The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1907-12-12

PRESIDENT THEO1
the income tax because one scheme for an
income tax was declared unconstitutional by
the supreme court; while In addition IL Is
a difficult tax to administer in its practi-
cal working, and great care would have TO
be exercised to see that IL not evaded
by the very men whom il was most desira-
BILE TO have taxed. for IL so evaded it would.
of course, be worse than tax at all ; as
the least desirable of all taxes Is the tax
which bears heavily upon the honest MS
compared with the dishonest man. New
ertheless. a graduated income tax of the
proper type would be desirable feature OF
federal taxation. and IL is to be hoped that
one may be devised which the supreme
court will declare constitutional. The in
heritance tax, however, Is both a far bet
ter method OF taxation. and far more i'm
portant for the purpose having or the io ~
their increase In size corresponding in
crease and burden OF taxation The gov
eminent has the absolute right to decide
rs TO the terms upon which 4 man shall re-
ceive bequest or devise from another,
and this point in the devolution of proper
ty is especially appropriate for the imposi-
tion of tax.
Endorsement of the Law.
A few years ago there was loud COM
plant that the law could not be invoked
against wealthy offenders. There Is no
such complaint now. The course of the de-
partment of justice during the last few
years has been such as 10 make IL evident
that man stands above the law, that
no corporation Is wealthy that 1t can
not be held TO account. The two great evils
in the execution of our criminal laws to-
day are sentimentality and technicality.
Both of these evils must be removed or
public discomfort with me criminal law
will continue.
Injunctions.
Instances OF abuse in the granting of in
functions In labor disputes continue 10 oc-
eur, and the resentment In the minds of
those who feel that their rights are being
invaded and their liberty of action and OF
speech unwarrantably restrained continues
likewise TO grow. Much OF the attack on
the use OF the process of Injunction Is who'll
ly without warrant: but / am constrained
to express the belief that for some of IL
there Is warrant. This question is becoming
more and more one OF prime Importance.
and unless the courts will themselves deal
with 1t in effective manner, IL Is certain
ultimately to demand some form of legis-
latiye action. | refrain from discussion of
this question as l am informed that Ii will
soon receive the consideration Of the SUI
preme court.
Employers Liability.
The national government should be n
model employer 1t should demand the
highest quality OF service from each of its
employees and it should care for all of them
properly in return. Congress should adopt
legislation providing limited but definite
compensation for accidents TO all workmen
within the scope OF the federal power, in
Guiding employees Of navy yards and
senals. In other words. model employ
ers' liability act. far-reaching and thor
oughgoing. should lie enacted which should
apply to all positions, public and private,
over which the national government has
Jurisdiction
Industrial Disputes.
Strikes and lockouts, with their attend
ant loss and suffering. continue to increase.
For the i've years ending December 81,
1905. the number OF strikes was greater
than those in any previous ten years and
was double the number in the preceding
five years. These figures indicate the in
creasing need Of providing some machinery
to deal with this class of disturbances In
the interest alike of the employer, the en-
ploye. and the general public. renew my
previous recommendation that the Con
gress favoraby consider the matter of ere
a ting the machinery for compulsory inves-
tigation of such Industrial controversies
are of sufficient magnitude and of sufficient
concern to the people Of the country as a
whole to warrant the federal government
in taking action.
Capital and Labor.
1t is certain that for some time to come
there will be a constant increase absolutely,
and perhaps relatively, of those among our
citizens who dwell in cities or towns of
some size and who work for wages. This
means that there will be an ever-increasing
uttu W tOuoiutt tuC piOOituo luotpdTdDlt
from u great industrial civilization. Where
IN immense and complex business, especial
ly In those branches relating to manufac-
ture and transportation, Is transacted by a
large number of capitalists who employ a
very much larger number of wage earners,
the former tend more and more to COM
bine into corporations and the latter into
unions. The relations of the capitalist and
wage-worker to one another, and of each to
the general public, are not always easy 10
adjust; and TO put them and keep them
"A satisfactory basis Is one of the most i'm
portant and one of the most delicate tasks
before our whole civilization. Ii is idle to
hold that without good laws evils such
child labor, as the oyer-working Of women,
as the failure TO protect employees from loss
Of life or limb. can be effectively reached.
any more than the evils of rebates and
stock watering can be reached without good
laws. To fail to stop these practices by
legislation means to force honest men into
them, because otherwise the dishonest who
surely will take advantage of them will
have everything their own way. III the
States will correct these evils, well and
good but the nation must stand ready to
aid them.
No question growing out of our rapid and
complex Industrial development - uore ims
pOrtant than that of the en- loyI 'ent of
women and children. The preset. f wom-
en- i'm industry reacts with extreme direct
ness upon the character of the home and
upon family life. and the conditions sur
rounding the employment of children bear
Farmers and Wage Workers.
The two citizens whose welfare is in the
aggregate most vital to the welfare of the
nation, and therefore to the welfare of all
other citizens. are the wage-worker who
does manual labor and the tiller of the soil
the farmer. The calling of the skilled
tiller of the SOIL the calling of the skilled
mechanic, should alike be recognized as pro
fessons, just emphatically as the call
ings of lawyer, doctor. merchant, or clerk
The schools should recognize this fact and
IL should equally be recognized i'm popular
opinion 1t should be one of our prime
objects to put both the farmer and the me
chanic higher plane of efficiency and
reward, so as to increase their effectiveness
in the economic world. and therefore the
dignity, the remuneration, and the power
OF their positions in the social world
No growth of cities, no growth of wealth.
can make up for any loss in either the
number the character of the farming
population. We of the United States should
realize this above almost all other peoples
We began our existence as a nation of
farmers, and in every great Crisis of the
past a peculiar dependence has lad to be
placed upon the farT lg population and
this dependence has hi herto been justified
But II can not be justified in the future If