Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1907-12-06

sum total OF changes represents the
public good. lis means that the sub
iect cannot wi / wisdom be dealt with
i'll the year seeding presidential
election, becatse, IS matter of fact.
experience has conelusiveIy shown
that at such time it is impossible to
get men to t-cat 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 federal taxa
ton. speak dimdently about the in
come tax because one scheme for an in
come tax was declared unconstitution-
al by the supreme court, while In addi-
ton 1t Is difficult tax to administer
In its practical working, and great
care would have to be exercised to see
that 1t 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 graduated in
come tax Of the proper type would he
desirable feature of federal taxation.
and it is to he ho1ed that one may lie
devised which the supreme court viii
declare COZ ~tit'ltionai. The inheritance
tax, ho|c>cr. is both a far better
method ri t!.,at!nn and far more i'm
portant for ;he purpose Of having the
fortunes Of The country bear in 1vo
portion to l's.'ir Increase in size Co.
responding lacrosse and burden Of tax.
alton. The government has the ALSO
lutte right t. decide as to the terms
upon which a man shall receive be
quest or devise from another. and this
point i'll the devolution Of property is
especially appropriate for the imposi-
ton OF Il tax. Laws imposing such
taxes have repeatedly been placed
upon the a;lonal statute books and as
repeatedly declared constitutional by
the courts. and these laws contained
the progressive prfnciple--that is, after
certain amount is reached the be
quest or gift, in life or death. is in
creasingly burdened and the rate of
taxation Is increased in proportion to
the remoteness of blood of the man re-
ceiy1ng the beQuest. These principles
civilized nations Of the world. In Great
Britain all the estates worth $4,000 or
less are practically exempt from death
duties, while the increase is such that
when an estate exceeds 100000 in
value and passes to a distant kinsman
or stranger in blood the government
receives all told an amount equivalent
to nearly fifth Of the whole estate
In France so much Of an inheritance
as exceeds s1O,O0o.OOo pays over a
fifth to the state if it passes to dis
tant relative. The German law is es-
I~NAoAAt AAAeSASolAAiS ~ uS bCSodhoS ~
makes the Inheritance tax an impe-
rial measure. while allotting to the
individual states Of the empire q Dor
ton Of the proceeds and permitting
them to impose taxes in addition f.,
those imposed by the imperial go,er:.
ment. Small inheritances are exempt
but the tax Is SO sharply progressive
that when the inheritance Is still not
very large, provided it is not an agri-
cultural or forest land. it is taxed at
the rate of % per cent If it goes to dis
tant relatives.
There is no reason why In the Unit
ed States the national government
should not impose inheritance taxes in
addition to those imposed by the
states. and when we last had an inner
itance tax about one-half Of the states
levied such taxes concurrently with
the national government, making i
com bined maximum rate in some cases
as high as % per cent. The French
law has one feature which is to be
heartily commended The progressive
principle is SO applied that each high
er rate is imposed only on the excess
above the amount subject to the next
, lower rate, SO that each increase of
rate will apply only to certain
amount above a certain maximum.
The tax should If possible be made to
bear more heavily upon those residing
! without the country than within it. a
heavy progressive tax upon a very
large fortune is In no way such a tar
upon thrift or industry as a like tax
would be on small fortune No adj
vantage comes either to the country as
| a whole or to the individuals inherfting
the money by permitting the transmits
sion in their entirety of the enormous
fortunes which would be affected. By
sucl, tax, and as an incident TO its
func ion of revenue raising such tax
would help to preserve a meas rable
equality of opportunity for the people
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