Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-12-04

while ~ addition Il IS a di1icuH "a
60 administer IN It's practical work
ing, and even greater care would hav
10 be exercised to see that 10 was no
eyaded by The very men whom It wa
most desired 70 have taxed. for II -
evadcd II would. Of course, b" wors
than no tax at all; as the least de
Sifahir VI all taxes rs the tax which
bears heavily upon the honest a
compared with the dishonest man
Nevertheless. a graduated income tai
OF the prOpe type would be a desi
rabie feature of federal taxation. ant
1t Is to be hoped shat ono may be de
vised which the supreme court VII
declare constitutional. The in.
hefitance tax. however. j. both a fan
better method Of taxation, and fai
more important for the pur-
pose Of having the fortunes
OF the country bear in proper
ton to their Increase In size a CORE
spending Increase and burden OF tax
alton. The government has the abso-
Lutte right 10 decide "a 10 the terms
upon which a man shall receive a
Request or devise from another. and
this point in the devoiutiOn Of proper
~ Is especially appropriate for the inn
position of a tax. Laws imposing
such taxes nave repeatedly been
placed upon the national statute books
and as repeatedly declared constl-
tionai by the courts ana these laws
contained the progressive principle.
that Is. after Il certain amount ~
reached the bequest or gift. In life or
death. Is increasingly burdened and
the rate OF taxation " increased in
proportion to the femOteuess of blood
Of the man receiving the bequest
These principles are recognized al
ready Ia the leading civilized nations
of the world. In Great Britain all
the estates worth So 600 or less are
practically exempt from death duties
while the Increase Is such that when
an estate exceeds five millions OF doll
lars in value and passes TO a distant
kinsmmn or stranger in blood the gov
ornment receives all told an amount
equivalent 10 nearly a fifth Of the
whole estate. In France 80 much OF
an Inheritance AS exceeds 10000, 00O
pays over q fifth TO the state II II
passes TO a distant relative, The Ger
man law II especially interesting TO
as because IL makes the inheritance
tax an imperial measure while all0t-
ting to the individual states of the
empire Il portion OF the proceeds and
permitting them TO Impose taxes IN
addition TO those Imposed by the inn
perial government. small inhert-
itances are exempt, bat the tax Is 50
sharply progressive that when the in
heritance il sim not very large, pro-
vided II II not an agricultural OF a
forest land. II IN taxed al the rate or
% per cent " Il goes 10 distant rela-
tlves. There h no reason why IN the
States tho national government
should not Impose inheritance taxes
IN addition 10 those imposed by the
states. and when we last had an IN
tax about one-half OF the
states levied such taxes concurrentlN
with tie national government, making
a combined maximum rate, In some
cases as high as 20 per cent The
...LF 49, g.. a..- f..t... seII.II IL IT,
10 be heartily commended. The pro-
principle is 50 applied that
zach higher rate is imposed only on
he excoss above the amount subject
10 the next lower rate, so that each
increase of rate Will apply only TO a
certain amount above a certain max
mum. Tho tax should II possible be
hose residing without the country
within II. \ heavy progressive
as upun % very larRe fortune ls Ia no
way such n tax upon thrift or indus
.ry as a Ike tax would be ON a small
No advantage comes either
20 the country as a whole or TO the IN
lividuals lnhcriting the money by per- 4
the transmission In their en- I
irpty OF the enormous fortunes Z
which would be affected by such a {
and az an Incident 10 It's func- {
ION Of fryenue raising. such q tax {
NNllU nflN 10 preserve a ilitNhAA bft q
quality Of opportunity for the people v
IT the generations growing To man q
rood we have not The slightest :
ympnthN with that sovialistic Idea y
which would Try to put %laNiness. a
hriftlessness and incnlciency on a h
,ar with Industry. thritt and effiei- a
which would strive to break up y
merely private property, but Via e.
+ far more important, the homes. the d
hicf prop on which our civilization II
lands. Such "A theory, " ever adopt a
Il. would mean the ruin uf the entire a
uuutrY-a ruin which would bear u
l%caviest upon the weakest. upon those &
able 10 shift FOR themselves ii
Sat proposals for legislation such AZ a
his herein advocated are directly op- s
'osed to this class Of socialistic the h
our aim ~ 10 recognize what a
lincoln pointed out The fact that e.
here are some respects In which men "
re obviously not equal. but also 20 =
INSIST that there should be an equality Il
& ~sclf-tespcct and mutual respect. a
u equality Of rights before the law, u
nd at least an approximate equality a
10 the conditions under which each "a
obtains the chance 20 show the ri
that is Ia him when compared n
p his fellows. N
Enforcement of the Law. y
a few years ago there was "a loud a
omplulnt that the law could NOT bee q
nfprccd against wealthy offenders. '
here D. no such complaint now. The I,
iuiF" of the department of Justice h
ufiug the last few wears has been al
ich a= to- make 10 evident that no D.
stands above the mw. that no eff
operation be- no wealthy that DO DHn ti
~ held Co % The depart I'D
uf Justice has brDn us prompt 10
b proceed against the Wcalihiost a
i~alrfurtuI whose crime was ono uf 90
and cunning as Geo proceed f
sniut The agitltur who iuDifrs Goo ru- a
10 violence. Everything that can boz o.
rur under the Existing Law Do with %
ir existing state uf public opinion. If
hich $50 profoundly Influences both b.
be- courts aud luries. has been dome. o.
zoe thr laws thcmsrlNps need Ii
rcugthsuiuE ln more than one inn Va
infant point, they should be- made u
.urc ennite so that uo honest man ai
in boz led un~wittinElY Co break them. pi
ld su thar the real wroudoer can De in
'adilN punished. INI
Moreover there must be- che public r|
Hiuinn back 9f thc laws pr the laws m
yourselves uul De- of bod avail At u|
resent while thC average jury man Hr
.iduuhfeIiH wishes Goo eer trusts d.
up Hud o. quite ready tu fine -t
BEL zee operation Itself. Hf Is NrfN Gee fl
rfHui % nnd fhr facts PROVEN bp- -h
Is reasonable doubt when U boz
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