Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1907-06-27

VSFt natural resources o. tne whss.~
ways of the United s.ates. Clearly II
Is impossible for the waterways com.
mission to accomplish It's great task
without considering the relation ~
streams to the conservation and use OF
all other natural resources. n | have
asked that II do so. Here, then, 10. the
first time, the orderly development and
planned conservative use OF all our
natural resources In presented as .
single problem. one by one the indi-
vidual tasks in this great problem have
already been undertaken. One by one
IN practical fashion the methods OF
dealing with them we're worked out.
National irrigation has proved Itself
n success by its actual working. Again.
actual experience has shown that the
national forests will fulfll tho larger
purpose for which they were created.
All who have ~thoughtfully studied the
subject have come to see that the S"lu'
ton OF the public lands question lies
with the HON. maker. with the settler
who lives on his land and that gov
control Of the mineral fuels
and I'll" public grazing lands Is n"r"S-
Sary ana inevitable. Each OF th"H"
conclusions represented "a movement
81 vast Importance which would confer
large benefits upon tho nation, but
which stood by itself. They are con
n""i"d together into one great hhda-
iI'ltdl pTDiltm thHt OF tn' 'bh
scrvation of all our natural resources.
pom the wise solution OF this, much
Of our future obvi1Ssly depends Even
such questions AZ ia" regulation of
railway rates and TIA" control OF cor
pordtions are in reality subsidiary to
the primal problem of th" preservation
"a the interests of the whole prni!" ut
the rtsources that nature has given u..
" W" fail to solve this problem no
skill in SDlNIuK the others VIII IN the
md avail us very greatly.
Now az to Thu" matter OF taxation
Most great civilized countries haze an
income tax ana AN inhcritanc" tax
In my Judgment both should b part
of our system of federal taxation.
peak diiiidontiy about the inCuiHr tax
b"caus" one scheme for an income tax
was declared demonstrations by III"
supreme court by n FIVE to four vote.
end IN addition II liz Il difficult tax to
administer in IT'S practical workings
and great care would have to be oX"r-
CiScd to ~" that II was not cNadcd
by tn" very man whom IL IL most do
sirHblc to have taxed, for II 40 cvad"d
II would of course be worse than no
tax at all. AZ the least desirable Of all
taxes Is tn" tax which bears heavily
upon III" honest AS compared with the
dishonest man. Nevertheless, a gradu-
atcd income tax OF the proper type
would be "a desirable permanent fca-
tur" Of federal taxation. and | Sun
hope that one may be devised which the
supreme court viii declare cunttItu-
tionaI.
Inheritance Tax.
In my Judgment. however. IA" in
lcritnncc tax IL both a far better meth
cd OF taxation. and far more important
for the purposc ] have In view the
purpose Of having the swollen fortunes
Of the country bear In proportion to
their size II constantly increasing bur
den Of taxation. These fortunes exist
solely because OF the protection given
the owners by the public. They are y
constant source OF care and anxiety
to the public ana II IL eminently juw
that they should bc forced to pay beav-
ily for the protection given them 1t
Is, of course, elementary that the ma
ton has the absolute right to decide IN
to the terms upon which any man
shall r"c'iv" "A bcqu"st or d"vis" from
another. W" have repeatedly placed
such Ia Wa on our own statute books,
ana they have repeatedly been declared
constitutional by the courts. | believe
that III" tax should contain the pro-
Rr"ssiVc principle. Whht'v,r any In
diyidual receives, whether by GIT. be.
quest, or devise, In life or IN death,
should, after a certain amount IL
reached be Increasingly IH'i'n"d, and
tn" rat" OF taxation should b" IN
creased IN proportion to ~" remote
ness OF blood Of III" man receiving
from tn" man giving or d'..alng. The
principle Of TINS proRrrt"l'" taxation
Of inheritance hns not ou!r been hu-
thorintivcly recognized hy ia" lcgisla-
ton Of congress, but II - now un-
"uuivOcaliy ADOPTED In III" leading cav
ilizcd nations Of III" world IN, for in
stance. Great britain, rrar"" and Ger
many. Switzerland led on with the
imposition Of nigh pruHf'sfir" rates.
Great Britain WIS ia" hrSi 81 ia" great
nations to follow suit. ana within ia"
last few years both Franc" and Ger
army have adopted The ritnciple. In
Great Britain all estate worth $4,000
or lcss are practically exempt from
death duties, Will" th' increase ~
such that when AN 't'hi' exceeds
81. 600. 900 in vnIu" ana passes to IA dis
tant kinEman or stranger IN blood tht
government receives nearly ~ per
cent. IN France, under thc progressive
system, 10 muci, Of an inheritance ~
exceeds $40. 900 900 pays "|"r 20 per
cent. to the state IL II passes to Il dis
tant relative, ana nv" per cent. " II
passes to n direct heir. In
very small inhcritanC" ar" exempt, but
the tax IL 80 sharply progressive tina,
an inheritance not In agricultural oi
forest lands which oXC'"dS $3.50, 600
II II gOcs to distant relatives. "
taxed At the rate OF about 80 per cent
The German law IN Of special interest
because II makes the inheritance tau
an imperial measure, WIN" hilottinH
to the individual states Of the empire
a portion Of the proceeds ana permit
ting them 10 impOs" taxes ~ addition
To those imposed by the imperial gov
crnmcnt. In the United states IN" ma
tional government has more IMAM once
imposed inheritance taxes IN sdoi'lor
to those imposed by H." states, an