Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-12-05

bination, good g, bad. noxious where
capital : IKE com bination Dor
Snecessary@e element of our present tndus-:
paRssibis
such com plete. prevention would. do dam
age to- the body polite. What Wei need
s s1cR and
control and supervision OF the combine
lions. -:as to prevent their tnjurinE the
public or existing In such form rs Is 1ne eye
fact that combination has secured
practically complete control. Of q neces-
sary Of life Wpntd nnder Any t, Glrcu uas
to be presumed to be adverse to the pub
lie interest. It Is unfortunate that our
present laws should forbid all combina-
between those combinations which do
evil. Rebates; for instance, are as often
due. to the pressure Of PIG shippers ship t as
shown since by the Investigation of the
! tobacco and sugar trusts as to the init
would like to combine for the purpose of
preventing big shipper from maintain
ing improper advantages. at the expense
lie. Such a combination, instead of being
+ forbidden by law, should be favored. In
other words, it should be permitted t9
these agreements were sanctioned by the
Interstate commerce eonmission' . and
see Sew what Harm such a combination could
do to the public at large. IT Is public
evil to have on the statute books law
Soth Sses q ana ,s4es
full enforcement would destroy the bust
ness Of the country; for tho result is to
the law against their viii, and to put q
premium on the behavior of the Wilful
wrongdoers. such = result in turn tends
wronxdoer into close association, and in
latter level: for the man who becomes
to css al sRd to
willing to break it In many ways. No
more scathing condemnation could be
the words of the Interstate commerce
the fact that the numerous Joint traffic
T sS sa SS aysc, S5Sats
United States supreme court in the
Transmississippi case and the Joint
practical effect upon the railway opera
tons of the country. Such associations,
IN fact, exist now: as they did before
these decisions, and with the same gen
ought probably to add that it is difficult
to see how our Interstate railways could
be operated with due regard to the inter
without concerted action of the kind at
forded thru these associations"
This tsa means that the law as construed :1st 4s
business of the country cannot be con-
Quoted without breaking it. recommend
ha on Eye and and nd tSe
opinion Of the interstate commerce COM
mission justified, that you amend the
law SO as to obviate the evil disclosed
Inheritance and Income Tax,
It vas expected that the president
In the necessity for the curling of enor-
nous fortunes, and he has done so by
recommending legislation for both in
ieves the government should impose a
graduated Inheritance tax, and, II posi-
BILE, a graduated income tax. He says:
as this needs long and careful study in
order that the people may become famil-
lar with what is proposed to be done,
ing with wisdom and self-restraint, and
may make up their minds Just how far
theX are wng to 60 IN the
out the project in necessary detail. But
feel that in the near future our nation
al legislators should enact law Provid-
which a steadily increasing rate Of duty
should be put upon all moneys Or other
ya1uables coming. by gift, bequest, or
devise to any Individual or corporation.
in proportion as the individual benefited
Is remote Of kin. In any event, In my
Judgment the pro rata OF the tax should
Of the amount left to any one individual
after certain point has been reached.
/ It is most desirable to encourage thrift
fhS and aaa Is tSs desire eG
part Of the breadwinner to leave his chill;
dren well. of: This object can be attained
by making the tax very small on moder-
the prime object should be to put con-
stantly increasing burden on the inher-
ct those e. swollen TT 3es.
try to perpetuate.
There can be- no question Of the eth
ical propriety OF the government THUS la de-
gift or Inheritance should be received
Exactly how far the inheritance tax
would, as an incident, have the effect of
gift Of the enormous fortunes in question
It is not necessary at present to discuss.
1t Is wise that progress In this direction
should be gradual. At first q permanent
be more substantial than any such tax
has hitherto been, need not approximate,
either in amount or in the extent of the
tax should ultimately be.
Inheritance Tax Constitutional.
This species Of tax has again and again
been imposed, altho only temporarily, by
the national government; It was first
imposed by the act of July 6, 1897, when
the makers of the Constitution were
alive and at the head of affairs. It was
q graduated tax; tho small in. amount,
the rate was increased with the amount
left to any individual, exceptions being
made in the case Of certain close kin. A
similar tax was again imposed by the
9. ac IT, ct f. July l. 1872; minimum sum Of
from taxation, the tax then becoming
progressive according to the. remoteness
1898, provided for an. Inheritance tax on
any sum exceeding the value OF SO, 900,
the rate of tax increasing both in accord
ance with the amounts left and in ac-
Of kin. The supreme court has held that
| the succession tax imposed at the time
Of the civil war was not a direct tax but
stitutional and valid. More recently the
Justice White, which contained an: ex-
| Of the powers of the congress to impose
| death duties, sustained the constitution
| atty of the inheritance tax feature of the
| War-revenue act Of 1898. -.
is Income Tax Constitutional
I'm it's Incidents, and apart from the
income tax stands on an entirely differ.
emit footing from an Inheritance tax, be
cause it involves no question of the per-
| petuation Of fortunes swollen to an un-
healthy size. =: The question is in its
essence a question Of the proper adjust
ment of burdens to-. benefits. As the
law now stands it is undoubtedly diff
! cult to: devise national income tax
which shall be. constitutional - But
whether: it is absolutely impossible is an.
certainly desirable. The first purely In
come tax law was past by the. congress
in 1851, but the, most portant law deal
! ing with the subject was that; Of. 1894.
This the court held to be unconatit1-