Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1908-05-06

honestly and legit,mately. while on
the other hand certain fortunes have
been acquired dishonesty and unscru-
pulously However in spite of this
fact it has always heen the policy of
the American nation to conserve and
encourage the ambition of everyone of
her citizens TO secure a. much wealth
as they can. provided they use legiti-
mate means And the greatness of
orr country has been brought about
by these honest accumulations of wealth.
We are primarily an industrial nation,
and great industries require great ag-
gregations of wealth. What has great
wealth accomplished for this landg II
has developed the iron and copper
mines of Minnesota and Michigan; ;
enlarged the cotton trade of the South:
spanned the continent with gigantic
railroads: in word has made the east
and west, the north and the south hum
with the sound of busy manufacture
ing In the face of these circum-
stances would the gentlemen who are
unfolding the affirmative say that
great wealth honestly acquired has not
been benefit of the United Statesg
While for the most part fortunes
have been honestly acquired vet GER
taf nd ftfc 10
tions OF wealth have sprung up They
have become menace to us We
must eradicate them and certain well
meaning critics bring forward Fed
raj Progressive Inheritance. tax as
panacea to cure this national ILL., But
is this the remedvg We of the mega
tive emnhatically assert that il is not.
We submit. honorable judges, that
natural diffusion of wealth has proven
satisfactory in the past and we trust
it vii prove satisfactory in the future.
/ may illustrate MY meaning. In
1877 Commodore Vanderbilt oied leav-
ing a fortune OF $500, 600. 600 This is
the first generation In 1855 his son.
Mr. William II. Vanderbilt. died leav-
ing a fortune of S1GO. 600, 0OO This is
the second generation. And today in
the third and fourth generation there
is not one of their descendants who
has a fortune of over thirty or forty
millions. This. honorable Judges, is
by natural diffusion But ii may be
alleged that even at this very day
there is too great concentration of
wealth in a few hands. Let us exam
inc the facts and see if this allega-
ton is true. We find that the wealth
of Mr.. Rockefeller, Mr.. Hartman,
Mr.. Rogers. Mr. Hill and of many
other multi-millionaires is in the
hands of the first generation. When
these gentlemen and many others die
their wealth will he greatly and man
ifestly distributed and diffused when
1t passes on &C their wives and chill
dren.
But let us now for the sake of argu-
ment suppose we should have "A rem
edy for swollen fortunes. The ques-
tion then arises. is Federal Pro-
gressive Inherit Tax the remedy
and is it calculated to correct this
evil? Ii manifestly is not because il
the effect rather than the case.
10 promote reform we must al !
ways attack the cause. and then the |
effect will take care of itself. What
does To is.proposition amount TOT You
might as well say to man: "You
NAV kill all the people you wish to
kill, and we won't punish you until af-
ter you have slain your victimsl" You
might just as well tell people: ''You
NAV steal anything you desire. and we
won't punish you until after you are
dead, and then we will exact tell
from your ill-gotten gains in order to
further distribute the national wealth. "
That is the proposition of the swol-
tax advocate in its very
essence. And with these facts in mind
the Affirmative must feel that our ex-
ecutive, legislative and judicial de-
partment have become exceedingly im-
potent when they must permit and
suffer stealing and not punish the
criminals until they are dead Strike
at the root of the matter or strike not
at ALL Furthermore we submit that
a swollen fortune tax would be neither
fair. Just. nor equitable. would
have the most pernicious fault of
the good fortune ana the bad
fortunes at the same time. We con-
tend, honorable judges. that taxation
ought always to conserve wealth rather
than destroy IT, II wealth Is become q