizens. a way will then be found to
deal. with the commercial and indus
trial problems which now appear to
them so serious. The best American
ism is that which aims for stability
and permanency of prosperous citizen
ship. rather than immediate returns
on large masses of capital.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05
Plan Is Ethical

There can be no question OF the
ethical propriety of the Government
sbrs determining the conditions upon
which any gift or inheritance should
he received. Exactly how far the in
l,erftance tax would, as an incident,
have the effect Of limiting the trans
r,fssfon by devise or gift of the enor-
nous fortunes in question il is not
necessary at present to discuss. It is
,-ise that progress in this direction
should be gradual. At first perma-
nent national inheritance tax, while 1t
night be more substantial than any
vueh tax has hitherto been, need not
sDDroxfrnste. either in amount or IN
ne extent OF the increase by grsdua-
ton. to what such a tax should ulti-
> This species OF tax has again and
gain been imposed, altho only tenn
y,orarirv. by the National Government.
II vas first imposed by the act of
TIllv 6. 1897, when the makers of the
Constitution were alive and at the
Ihesd Of affairs. It was a graduated
taI. tho small in amount, the rate
was increased with the amount left TO
anv Individual. exceptions being made
in the case OF certain close kin. A
similar tax was again imposed by the
act OF July 1, 1862; a minimum sum Of
one thousand dollars in personal prop
erty being excepted from taxation, the
tax then becoming progressive accord
ing to the remoteness of kin. The
war-revenue act of June -, 1898, pro-
vided for an inheritance tax on any
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05
Egualize Tax Burden

Whenever we as a people undertake
10 remodel our taxation system along
the lines suggested we must make 1t
clear beyond peradventure that our aim
is 70 distribute the burden of support
ing the Government more equitably
than at present; that we intend TO treat
rich man and poor man on a basis of
absolute equality. and that we regard
Il as equally fatal to true democracy
TO do or permit injustice TO the one or
10 DO or permit injustice to the other.
am well aware that such subject
as this needs long and careful study
in order that the people may become
familiar with what is proposed TO be
done may clearly see the necessity of
proceeding with wisdom and self-re-
strsint and may make up their minds
Just how far they are willing to go IN
the matter, while only trained legisla-
tors can work out the project in neces-
sary detail. But feel that in the near
future our national Legislators should
enact a law providing for a graduated
inheritance tax, by which steadily IN
creasing rate of duty should be put
upon all moneys or other valuaoles
coming by gift, bequest or devise TO
any individual or corporation. II may
be well 10 make the tax heavy IN pro-
norton as the individual benefited is
remote of kin. In any event. in my
Judgment the pro rata Of the tax should
Increase very heavily with the increase
OF the amount left to any one indlVlo-
nal after a certain point has been
reached. It is most desirable to en-
courage thrift and ambition, and po-
rent source of thrift and ambition is
the desire on the part of the bread
-vtuner TO leave his children wen on
1rlis object can be attained by making
The tax very small on moderate
amounts Of property left, because the
prime object should be to put con-
stsntly increasing burden on the inner
3tsnce OF those swollen fortunes which
il IS certainly of no beneht TO this
country to perpetuate.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05
Join Theory and Fact

Several factors must cooperate in
the improvement of the farmers con-
dftion. He must have the chance to
be educated in the widest possible
sense-in the sense which keeps ever
in view the intimate relationship be-
tween the theory of education and the
facts of life. In all education we
should widen our aims. 1t is a good
thing to produce a certain number of
trained scholars and students; but the
education superintendent by the State
must seek rather to produce a hun
dred good citizens than merely one
scholar, and ii must be turned now and
then from the class book to the study
of the great book of nature itself
This is especially true of the farmer
as has been pointed out again and
again by all observers most competent
to pass practical judgment on the
problems of our country life. All stu
dents now realize that education must
seek to train the executive powers of
young people and to confer more real
significance upon the phrase dignity
of labor" and to prepare the pupils
so that in addition to each develop
ing in the highest degree his individual
capacity for work, they may together
help create a right public opinion, and
show in many ways social and CO.
operative spirit. Organization has be-
come necessary in the business world
and it has accomplished much for good
in the world of labor. 1t is no less
necessary for farmers. Such a move
ment as the grange movement is good
in itself and is capable of a we'll
nigh infinite further extension for good
so long as it is kept to its own legiti-
mate business. The benefits to be de-
rived by the association of farmers
for mutual advantage are partly eco
n0mic and
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05
System Is Dangerous

