The Washington herald., 1909-06-17

on the BaiIey-Cummins amendment 10
! impose a tax on individual incomes with
out waiting constitutional amendati0n.
| agreement 10 vote with the Democrats
Democratic Programme To-day
Just what the Democratic programme
VIII be when the income tax proposition
comes before the Senate on Friday VIII
not be determined until this afternoon.
when the Democratic Senators wiz have
caucus
| II IS apparent however. that Mr.. Eaft's
| arguments IN favor OF amending the Con-
stitution 70 permit the imposition Of an
income tax and for the enactment Of a
statute imposing a . per cent tax on the
! net incomes Of corporations have obtained
/ 50 much weight on the minority side OF
! the Senate that some Of the Democratic,
Senator's may vote for the two PROPOSE
/ tons involved.
/ The Republican insurgents were even
more disconnected than the Democrats by
the propositions which NJ Taft advO-
Gated IN his message. BY voting against
! the programme. which he suggested. they
viii place themselves IN the position OF
i opposing the Federal administration
/ some Of them had a conference last
night 10 determine what their course
/ should be- That al OF them VIII vote
Cor the ioint resolution % enable TIE
/ States 20 amend the Constitution appears
10 be a fO-egone conclusion, but those
/ among them who are irrevOcably COM
mitted % the imposition OF an income tax
at once are seeking ways and means by
which they may be able 10 vote on the
Bailey Cuumins amendment without
seeming 10 oppose 0lr- Taft
| They maintain that there would be
nothing inconsistent IN voting for this
! amendment and. at the same time, voting
| for the joint resolution 10 provide method
OF making such tax constitutional
Insurgents Gather.
Six Republican insurgents were present
at last nights conference. They were Sen
ators Borah. .Bristow. Brown. Clapp. Cum
Minis and La Toilette The other thir-
teen alleged income takers whom Mr
CumTnins had on his list OF those insur-
gents expected 10 vote for the Bailey
Cummins amendment. found Il more ex-
pedient 10 their taste 20 be elsewhere
As a result Of the conference the SIX
/ Republican income takers reached an
agreement the details Of which are set
!
BY them when they adjourned
The friends OF the income tax
feel II a duty 20 continue 10 put forth
every effort 20 secure the adop-
ton Of the measure They Will
therefore. urge ire adoption OF the
amendment They also stand ready
TO support q resolution providing for
an amendment 20 the Constitution o.
the United States While they be
heve that the Supreme Court viii
sustain the law, vet 10 provide against
any possible contingency that might
result from an adverse decision they
gladly favor the proposition 20 amend
the Constitution
They DO not feel satisfied with
simply a corporation tax A TAX upon
the net incomes Of corporations alone
/ VIII very iruperfectly reach the de
sired result II viii tax tens OF thou
SANDS OF stockholders whose total IN
comes are small. and VIII exempt IN
; large measure the immense personal
incomes Of the country The provision
, they favor treats large incomes ex-
actlv alike whether received by cor
poratIons or individuals. and whether
arising from interest dividends, IL
heritances. or otherwise
The plan which they propose simply
l carries the EreSlleIL $ view 10 L-lelI
, legitimate end. and is as cOnsonant
with the decision Of the Supreme
Court as Is the tax on corporate .n-
: comes alone. There is no reason for
exemDting from this tax the vast in
, comes OF individuals. ike Carnegie,
, Rockefeller. and others. a large part
OF whose fortunes do not consist Of
corporation stocks.
, 1T is also well known that cOrpO-
, rations especially the larger ones,
can IN most instances shift the bur
den OF the tax TO the public BY i'm
posing upon the people increased
charges and prices.
Publicity Feature
"As 10 the publicity feature. there
is no substantial difference between
; the two measures. The other meas
ure referred 10 is the Bailey-Cum-
mins amendment. which provides for
T per cent tax on corporations,
partnerships. &c
= In other words there is the same
necessity for securing information and
insuring publicity N the income tax
! as IN the corporation tax Every pos