Arizona republican., 1907-12-04

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 need of immediate attention to this matter We need greater elasticity in our currency; provided. of course. that we recognize the even greater need of a safe and secure currency. There must always be the most rigid examination by the National authori- ties. Provision should be made for an emergency currency. The emergency issue should, of course, be made with an effective guaranty, and upon con ditions carefully prescribed by the Government Such emergency issue must be based on adequate securities approved by the Government. and must be issued under heavy tax. This would permit currency being issued when the demand for it was urgent, while securing it's retirement as the demand fell off. IL Is worth investi- gating to determine whether officers and directors of national banks should ever be allowed to loan to themselves. Trust companies should be subject to the same supervision as banks: legis- lation to this effect should be enacted for the District of Columbia and the Territories.
 Yet we must also remember that even the wisest legislation on the sub feet can only accomplish certain amount No legislation can by any possibility guarantee the business com munity against the results of specu- lative folly any more than it can guarantee an individual against the results of his extravaganza. When an individual mortgages his house to Btsy an automobile he invites disaster; and when wealthy men, or men who pose as such. or are unscrupulously or fool ishly eager to become sucf. indulge in reckless culation-especially if 1t is accompanied by dishonesty - they jeopardize not only their own future but the future Of all their innocent fellow citizens. for they expose the whole business communitv t0 panic and distress.
 The Revenue.
 "The income account of the Nation is in most satisfactory condition. For the six fiscal years ending with the lst of July last. the total expendi- lures and revenues of the National Government. exclusive of the postal revenues and expenditures. were. in rc und numbers. revenues. s3.465 .000. 900. and expenditures. S3,275,0O0.000. The net excess of income over expenditures. including in the latter the fifty mil- lions expended for the Panama Canal. was one hundred and ninety million dollars for the six years. an average of about thirty-one millions a year This represents an approximation between income and outgo which it would be hard to improve. The satisfactory orking of the present tariff law has been chiefly responsible for this ex- cellent showing. Nevertheless. there is an evident and constantly growing feel ing among our people that the time is rapidly approaching when our system .of revenue legislation must be revised. Not Yet But Soon.
 This country is definitel.' commit ted to the protective system and any effort to uproot it could not but cause widespread industrial disaster. In oth- eI words, the principle of the present tariff law could not with wisdom be changed. But in a country of such phenomenal growth as ours 1t is prob- ably we'll that every dozen years or so the tariff laws should be carefully scrutiniZed so as to see that no eX- cessive or improper benefits are con- ferred thereby. that proper revenue is provided. and that our foreign trade is encouraged. There must always be as minimum a tariff which will not only allow for the collection of an am pie revenue but which will at least make good the difference in cost of production here and abroad: that is, the difference in the labor cost here and abroad. for the we'll being of the wage-worker must ever be a cardinal point of American policy. The ques- tion should he approached purely from business standpoint: both the time and the manner of the change being such as to arouse the minimum of agi- tation and disturbance in the business world. and to give the least play for selfish and factional motives The sole consideration should be to see that the sum total O. changes represents the public good. This means that the sub ject can, not with wisdom be dealt with in the year preceding a Presidential election, because as a 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.
 The Income 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 Federal tax ation. speak diffidently about the income tax because one scheme for an income tax was declared unconstitu- tional by the Supreme Court; while in addition t is . difficult tax to ad- minister 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 to have taxed: for if so evaded it 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. a grad uated income tax of the proper type would be a desirable feature of Fed eral taxation, and it is to be hoped that one may be devised which the Supreme Court will declare constitu- tional The inheritance tax. however. is both far better method of taxa