The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1909-05-17
SOARING THE SUBSTANCE OUT
OF THE PEOPLE.

that pats them on their backs and
pretends that they are relieved of.
|thsK moaI l6rithJr avh gopd .Sud
ending with the twisters which go
after their eyeteeth. The taxpayers
themselves, in efforts to Guido each
other in making regulations as re-
formers or public Benefactors, not
linfrequently work readily into the
hands or the class that are lying in
wait for soft plstes to be- maintain
led by public contributions. The
contributions are coaxed out S. of
some. tricked out of others, twisted
cut eIsyothers, pulled eutaof others
and scared out of the rest.
rormerly taxes were~-1aken from
foreigners or from the unpopular
classes only; but smart men IN
search of revenue, have multiplied
continually and have sought out
many inventions. While in most To-
cal instances the unpopular minority
must pay twice or thrice over while
the favored majority are required to
pay only once this favored major
ity are now SO shrewdly handled
that their poketbooks are also touch
ed both directly and indirectly. New
schemes and methods of taxation are,
being devised every day, yet, while
these additions are being made, no
man can point to any schemes or
plans of getting revenue that are
being discarded.
OF all the shrewd tricks by which
the pockets of the people can be
Preached and rifled, the scare is by
odds the most effective. Even the
cause of education itself is not equal
! in its demands to the well timed and
| shrewdly worked war scare when 1t
| comes to getting money from the
people Even in time of peace ~ AsA
no additions are needed, it is no dim
cult matter to repeat few of the
old time warlike orations and put
/ on the wind few carefully contrlN-
ed. rlmops. of war, and thus shake
down even. a highly enlts5lf enad peo-
| pie.
| There were presented at the peace
congress in Chicago some statistics
that prove conclusively all that has
| been alleged above touching the
abiding power of the eld-time war
scare as revenue raiser. In 1873
lGreat Britain spent on her navy
iS124.000.0 900; Germany spent S29,-
| 600 .000 and the United States spent
$50, 900 900. Last year Great Britain
! spent S170,000,000; Germany, $685.
100000, and the United States,
Sl04,000,000 The increase in pre-
| cisely the ten years when there
should have been decreases was
enormous. Our own army expenses
last year We're as great as our navy
expenses Our navy expenses this
year will be S30,000,000 greater
then last year, We are today paying
! in expenses of past wars and prepar-
atoms for possible wars 60 per cent,
practically two-thirds, of our total
national revenue, leaving barely one
third available for all constructive
purposes This is the language of
one of the speakers.
In speech in the house. Congress
man Tawney said that by far the
greater part of our national expendi-
lures is for the military side of our
government on account of wars that
have occurred or in preparing for
wars that may come. Mr., Tawney
cited these bills passed at the last
session:
Army ....s101,197,470.34
Fortifications ... S,170,111.00
Military academy 2,531,521.33
Navy . 1876, 5,199.05
Pensions .. ! 60, sos, 10000
But various other regular supply
bills carry items chargeable to mil
itary expenditure or TO pay sinking
fund and interest on account Of our
civil war debt, and Mr.. Tawney fig
ured that all these sums. added to
the amounts appropriated by the big
supply bills mentioned, total S525,-
742,30l for the session, or about
half of the whole apparent sum OF
appropriations for the session, ST.
4,O1+,29S.
The growth of appropriations for
military purposes, not counting
sums spent on pensions, fertilization
and other incidents of war, for the
eight year period prior to the Span
ish war contrasted with the eight
year period ending with the fiscal
year 1910, affords startling exhib-
it:
ARMY APPROPRIATIONS.
1S91-1S9S.
1881 .....$ 24,206, 471.19