Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1907-12-09


even the wisest legislation on the sub
ject can only accomplish a certain
amount No legislation can by any
possibility guarantee the business COM
munity against the results of specula-
tive folly any more than it can guaran-
tee an individual against the results of
his extravaganza When an Individual
mortgages his house to buy an auto
mobile he invites disaster. and when
wealthy men or men who pose as such
or are unscrupulously or foolishly eager
TO become such indulge in reckless
speculation. especially if it is accom-
panied by dishonesty, they jeopardize
not only their own future. but the flu
ture of all their innocent fellow citi-
zens. for they expose the whole bust
ness community to panic and distress.
Can't Revise Tariff Now.
This country is definitely committed
to the protective system. and any eff
fort to uproot it could not but cause
widespread industrial disaster. In
other words. the principle of the pres
ent tariff law could not with wisdom
be changed. But in a country of such
phenomenal growth as ours it is prob
ably well that every dozen years or so
the tariff laws should be carefully scru-
tinized so as to see that no excessive
or improper benefits are conferred
thereby. that proper revenue is provid-
ed and that our foreign trade is en-
couraged. There must always be as a
minimum a tariff which will not only
allow for the collection Of an ample
revenue. but which will at least make
good the difference in cost of produc-
ton here and abroad-that is, the diff
ference in the labor cost here and
abroad. for the well being of the wage
worker must ever be a cardinal point
of American policy. The question
should be approached purely from a
business standpoint, both the time and
the manner of the change being such
as to arouse the minimum of agitation
and disturbance in the business world
and to give the least play for selfish
and fractional motives. The sole con-
sideration should be to see that the
public good. This means that the sub
ject cannot with wisdom be dealt with
in the year preceding a presidential
election, because as matter of fact
experience has conclusively shown that
at such a time it is impossible to get
men to treat it from the standpoint of
the public good. In my judgment the
wise time to deal with the matter is
Immediately after such election.
Income 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
full attention of our legislators. In
my judgment. both of these taxes
should be part of our system of fed
eral taxation. speak diffidently about
the income tax because one scheme for
! an income tax was declared unconsti-
tutional by the supreme court, while in
addition it is difficult tax to admin
| lister in it's practical working and great
| care would have to be exercised to see
| that it was not evaded by the very
| men whom it was most desirable tic
! have taxed Nevertheless a graduated
| be desirable feature Of federal taxa
ton, and it is to be hoped that one
may be devised which the supreme
court will declare constitutional.
! The inheritance tax, however, is
i far better method of taxation. The
| government has the absolute right tC
decide as to the terms upon which q
man shall receive a bequest from an
other and this point in the devolutior
of property is especially appropriate
for the imposition Of tax. Laws i'm
posing such taxes have repeatedly beer
| placed upon the national statute books
and as repeatedly declared constitu
tional by the courts, and these laws
contained the progressive principle
that is, after certain amount is reach
ed the bequest or gift in life or death
is increasingly burdened and the~rate
of taxation is increased in proportion
to the remoteness of blood of the mar
receiving the bequest. These principles
are recognized already in the leading
civilized nations of the world.
Germany's Inheritance Tax.
The German law is especially inter
esting to us because it makes the in
heritance tax an imperial measure
while alloting to the individual state:
of the empire portion Of the pro
ceeds and permitting them to impose
taxes in addition to those imposed b!
the imperial government. Small inner
itances are exempt, but the tax is 81
sharply progressive that when the in
heritance is still not very large. pro
vfded it is not an agricultural or for
est land. it is taxed at the rate of 2;
per cent if it goes to distant relatives
There is no reason why in the Unitet
States the national government shoult
not impose inheritance taxes in add
ton to those imposed by the states
and when we last had an inheritanc
tax about one-half of the states leviet
such taxes concurrently with the ma