If boys and girls are trained merely
in literary accomplishments, to the to-
tai exclusion of Industrial, manual and
technical training, the tendency is to
unfit them for industrial work and to
make them reluctant to go into IT, or
unified to do it well If they do go into
It, This is a tendency which should be
strenuously combated. Our Industrial
development depends largely upon
technical education, including in this
term all industrial education, from that
which fits man to be good mechanic
a good carpenter or blacksmith, to that
which fits man to do the greatest en-
cheering feat. The skilled mechanic,
the skilled workman, can best become
such by technical industrial education
The far-reaching usefulness of insti-
tutes Of technology and schools of
mines or Of engineering is now univer-
sally acknowledged, and no less far
reaching is the effect of a good build
ing or mechanical trades school, a tex
tile or matchmaking or engraving
school All such training must de-
velop not only manual deXterity, but
Industrial intelligence. In information
al rivalry this country does not have to
fear the competition of pauper labor as
much as it has to fear the educated
labor of specially trained competitors.
and we should have the education of
e"S manu. SsS anu oidii winch VIII Ut
US to meet such competition.
In every possible way we should help
the wageworker who tolls with his
hands and who must eve hope in a
constantly increasing measure) also
toll with his brain. Under the constitu-
ton the national legislature can do but
little of direct Importance for his well
fare save where he is engaged in work
which permits it to act under the inter-
state commerce clause of the constitu-
tion, and this is one reason why / so
earnestly hope that both the legislative
and judicial branches of the Govern
ment will .construe this clause of the
constitution in the broadcast possible
manner. We can, however, in such a
matter as Industrial training, in such a
matter as child labor and factory laws.
set an example to the States by enact
ing the most advanced legislation that
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05
In Education Lies
Natural Success

1t would be impossible to overstate
(tho it is. of course, difficult quantita-
lively to measured the effect upon a ma
tons growth to greatness Of what may
be called organized patriotism, which
necessarily includes the substitution of
national feeling for mere local pride.
with, as a resultant, a high ambition
can develop its full strength so long
as the parts which make up the whole
each put a feeling of loyalty to the
part above the feeling of loyalty to the
whole. This is true of sections, and ii
is just as true of classes. The indus
trial and agricultural classes must
work together IL the best work of
which the country is capable is to be
done. It is probable that a thoroly
efficient system of education comes
next to the influence of patriotism
bringing about national success of this
kind. Our federal form of government,
so fruitful Of advantage to our people
in certain ways, in other ways un-
doubtedly limits our national effective
ness. 1t is not possible, for instance
for the National Government to take
the lead in technical Industrial educa-
ton, to see that the public school sys-
technical, industrial, scientific and
commercial sides. This must be left
primarily to the several States. Never
theless the National Government has
control of the schools Of the District
of Columbia, and it should see that
these schools promote and encourage
the fullest development of the scholars
in both commercial and Industrial
training. The commercial training
should in one of its branches deal with
foreign trade. The industrial training
is even more important. 1t should be
one Of our prime objects as a nation
so far as feasible, constantly to work
toward putting the mechanic, the wage
worker who works with his hands, on
higher plane of efficiency and re-
ward, so as to increase his effective
ness in the economic world, and the
dignity, the remuneration and the pow
er of his position in the social world
Unfortunately, at present the effect of
some of the work in the public schools
is in the exactly opposite direction.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05

sum exceeding the value of ten thou
sand dollars, the rate of the tax in
creasing both in accordance with the
amounts left and in accordance with
the legatee's remoteness of kin. The
Supreme Court has held that the sue
cession tax imposed at the time of
the Civil War was not a direct tax
but an impost or excise which was
both constitutional and valid. More
recently the court. in an opinion de-
livered by Mr.. Justice White, which
contained an exceedingly able and
elaborate discussion of the powers of
the Congress to impose death duties,
sustained the constitutionality of the
entertainments feature of the war
revenue act of 1898
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05
Confer Citizenship

recommend to the Congress that an
act be past specifically providing for
come here intending to become Ameri-
can citizens. One of the great embar-
easements attending the performance
of our international obligations is the
fact that the statutes of the United
States are entirely inadequate. They
fail to give to the National Government
sufficiently ample power, thru United
States courts and by the use of the
army and navy, to protect aliens in the
rights secured to them under solemn
treaties which are the law of the land
therefore earnestly recommend that
the criminal and civil statutes of the
United States be amended and added
to as to enable the President, acting
for the United States Government,
which IL responsible I'm our internal
tionaI relations, to enforce the rights
of aliens under treaties Even as the
law now is something can be done by
the Federal Government toward this
end, and in the matter now before me
affecting the Japanese everything that
ii L. In my power to do Will be done,
and all of the forces, military and civil,
of the United States which I may law
fully employ will be employed.
There should, however. be no particle
of doubt as to the power Of the Nation
al Government completely to perform
and enforce it's own obligations to 9TH
er nations. The mob of a single city
may at any time perform acts of law
less violence against some class OF for
eigners which would plunge as into
war That city by itself would be pow
erless to make defense against the for
eign power thus assaulted, and IL IN
dependent of this Government 1T would
never venture the performance of the
acts complained Of The entire power
and the whole duty to protect the Of
tending city or the offending commu-
nifty lies in the hands Of the United
States Government 1t is unthinkaole
that we should continue policy under
which a given locality may be allowed
to commit a crime against friendly
nation, and the United States Govern
ment be limited. not to preventing the
commission of the crime, but, in the
last resort, to defending the people who
have committed 1t against the conse-
quences of their own wrongdoing.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-05
Irrigation Policy
Bears Besft Frui

Much is now being done for the
States of the Rocky Mountains and
great plains thru the development Of
the national policy of irrigation and
forest preservation. No Government
policy for the betterment of our inter-
nal conditions has been more fruitful
of good than this. The forests of the
White Mountains and Southern Appa-
lachian regions should also be pre-
served, and they cannot be unless the
people of the States in which they lie,
thru their Representatives in the Con-
gress, secure vigorous action by the
National Government.