The National tribune., 1910-11-03
THE COST TO THE PEOPLE.

The Worlds Work and those who are
taking their cue from it are harping
on the assertions that pensions cost So
a wear each to every man, woman and
child in the United States If this were
true. it would still be no argument
against the pension system, because
every man, woman and child in the
United States is receiving incomparably
more benefit from what the pensioners
did and sacrificed than would be rep
resented by so paltry sum as 81
year; but the figure is exaggerated and
misstated. Two dollars year for every
man. woman and child in the United
States would amount to more than
$3.50, ,0O0,0 900 a year. whereas the PEN
sion expenditure is but 1000, 900
annually, or $25,0G0,0O0 a year less
than what the Worlds Work says. OF
course $25,OO0,OOO a year is not much
of an exaggeration for the Worlds
Work, but it win show something of
the recklessness of the statement.
The next consideration, and one
"
the attention of the people, is that the
pension expenditure is in no sense a
taxation upon the people. Pensions are
paid out of a general fund, no item
of which is imposed for the purpose of
taxation. The revenues of the United
States are derived mainly from two
sources. First, import duties on arti-
60,
ture which are taxed in order to pro-
tect American farmers and mechanics.
The other source is internal revenue
tax, imposed for the sake of regulating
the manufacture and sale of whisky,
beer, tobacco and oIeomargarine. All
of these duties are primarily imposed
for other purposes than that of raising
revenue. No one has advocated them
as tax, and they are not considered
as such. Every item in our revenue
laws has been enacted for other pur-
poses than taxation, and the strong de-
mand for its enactment has come from
other interests than those which wish to
produce a revenue. For example, the
tax on oleomargarine was placed there
in obedience to the insistent and deter
mined demand of the dairymen of the
country for the protection of their
products against imitation butter and
cheese. The tax on whisky was mainly
the work of temperance people, who
see in it the most effective way of regu-
lating and repressing the sale of alco-
holic liquors. The tariff schedule is
made up of features looking for the
development and production of Ameri-
can farms and manufactures, a deter
mination to provide adequate employ
ment for our people, and to prevent
them being reduced to the beggarly
standard of the wage earners in Eu-
rope. So we can go thru the entire bill
and point out every item being placed
there from such Interior reasons as this
The advocates of the tariff and the
internal revenue schedules are indiffer-
ent as to what becomes of the money
after it has been collected by the Gov
ernment. They are willing to see it
used for good National purpose, and
there is no better National purpose than
the payment of pensions to the men
who saved the Nation and made pos
sible the present wealth and prosperity
of the country. The only dissension is
this money put in the Treas
ury for general purposes shall be used
for pensions or given to the hungry
promoters of other schemes. 1t is from
these hungry promoters and expected
beneficiaries of these schemes that the
strongest opposition to pensions comes.
The men who want millions of dollars
for reclamation schemes, for improv-
ing rivers and streams upon which no
commerce floats, for substituting the
merchant marine, and for building un-
needed Government buildings to boom
land speculations, are all opposed to
any money going out to the pension
ers which will diminish their chance
of grab from the Treasury. This is
the truth as compactIy as it can be
expressed. There would be Just the
same tax" upon the people if there
was not pensioner in existence and
the Pension Bureau was as obsolete as
the Egyptian pyramids.