Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1907-12-06

exIeTvu,e has .ul..i!S. .ris ; shOAu Ji1N
GI such d tilur Il Is i.upprSiDie To g
nlen 10 irua; {. from the standpoint II
the puhiic E'.d o. ms Judgment r!.s
wise time @" t'ai With tie matter s
immediaiei! after such election.
Income Tax and lnherita,es Tex.
When our taA laws ar. revised the
question Of an income tax aud an Ia.
herlIuuce tax should receive the care.
ful attention ui or legislators. la
my Judgment. both Of these taxes
should be part ~ our system Of fed
eral taxation. speak diiiidently about
the income tax because one scheme for
an Income tax was declared uuconSti.
tutional 10y the supreme court. while In
addition IL Is IA difficult tax 10 admin
lister in fits practical working. and great
care would have to lie exercised TO see
that II WAS not eyadel 10y the very
men whom IL was most desirable TO
have taxed. Nevertheless graduated
Income tax OF the proper type would
lie a desira Bile feature of federal taxa
zion. and 1t is TO be hoped that one
may be devised which the supreme
court will declare constitutional.
The Inheritance tax, however, Is
far better method OF taxation. The
government has the absolute right 70
decide as To the terms upon which u
man shall receive beQuest from un.
other. aud this point In the deyolutlon
or property il especially appropriate
for tue imposition of tax Laws im-
posing such taxes have repeatedly been
placed upon the national statute books
and as repeatedly declared constitu.
tional by the courts. aud these laws
contained the progressive priucipie-
that IS. after certain amount Is reach.
ed the bequest or gift In life or dealt
Is increasingly hurdened aud the rate
OF taxation is increased In proportion
to the relnotenesS of blood Of the man
receiving the bequeSt These principles
are recognized already IN the leading
civilized nations OF the world
Gsrnauy's Inheritance Tax.
The German law is especially inter.
esting TO Ills because il makes the in
heritance tax an imperial measure
while allOting TO the individual states
OF the empire II portion OF the pro-
ceeds and permitting them TO impose
taxes IN addition 10 those imposed by
the imperia government, Small inher-
itances are exempt, but the tax is so
sharply progressive that when the In
heritance is still not very large. pro
vided 1t is not an agricultural or a for
est land. it is taxed at the rate of %
per cent If it goes TO distant relatives.
There is no reason why in the United
States the national government should
not impose inheritance taxes in add
ton to those imposed by the states.
and when we last had an Inheritance
tax about one-half of the states levied
such taxes concurrently with the ma
tional government. making a combined
maximum rate in some cases as high
as % per cent.
To Tax Nonresidents Higher.
The tax should if possible he made
TO bear more heavily upon those resid,
Ing without the country than within IL.
A heavy progressive tax upon a very
large fortune is in no way such tax
upon thrift or industry a. a like tax
would be on a small fortune. No ad-
vantage comes either to the country
"a whole or to the individuals inner
iting the money by permitting the
transmission in their entirety of the
enormous fortunes which would be az
fected by such tax. aud as an Incl.
dent to IFS function Of revenue raising
such tax would help to preserve q
measurable equality of opportunity for
the people of the generations growing
to manhood.
We have not the slightest sympathy
with that socialistic idea which would
try to put laZiness. thriftlessness and
inetficiency on par with industry.
thrift and efficiency. which would
strive to break up not merely private
property, but. what is far more impor.
tant, the home. the chief prop upon
which our whole civilization stands.
Such theory if ever adopted would
mean the ruin of the entire country,
but proposals for legislation such as
this herein advocated are directly op-
posed to this class Of socialistic the
cries.
Enforcement Of the Law.
A few years ago there was loud com.
plant that the law could not be in
voked against wealthy offenders There
is no such complaint now The course
Of the department of justice during the
last few years has been such as to
make it evident that no man stands
above the law, that no corporation is
SO wealthy that it cannot be held to ac-
count. Everything that can be done
under the existing law and with the
existing state of public opinion. which
so profoundly influences both the courts
and juries. has been done. but the laws
themselves need strengthening. They
no honest man can be led unwittiugly
to break them and so that the real
wrongdoer can be readily punished.
Moreover there must be the public
opinion back of the laws or the laws
themselves will be Of no avail. The
two great evils in the execution of our
criminal laws today are sentimentality
and technfrality. For the latter the
remedy must come from the hands of
the legislatures. the courts and the law
yers. The other must depend for Its
cure upon the. gradual growth Of
sound public opinion which shall insist
that regard for the law and the de-
mands Of reason shall control all other
Influences and emotions In the illly