Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1907-06-20

west natural resources ug the water
ways of the United States. Clearly II
Is impossible for the waterways COM
mission to accomplish its great task
without considering the relation OF
streams to the conservation and use of
all other natural resources. and have
asked that 1t do so. Here. then. for the
first time. the orderly development and
planned conservative use of all our
natural resources is presented as q
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 Thorn were worked out.
National irrigation has proved itself
a success by its actual working. Again.
actual experience has shown that the
national forests viii fulfill the larger
purpose for which they were Created.
All who have thoughtfuily studied the
subject have come to see that the solu-
ton of the public lands question lies
with the home maker. with the settler
who lives on his land and that gov
eminent control of the mineral fuels
and the public grazing lands is neces-
sary and inevitable. Each OF these
conclusions represented "A movement
OF vast Importance which would confer
large benefits upon the nation, but
which stood by itself. They are con-
nected together into one great funda-
mental problem--that of the coh-
servation of all our natural resources.
Upon the wise solution OF this, much
of our future obviously depends. Even
such questions as the regulation Of
railway rates and the control of cor
porations are in reality subsidiary to
the primal problem of the preservation
In the interests of the whole people of
the resources that nature has given MS
IL we fail to solve this problem. no
skill in solving the others Will In the
end avail us very greatly
Now as TO the matter OF taxation.
Most great civilized countries have an
income tax and an Inheritance tax.
In. my Judgment both should be part
of our system of federal taxation. l
speak difiidently about the income tax
because one scheme for an Income tax
was declared unconstitutional by the
supreme court by FIVE 10 four vote;
and In addition II Is a difficult tax to
| administer In Its practical workings.
and great care would have to be exer-
cised To see that II was not evaded
by the very man whom IL Is most de-
sirable to have taxed. for IL so evaded
IL would OF course be worse than no
tax at all, as the least desirable of all
taxes Is the tax which bears heavily
upon the honest as compared with the
dishonest man. Nevertheless. n gradu-
ated income tax of the proper type
would be desirable permanent fea-
ture of federal taxation, and l still
hope that one may he devised which the
supreme court will declare constitu-
tional.
inheritance Tax.
In my judgment, however the In.
heritance tax Is both n far better meth
cd of taxation, and far more important
| for the purpose ] have In ciew--the
purpose of having the swollen fortunes
| OF the country bear In proportion TO
| their size constantly increasing bur-
| den of taxation. These fortunes exist
| solely because of the protection given
| constant source of care and anxiety
| to the public and II IL eminently just
| that they should be forced TO pay heay-
| lily for the protection given them. II
| is, of course. elementary that the ma
| ton has the absolute right to decide as
| TO the terms upon which any man
| shall receive a bequest or devise from
| another. We have repeatedly placed
| such laws on our own statute books
| and they have repeatedly been declared
| constitutional by the courts. / believe
| that the tax should contain the pro-
| gressive principle. Whatever any In
| dividual receives, whether by gift, be-
quest. or devise. in life or In death
should. after a certain amount Ii
reached. be increasingly burdened; and
the rate of taxation should be In
| creased In proportion to the remote
ness of blood of the man receiving
from the man giving or dcvising. TIL,
principle OF this progressive taxation
| OF inheritance has not only been au'
| thoriatively recognized by the legisla'
| ton of congress- but IL is now un'
| equlvocally adopted in the leading CIV
ilized nations of the world--in. for In
stance. Great Britain, France and Ger
many Switzerland led off with the
| imposition of high progressive rates.
| Great Britain was the first OF the great
| nations to follow suit. and within the
| last few years both France and Ger
army have adopted the principle. In
| Great Britain all estates worth $1,000
or less are practically exempt from
death duties, while the increase IL
such that when an estate exceeds
| 1000, 900 in value and passes TO dis
tant kinsman or stranger In blood the
government receives nearly l8 per
cent. In France. under the progressive
system, so much of an inheritance as
exceeds $10,000,000 pays over 20 per
| cent. to the state IL II passes to u dis
| tant relative, and five per cent. IL IL
passes to a direct heir. In Germany
very small inheritance are exempt, but
the tax Is so sharply progressive that
an inheritance not In agricultural or
forest lands which exceeds S250,000.
IL IL goes to distant relatives, ia
taxed at the rate of about 20 per cent.
The German law is OF special interest.
| because IL makes the inheritance tax
an imperial measure. while allotting
| to the individual states of the empire
portion of the proceeds and permit
ting them to impose taxes in addition
to those imposed by the imperial gov
eminent In the United states the ma
tional government has more than once
imposed Inheritance taxes In addition
to those imposed by the states and
In the last instance about one-half of
the states levied such taxes concur
rently with the national government.
making a combined maximum rate, In
some cases as high as rs per cent:
and as a matter of fact several states
adopted inheritance tax laws for the
first time while the national law was
still in force and unrepealed The
French law has one feature which is TO
be heartily commended. The progress
sive principle Is so applied that each
higher rate Is imposed only on the ex-
cess above the amount subject to
the next lower rate. This plain Ia
peculiarly adapted to the working out
of the theory or using the inherit
ance tax for the purpose of limiting
the size of Unbeatable fortunes. since
the progressive increase In the rates.
according to this mode, may be car
ried to it's logical conclusion In a
maximum rate of nearly 100 per
cent for the amount In excess or
specified sum. without being con-
hscatory as TO the rest OF the Inherit
ance; for each increase In rate would
apply only to the amount above GER
tain ma ximum