Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1907-12-18
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

experience has conclusively shown
that at such time IL is impossible to
get men to treat 1t from the standpoint
Of the public good In my judgment.
the wise time to deal with the matter
Is Immediately after such election.
insme Tax and Inheritance Tax.
When our tax laws are revised the
question of an income tax and an in
heritance tax should receive the care.
ful attention of our legislators. I'm my
Judgment. both of these taxes should
be part of our system of federal taxa
tion. | speak diiiidcntly about the In
come tax because one scheme for an In
come tax was declared demonstrations
al by the supreme court. while In addi
ton It II difficult tax 10 administer
In lis practical working. and great
care would have to be exercised to see
that II was not evadpd by the very
men whom It was most desirable to
have taxed, for II so evadcd 1t would
of course lie worse than no tax at all,
rs the least desirable Of all taxes is
the tax which bears heavily upon the
honest as compared with the dishonest
man. Nevertheless n graduated in
come tax of the proper type would be
Y desirable feature of federal taxation,
and It Is to he hoped that one may be
devised which the supreme court will
declare constitutional. The Inheritance
tax, however. Is both Il far better
method of taxation and far more I'm
portant for the purpose of having the
fortunes Of the country bear In pro
portion to their increase IN size cor.
responding increase and burden Of tax
alton. The government has the nbso.
lutte right to decide as to the terms
upon which Il man shall receive II be
quest or devise from another. and this
point In the dcvolution OF property Is
especially appropriate for the imposl.
ton Of Il tax. Laws imposing such
taxes have repeatedly been placed
upon the national statute books and rs
repeatedly declared constitutional by
the courts. and these laws contained
the progressive principle-that Is. after
a certain amount Is reached the be-
quest or gift, In life or death, Is In.
crcasingly burdcned and the rate of
taxation Is increased in proportion TO
the remotcness of blood of the man re-
celving the, bcqucst. These principles
are recognized already In the leading
civilized nations OF the world In Great
Britain all the estates worth 5000 or
less are practically exempt from death
duties, while the increase Is such that
when an estate exceeds S5,O0O,O00 In
value and passes to distant kinsman
or stranger In blood the government
receives all told an amount equivalent
to nearly u fifth OF the whole estate.
In France so much of an Inheritance
as exceeds $1O,OOO.OO0 pays over a
fifth to the state II 1t passes to n dis
tant relative. The German law is es-
pccially interesting to us because 1t
makes the Inheritance tax an impe-
rial measure. while allotting to the
Individual states of the empire por-
tlon of the proceeds and permitting
them TO impose taxes In addition to
those imposed by the imperial govern
ment Small inheritances are exempt,
Dul lHt ltN 10 So
that when the inheritance is still not
very large, provided 1t is not an agri.
cultural or forest land. It is taxed at
the rate Of % per cent IL It goes TO dis.
tant relatives.
There Is no reason why in the Unit.
ed States the national government
should not impose Inheritance taxes In
addition to those imposed by the
states, and when we last had IN inner.
itance tax about Onc-half of the states
levied such taxes COnCurrently with
the national government, making Il
combined maximum rate in some eases
as high as % per cent. The French
law has one feature which is to be
heartily commended. The progressive
principle Is so applied that each high
err rate Is imposed only on the excess
above the amount subject to the next
lower rate, so that each Increase OF
rate will apply only to "a certain
The tax should II possible be made &c
bear more heavily upon those residing
without the country than within 1t. A
heavy progressive tax upon n very
large fortune Is in no way such tax
upon thrift or industry as like tai
would be on a small fortune. No ad
vantage comes either TO the country a.
whole or to the individuals inheritinl
the money by permitting the transmits
sion In their entirety of the enormous
fortunes which would be affected b.
such tax, and ns an incident to IL
function OF revenue raising such Ia!
would help to preserve II measurable
equality of opportunity for the people
of the generations growing to man
hood. We have not the slightest sym
pathy with that sOcialistlc idea whlci
would try to put lazlness, thriftlecs
ness and inefliciency on II par with in
dustry, thrift aud efficiency, whicl
would strive to break up not mcreI,
private property, but, what is far NOR
important, the home, the chief pro-
upon which our whole civilization
stands. Such Il theory, II ever adopt
ed, would mean the ruin Of the entir
country-a ruin which would bea
heaviest upon the weakest, upon thos
o., H.,