The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1906-12-07

tention. The exercise of a tudicici
spirit by a disinterested body repre-
senting the federal government, such
as would be provided by 4 commission
on Cancellation and arbitration. would
tend to create an atmosphere of friend
illness and Cancellation between con
tending parties.
Control OF Corporations.
1t cannot too often be repeated that
experience has cOnclusively shown the
lmpossibility of securing by the actions
of nearly half hundred different state
legislatures anything but ineffective
chaos in the way OF dealing with the
great corporations which DO not Oper-
ate exclusively within the limits Of
any one state. In some method. wheth-
er by a national license law or in other
fashion, we must exercise. and that at
@u elrly date. a far more complete
control than at present over these great
C.ru.rlti0l2-a control that viii. among
Other things, prevent the evils or eE-
co,s.ve ove-c2v.ta,izat.on and that VIII
comp the disclosure by each big cor
Iavluoa Of IT'S stockholders a.j Of JUS
properties auG business, whether own
ed directly %, through subsidiary or
affiliated c0r.ora..3us This viii te4I
to p0- a stop - ele securing Of i2or-
diuatr profits by favored individuals az
,ie expense whether of the general
public the stockholders or the wage
workers. Our effort should be not so
much TO prevent consolidation as such,
but s. to supervise and control it as
ID see that it results in no harm to the
people.
Combination Of capital. like comb;EI-
ton OF labor. is Il necessary element Of
cur present Industrial system. 1t is
not possible completely to prevent it,
and if it were possible such complete
preve" III would do damage to the
body polite. What we need is not
vainly to try TO prevent all c0mbina-
ton, bat to secure such rigorous and
adequate control and supervision Of
the combinations as TO prevent their
injuring the public or existing in such
form as inevitably to threaten injury,
for the mere fact that a combination
has secured practically complete con
troll of a necessary Of life would under
any circumstances show that such
combination was to be presumed TO be
adverse - the public interest. 1t is
unfortunate that our present laws
NJ 1l,i ID
CT sharply discriminating between
those combinations which do good and
those combinations which do evil. Re
bates, for instance, are as often due TO
the pressure Of big shippers (as was
shown in the investigation Of the
Standard Oil company and as has been
shown since by the investigation of
tla tobacco and sugar trusts as to the
initiative of big railroads. Often rail
roads would like TO combine for the
purpose Of preventing Il big shipper
from maintaining improper advantages
at the expense Of small shippers and
Of the general public. Such a combina-
ton. instead OF being forbidden by law,
should be favored In other words, II
should be permitted to railroads to
make agreements, provided these agree
mentS were sanctioned by the inter
state commerce commission and were
published. With these two conditions
complied with it is impossible to see
what harm such a combination could
do to the public at large.
The national government has long
derived its chief revenue from Il tariff
on imports and from an internal or eX-
else tax. In addition to these, there is
every reason why, when next our Sys-
ten Of taxation is revised, the national
goye*ument should impose 4 graduated
Inheritance tax and, if possible, a grad
Uatod income tax.
I am well aware that such 4 subject
IS this needs long and careful study in
order that the people may become IA
miliIr with what is proposed to be
done may clearly see th& Nec.ssity Of
proceeding with wisdom and self re-
straint 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 l feel that in the near
future our national legislators should
enact a law providing for graduated
inheritance tax by which a steadily in
creaslng rate OF duty should be put
upon all moneys or other valuables
coming by gift, bequest or devise to
any individual or corporation. There
can be no question Of the ethical pro
priety Of the government thus deter
mining the conditions upon which any
gift or Inheritance should be received.
AS the law now stands it is undoubt-
edly difficult to devise a national in
come tax which shall be constitutional
But whether ii is absolutely impossible
Is another question, and if possible it
is most certainly desirable. The first
purely income tax law was passed by
the congress in 1861. but the most i'm
portant law dealing with the subject
was that of 1894 This the court held
to be unconstitutional.
The question is undoubtedly very IN