Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-04

1t is so important to encourage in the indi-
vidual. But as matter Of fact the dead
ening and degrading effect Of pure social
ism. and especially of its extreme form
communism, and the destruction of indi-
vidual character which they would bring
about, are in part achieved by the wholly
unregulated competition which results In
single Individual or corporation rising
at the expense Of all others until his or
and reduces former competitors to posi-
ton Of utter inferiority and subordina1ion.
Working on a Coherent Plan.
In enacting and enforcing such legisla-
ton as this Congress already has to Its
credit, we are working on a coherent plan.
with the steady endeavor to secure the
needed reform by the joint action OF the
moderate men, the plain men who do not
wish anything hysterical or dangerous, but
who do intend to deal in resOlute common
sense fashion with the real and great evils
of the present system. The reactionaries
and the violent extremists show symptoms
OF joining hands against US. Both assert,
for instance. that If logical, we should go
to government ownership of railroads ana
the like; the reactionaries, because on such
an issue they think the people would stano
with them, while the extremists care rather
to preach discomfort and agitation tnan 10
achieve solid results. AS matter OF iaGt'
our position IL as remote from that OF the
Bourbon reactionary as from that or 'lhe
impracticab!e' or sinister visionary. we
hold that the Government should no. con.
duct the business of the nation, but teat
it should exercise such supervision as viii
insure its being conducted in the interest
Of the nation. Our aim is, 80 far as may
be. to secure. for all decent, hard working
men, equality Of opportunity and equality
Of burden. ~ g.. : -.-.'+~
The actual working Of our laws has
shown that the effort to prohibit all com
bination. good or bad. is no1ious where
1t is not ineffective. Combination OF capt-
!. tai like combination of labor is neces-
sary element of our present industrial sys-
tenn. 1t is not possible completely to pre-
vent 1t; and II 1t were possible such COM
plete prevention would do damage to the
body polite. What we need is not vainly
to try to prevent all combination. but to
secure such rigorous and adequate control
and supervision Of the combinations as to
prevent their injurfng the public, or exist
ing in such form as inevitably to threaten
intury-for the mere fact that comDlna-
ton has secured practically complete con-
troll of necessary of life would under any
circumstances show that such comDlnatlon
was to be presumed to be adverse to the
public interest 1t is unfortunate that our
present laws should forbid all combina-
lions, instead Of sharply discriminating be-
tween those com binatiOnS which do good
and those combinations which do evil. Re-
bates, for instance, are 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 the tobacco and sugar
trusts as to the initiative of big railroads
Often railroads would like to combine for
the purpose of preventing big shipper
from maintaining improper advantages at
the expense of small shippers and OF the
general public. Such a combina ton, in
stead of being forbidden by law, should
be favored. In other words, 1t should be
permitted to railroads to make agreements,
provided these agreements were sanctioned
by the Interstate Commerce Commission
and were published. With these two con-
ditions complied with 1t Is impossible to see
what harm such a combination could do to
the public at large. 1t is public evil to
have on the statute books a law incapable
of full enforcement because both judges
and juries realize that its full enforcement
would destroy the business of the country;
for the result Is to make decent railroad
men violators of the law against their will,
and to put premium on the behavior of
turn tends to throw the decent man and
the wilful wrongdoer into close associa-
tion and in the end to drag down the for
mer to the latter'S level; for the man who
becomes a lawbreaker in one way unhap-
PLY tends to lose all respect for law and
to be willing to break it in many ways. No
more scathing condemnation could be Wis
tied upon a law than is contained in the
sion when. in commenting upon the fact
that the numerous joint traffic association
do technically violate the law, they say:
The decision of the United States Su-
and the Joint Traffic Association case has
produced no practical effect upon the rail-
way operations of the country Such asso-
Citations. in fact. exist now as they did be-
general effect. In justice to all parties, we
ought probably to add that it Is difficult
to see how our interstate railways could
be operated 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 bust
ness of the country can not be conducted
without breaking It, 1 recommend that
you give careful and early consideration
to this subject, and II you find the opinion
Of the Interstate Commerce Commission
justified, that you amend the law so as to
obviate the evil disclosed.
Inheritance and Income Tax.
The question of taxation is difficult in
any country but it Is especially difficult in
ours with its Federal system of govern
ment. Some taxes should on every ground
be levied In a small district for use in that
district. Thus the taxation Of real estate
is peculiarly one for the immediate local
ity III WHICH inc real estate Is 1OunQ.
Again. there Is no more legitimate tax
for any State than tax on the franchises
conferred by that State upon street rail-
roads and similar corporations which
operate wholly within the State boun-
daries. sometimes in one and sometimes in
several municipalities or other minor divi-
sons of the State. But there are many
kinds Of taxes which can only be levied by
the General Government SO as to produce
the best results, because, among other
reasons. the attempt to impose them in one
particular State too often results merely
in driving the corporation or Individual af-
fected to some other locality or other State
The National Government has long derived
its chief revenue from tariff on imports
and from an internal or excise tax In ad-
dition to these there is every reason why,
when next our system of taxation is re-
vised. the National Government should i'm
pose graduated Inheritance tax and If
possible a graduated income tax. The man
of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation
to the State, because he derives special adj
vantages from the mere existence of gov
eminent Not only should he recognize this
obligation In the way he leads his daily
life and In the way he earns and spends
his money. but 1t should also be recog-
nized by the way in which he pays for the
protection the State gives him. On the one
hand. 1t is desirable that he should assume