The news=record. [volume] (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon) 1907-1910, 1909-06-23
ADVICE TO CONGRESS
Taft FaVOfS Corporation Tax and
Income Tax.
AMENDMENT TO CONSTITUTION
Urges Senate to Adopt Provision as
House Has Already Done
in Tariff Bill.

Washington, June II. = President
Taft yesterday sent the following mes
sage to congress:
ITO the Senate and House of Repre-
senatives-Iti is the constitutional duty
of the president, from time to time, to
present to the consideration of congress
such measures as he shall judge neces-
sary and expedient.
"In my inaugural address, immedi-
ately preceding this present extraordi-
nary session of congress, l invited at
tention to the necessity for revision
of the tariff at this session, and stated
the principles upon which l thought
the revision should be effected. I re-
ferred to the then rapidly increasing
deficit, and pointed out the obligation
on the part of the trainers of the tariff
bill to arrange duties so as to secure an
adequate income, and suggested that if
it was not possible to do so by import
duties, new kinds of taxation must be
adopted, and among them l recommend
ed graduated inheritance tax as cor
rect in principle and as certain and
easy of collection.
"rhe house of representatives has
adopted the suggestion and has pro-
vided in the bill it passed for the col
lection of such tax. In the senate,
the action of its finance committee
and the course of the debate indicate
that it may not agree to this provision,
and it is now proposed to make up the
deficit by the imposition of a general
income tax, in form and substance al
most exactly the same character as that
which, in the case of Pollock vs.. Farm
ers' Loan & Trust company, 157 U. S.
429, was held by the Supreme court to
be direct tax, and therefore not with
in the power of the Federal govern
ment to impose unless apportioned
among the states according to popu-
lation.
"This new proposal, which | did not
discuss in my inaugural address or my
message at the opening of the present
session, makes it appropriate for me to
submit to congress certain additional
recommendations.
"The decision of the Supreme court
in the income tax cases deprives the
national government of power which,
by reason of previous decisions of the
court, it was generally supposed the
government had. 1t is undoubtedly a
power the national government ought
to have. 1t might be indispensable to
the nations life in great crises.
Although l have not considered a
constitutional amendment as necessary
to the exercise of certain phases of
this power, mature consideration has
satisfied me that an amendment is the
only proper course for its establishment
to its full extent. l therefore recon-
mend to the congress that both houses,
by two-thirds vote, shall propose an
amendment to the constitution confer
ring the power to levy an income tax
upon the national government without
apportionment among the states in pro-
portion to population.
This course is much to be preferred
to the one proposed, of re-enacting a
law once judicially declared to be un-
constitutional. For congress to assume
that the court will reverse itself and to
enact legislation on such assumption
will not strengthen popular confidence
in the stability of the judicial construc-
tion of the constitution. 1t is much
wiser policy to accept the constitution
and remedy the defect in due and regu-
lar course.
Again, it is clear that by the enact
ment of the proposed law, the congress
will not be bringing money into the
treasury to meet the present deficiency,
but by putting on the statute book
law already there and never repealed
will simply be suggesting to the execu-
tive officers of the government their
possible duty to invoke litigation.
If the court should maintain its
former view, no tax would be collected
at all. If it should ultimately reverse
itself, still no taxes would have been
collected until after protracted delay.
ut is said the difficulty and delay
in securing the approval of fthree-fourths
of the states will destroy all chance of
the amendment. Of course.