Evening star., 1907-08-20

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bounds of legitimate and useful business all
these great corporations
Doubt of Licensing All Corporations.
Secretary Taft expressed his doubt of the
practicability of licensing all corporations.
He said the suggestion first came from Mr..
Garfield, and Mr.. Bryan had adopted 1t.
Secretary Taft said: Until it is clearer than
at present that the evils of unlawful COM
bination cannot be suppressed without 1t,
| 1t seems to me such a plan ought not to be
tried"
when the government revenues need
addition, or readjustment, / believe fed
eral graduated Inheritance tax to be a use
| full means of raising government funds 1t
| Is easily and certainly collected. The Incl
dence of taxation Is heaviest on those best
| able to stand It. and indirectly, while not
| placing undue restriction on individual ef-
| fort. it would moderate the enthusiasm for
| the amassing of immense fortunes.
Income Tax.
"a graduated income tax would also have
| a tendency to reduce the motive for the
accumulations of enormous wealth, but the
Supreme Court has held an income tax not
| to be valid exercise of power by the
federal government. The objection to 1t
from a practical standpoint Is its fnquisi-
torial character and the premium 1t puts
on perjury. In times OF great national
need. however an income tax would be of
great assistance in furnishing means to
carry on the government, and it is not free
from doubt how the Supreme Court, with
changed membership, would view new
income tax law under such conditions. The
court was nearly evenly divided in the last
case, and during the civil war great sums
were collected by an income tax without
judicial interference and. as it was then
supposed. within the federal power.
Il do not favor federal legislation now to
reduce such fortunes either by a constttu-
tional amendment to permit an income tax
or by graduated Inheritance tax, but
whenever the government revenues need an
increase or readjuStment / should strongly
favor the imposition Of a graduated inheri-
tance tax. and, II necessary for the reve-
nues, q change in the Constitution authoriz-
ing federal income tax. with all the incl
dental influence of both measures to lessen
the motive for accumulation"
Secretary Taft defended President Roose-
welt against the criticism that his doctrines
are socialistic, as follows:
Absurd Criticism Of Policies.
"Critics of President Roosevelt denounce
his policies as socialistc and likely to i'm
pair the institution Of private property
The institution of private property next to
that of civil liberty is the most important
factor in all that is good in modern So
ciety. 1t is indispSnsabl Bile to indlVldualsm
and Is one Of the two chief means by
which man raised himself from low es-
tate near to that of the beasts of the field
to his present condition. But if the people
are not convinced that it is possible to
eradicate the evils and abuses arising from
the Inscriptions use or wealth and cor
porate combination under the system OF
private property, the movement toward its
abolition and the adoption Of socialism In
some form will gain great strength. Presi-
dent Roosevelt would stop this movement
hyra do CT m q
the system of private property, by efficient
government regulation, supervision and
prosecution, to stamp out the evils which
have created our social unrest. He knows
what futile remedy socialism will prove
to be. Socialism looks to dead level OF
life. to an absence of all motive for ma
terial progress, to stagnation in every
thing. 1t involves a lack of individual
freedom and requires an official tyranny to
carry out its system that finds no counter
part in modern government 1t offers no
real remedy foT the evils that appear from
time to time as the accompaniment OF our
progress. And yet, President Roosevelt
knows and every one must realize, the
plausible force with which SOcialiStic doc
| trines can be pressed upon a discontented
| people who see real wrongs in the body
polite and social.
Policies Framed to Defeat Socialism.
| For this reason he takes the most con-
servative course In insisting on adopting
| cirle of private property in order to stamp
! out the evils >which have attended its
abuse. There is nothing either radical or
severe in the reforms he proposes. What is
| there in the tenet of private property that
prevents close government regulation of
| the exercise of a public franchise like that
| of interstate railways, or the enactment OF
criminal laws or civil procedure to re-
strain the evils which result from the inn
proper use of the right of property in COM
binations of capital to suppress competition
and to monopoliZe trade, or the adjust
ment of tax laws or laws of descent in
| such way as to reduce the motive for ac-
cumulating fortunes so great that the
| power they give their individual owners is
| politically dangerous!
Railroads Responsible.
1.-THE critics 1 have referred to are in the
! habit Of charging to Mr. Roosevelt respon-
| sibility for all the recent state legislation
| looking to the restraint of corporations and
| especially for that which cuts down the
passenger rates on state railways. This
| is most unjust, for whether such legislation
is proper or oppressive, the impetus that
| carried it into law was given not by Mr..
| Roosevelt, but by the evils that he has been
! attempting to remedy within the federal
| jurisdiction. If the state measures are un-
| just to the property rights of the railways,
| they may be corrected in the courts. II
| they are unwise, they will react against the
| communities in which they operate by max
| ing the service poorer ana III otner ways,
| and the reaction will lead to their repeal.
| The railways can blame no one but them
| selves If the revelation of their fragrant
violations of law and of their unjust ad-
| ministration Of a public trust have led to
| an outburst of popular indignation and
| have brought on temporary excess.
Slump in Wall Street Prices.
| again. every time that there is fall in
| the prices of stocks in Wall street, those
| who are injuriously affected condemn the
President with great bitterness as respon-
I sible for their losses. Just at present there
has been very serious depression in the
values of marketable securities. and 1t is
| said that the Presidents attitude toward
| corporations has been the cause of this.
| Such critics fail to observe that there has
! been Il similar decrease In the marketable
| value-not only of railway stocks but OF
| government consols abroad, and that there
Is strngency in tthe markets of the
| world. But more than this, If the prosecu
ton of dishonesty and Illegal practices, like
the giving and taking of rebates and the
destruction of competition by monopoly,
| is to injure the market for stocks on the