Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1906-12-12
Editorial Comment

will bc no bounds to the exercise of their power
 It should be understood distinctly in the first place that President Roosevelt has not advocated and will not advo. cate any mere scheme of taxation for
 rcvcnnc only. He wants to prcvcn. the accumulation of great fortunes, on thc
 theory thst wealth beyond certain measure. when concentrate in the
 hands of any one man. is n dnngcr to
 the community, and should be pre-.
 vented by an exercise of police power or the taxing power of the government
 This kind ot m inheritance tax and
 this kind of m income tax is n novelty
 Many states like Illinois and New York tax inheritances and derive a large in. come in that way. The country had an
 income tax under the Wilson law pass. cd in ls9t, and it gave promise of roll. ing up m enormous revenue without be. ing seriously burdensomc on the pco. pie. Great Britain has an income tax today which includes rents as we'll as ordinary incomes, and which produces approximately now nearly s5,0oo, ,oOO.. 900 . year.
 But that is not what President Roosevelt Is aiming at. Great Britain IS the greatest eapitalistic country in the world. Its monarchy and it's par. liamcnt are controlled absolutely by the great wealthy middle class, and yet it submits to an income tax as a fair means of raising revenue. The Presi. dents notion is much more radical. If he has an income tax, he wants it so devised that 1t will bear lightly upon men of moderate incomes, but will soak those who measure their an- nual gain by hundreds of thousands and even ny millions or tens of millions.
 An income tax depends on it's rate. IT Congress has the right to impose it for one purpose it can do so for an. other. Mir. Roosevelt ~ suggestion merely is that n tax of this kind should be imposed by the Federal government. graduated in such way that it will | not merely discourage hut actually will | fortunes swollen beyond | Inc bounds of safety to the republic. The British income tax hits at the just md unjust almost alike, but the Roosevelt scheme would leave the small Try in security and would operate as n practical prohibition on great incomes.
 Much the same theory is applied in he President mind to an inheritance ax. In most of the laws of this char. 'eter passed by the states and by the federal government as we'll, during the spanish War, the theory has been all ways to increase the rate of tax nc. ording to the distance in blood re. ationship to which the estate is to Iescend. That is to say, an estate of ertain amount going to son would 'ay but a small tax while the same state going to q man not blood re. ative would pay a tax many times as reat.
 The Roosevelt idea would be almost he reverse of this. What he wants to , o is to prevent the descent of swollen ortuncs from father to son. He wants , break up these great fortunes as 'uch as possible and to put a premium pon their dissipation during the life. lme of the holder.
 With this type of inheritance and { 'eomc tax levied avowedly at the rich, Is tho belief of President Roosevelt , hat he could secure the disintepration great fortunes as they now exist nd prevent their being piled up in the { nturc. Either an inheritance tax or d 'come tax would be large revenue c rodneer. It probably would make e ecessary in the long run a radical 70. ision of our tariff law, and 1t might C