The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-09-01

organizations for a single session of the Fifty-frst Congress. The increase over the year before was ninety million dol lara. showing a growth in expenditure far in excess of the growth of the population.
 gance manifests itself in nearly all de- partments. 1t Is especially noticeable In the army department and the navy department. The army is more than twice as large as in 1ss6 and the ap- propriations for the army more than three times as great as they were eleven years ago.
 "The expenses of the navy are also about three times what they were q decade ago. The increase in the ap- propriations for the army and navy alone are si2o.ooo.o0o a year in excess of what they were in 1897. The im- perialistc policy. for which the Re- publican party is responsible, is the only cause for this enormous and in- creasing drain upon the tax payers.
 "Our platform also calls attention to the fact that 5000 new offices have been created at an expense of s70.0oo.- 900 q year. as against an increase of 10000 offices with salaries amounting to ts.0oe.00o in the Cleveland and Me- Kinley Administrations.
 Bears on Farmers.
 While every element of our popu- lation suffers to a greater or less ex- tent because of the unnecessary ex- penditures of the government the farmers have special reason for conn plaint, because they pay more than their share of the benefits which flow from the expenditure of the corpora tion.
 Nearly all of our Federal revenues excepting postal receipts are collected from internal revenue taxes and im- port duties and these are taxes upon consumption. Taxes upon consumption always overburden those of moderate means and under burden the rich. | If the Federal taxes could be separ- ated from the prices of the article in which they are concealed and each persons per capita tax be shown 1t | would be found that the Federal tax | now collected would be. in effect. a | graduated income tax, the largest per cent being collected from the small | incomes and the least per cent upon | the large incomes. And to aggravate | the case still more the appropriations | which unfairly oppress the farmers are spent in cities. so that the farmer | enjoys few indirect benefits from the l appropriations and scarcely any direct l benefits.
 "why Is it that the Republican par | ty is so much more extravagant than | the Democratic party in the expendf-
 tnres of public noney7 There are two l reasons:
 "First Because Republican leaders are more intimately associated with | the tax eaters than with the tax pay CTS. They hear the hungry clamor of the men who spend more than they do the protests of the masses who contribute revenues. But there is Q second reason. The Republican lead CTS have taught the doctrine that tax ation is an unaIloyed good. They have
 tried to cultivate public opinion tt
 support the idea that tarif taxes or the theory that even when not needed for revenue are a direct advantage to the protected interests and an fn-
 direct advantage to the whole coun- try.
 ..It is not strange that people whs
 consider taxation blessing would b'
 inclined to make the blessing as large
 as possible.
 'The Democratic party is in position to bring reforms in the matter of ex- penditures. It believes that a tax is defensible only whene necessary and that it should be reduced to the low
 est limits consistent with good gov ernment. Our party is pledged to re- | duction in appropriations and to econ | omy in every department of govern ment and our position ought to ap- peal with special force to those of our population who are engaged in agri-
 culture"