The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1909-07-01
N OCRATS
We Cannot Build Up a Strong
Republican Party by Taunt-
ing New Recruits.
CURSE OF MACHINE POLITICS

IL the Machine Doesn't Want New
Recruits to Come Into the Party,
Then the Maclz1ne should BE
Smashed and New Leaders Put at
the Helm-New Scheme to Levy
a Tax Of Two Per Gent Meeting
With Opposition-Democ In
Hot Water.
Especial to The Caucasian.)
Washington, D. c., June 29, 1909.
The new scheme to levy tax of 2
per cent on the net earnings of cor
porations has met with protests from
one end Of the country to the other.
The scheme is not only a new and
untried one, but the general impress
sion is that 1t will work great hard
ship on the corporations that are do
ing an honest business and not at
tempting to evade the law, and be-
sides, that it will at least be most
inequitable III it's operations.
1t seems that the only way that
there would be any chance for such
scheme to bear evenly on all cor
porations would be for the govern
ment to establish a uniform system
of bookkeeping for all corporations,
and to see that they did not pay too
much of their net earnings in salaries
or for other purposes so as to evade
the tax, and to also see that all cor
porations should have the same rela-
tive amount of bonds and stocks, be-
cause under this scheme the bond
holders would not be taxed at all.
= The general sentiment of the coun-
try, as reflected through the letters
being received here by Congressman
and Senators, as we'll as by the press,
is that Congress should first do what
it promised the country it would do,
that Is, revise the tariff downward
and see If a larger amount of reve-
nue. could not thereby be raised, in
asmuch as many of the duties now
imposed are prohibitive, and besides
that such revision would carry out
another promise made to the people,
and that is, it would reduce the cost
of living, but that instead of reduc-
ing the present rates downward and
thus raise sufficient revenue for the
government by lowering the tax bur-
dens from the tariff, that a new
scheme is Matched up to raise reve-
nue. which the tariff bill will fail to
raise, and a tax will bear most un-
justly on the smaller corporations.
Democrats in Hot Water.
The Democratic Congressman and
Senators who have been joining with
the high protectionists in not only
voting for the highest protective du-
ties offered, but at the same time
squarely violating their party plat
form and pledges, are receiving crit
fcisms and protests of no mild nature
from every quarter.
Some of them have felt the sting
OF criticism so keenly that they have
been forced to rise to their feet and
attempt to defend or explain or
apologize for their courses on the
floor of Congress. OF course, the
only explanation which they can
make is that their platform was
wrong or else that it was their duty
to look out for their local interests,
even If they had to violate their
platform. OF course. some of them
have tried to explain that they voted
for high protective rates simply as a
revenue duty, and that high protec-
tive duty thus labeled as a revenue
duty would be within the lines of the
Democratic faith, etc.
A number of the leading newspa-
pers of the country are constantly
charging that Mr.. Aldrich, the tariff
leader in the Senate, has captured a
number of the Democrats horse, foot
gone so far as to say that he has in
his bag number of them who have
not yet voted with him but whose
vote he can get whenever he calls for
it. One leading paper says that some
of the Democrats tried to explain that
they are helping the Republicans be-
cause they want to have bipartisan
tariff law, but that it looks to that
paper more as If it were a buy par
tisan tariff matter. Just whether
that paper means 1t or not remains
to be seen.