The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1907-12-03

a. TO arouse the mlnimnm Of agitation
and disturbance ii the business world
aud 20 give the least play Tor selfish
and factional motives. Tho sole con.
slderailon should b. 20 sec that the
sum total OF changes represents the
public good. This means that the sub.
Iect cannot with wisdom be dealt with
IN tho year preceding presidential
election. because AZ matter Of fact
experience has concluslyely shown that
az such a time Il Il impossible to get
men 70 treat Il from the standpoint o.
the public good In my judgment the
Wise time 20 deaf With the matter II
Immediately after such election.
Income Tex and inheritance Tax.
when cur tax laws arc revised the
question OF an Income tax and an In
heri:ance tax should receive the care
ful attention Of our Legislators. Ia
my Judgment. both OF these taxes
should be part OF our system Of fed
eral taxation. speak dliildently about
the income tax because one scheme for
an income tar was declared unconati.
tuilonal hy tile supreme court. while 10
addition It Il a diflicult tax 20 admin
lister Ia It's practical working. and great
cafo would have 10 be exercised TO see
that Il was not evaded by the very
men whom Il was most desirable TO
have taxed. Nevertheless n graduated
income tax OF the proper type would
he desirable feature Of federal taxa.
ton. aud II is 10 be hoped that one
may be devised which the supreme
court will declare constitutional
The Inheritance tax. however. is
a far better method Of taxation. The
government has the absolute rlsht 90
decide rs 20 the terms upon which
man shall receive bcquest from an
other. and this point 10 the devoluton
OF property Is especially appropriate
for the imposition Of tax. Laws i'm.
posing such taxes have repeatedly been
placed upon the national statute books
and as repeatedly declared clastitu-
tional by the courts. aud these laws
contained the progressive principle
that Is. after q certain amount Is reach.
cd the bcauest or gift 10 life or death
Is increasingly burdened and the rate
OF taxation Is increased In proportion
10 the rcmotencss OF blood Of the man
receiving the bequest These principles
are recognized already in the leading
civilized nations Of the world.
oarmany's Inheritance Tax.
Tho German law Is especially inter.
esiing to Us because Il makes the in.
herltance tax an imperial measure
while allotIng TO the individual states
OF the empire a portion OF the pro
Goods and permitting them to impose
taxes 10 addition 70 those imposed by
the imperial government Small inner
itances are exempt. but the tax Is so
sharply progressive that when the IN.
heritance Is still not very large. pro
vidcd Il is not an agricultural or a for
est land. It Is taxed az The rate OF Is
per cent If Il goes 10 distant relatives.
There is no reason why IN the United
States the national government should
not impose inheritance taxes In addI.
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
tionai government. making a combined
maximum rate in some cases as high
as 25 per cent
To Tax Nonresidents Higher.
The tax should If possible be made
to bear more heavily upon those resid-
ing without the country than within IT, |
A heavy progressive tax upon a very
large fortune Is in no way such a tax
upon thrift or industry as n like tax
would be on a small fortune. No adj /
vantage comes either TO the country |
Ms a whole or 10 the individuals inher- |
iting the money by permitting the
transmission in their entirety OF the /
enormous fortunes which would be af. /
fected by such a tax. and as an incl
dent to Its function of revenue raising +
such d tax would help to preserve a /
measurable equality of opportunity for
the people of the generations growing
to manhood.
W. nave uRl lut rAAEnINHh AAlAt1e
with that soclallstic idea which would
try to put laziness. thrIftlessness and
ineficiency on par with industry.
thrift and efficiency, which would
strive to break up not merely private
property, but, what is far more inpor-
tant. the home, the chief prop upon
which our whole civilization stands.
Such theory il ever adopted would
mean the ruin of the entire country, /
but proposals for legislation such as
this herein advocated are directly OPP
posed to this class OF socialistic the
cries.
Enforcement OF the Law.
Al 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 1t 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
ana juries, has been done, but the laws
themselves need strengthening. They
should be made more definite. so that
no honest man can be led unwittingly
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