Norwich bulletin., 1910-12-07

the Q1VIElOn or lcauS dnO Cuf1cuSy- Plans for the elimination of the dupH- cation in these offices will be presented to congress.
 The office of the comptroller of the currency is one most important in the preservation of proper banking meth eds in the national banking system of the United States. and the present comptroller has impressed his subordi- mates with the necessity of so conduct ing their Investigations as to establish the principle that every bank failure is unnecessary because proper inspection and notice of threatening conditions to the responsible directors and officers can prevent it.
 Public Buildings.
 In our public buildings we still sui fer from the method of appropriation which has been so much criticised in connection with our rivers and har- bors Some method should be devised for controlling the supply of public buildings so that they will harmoaize with the actual needs of the govern ment. Not only are buildings appropri- ated for by congress which are not needed and buildings left unappropri- ated for by congress which are needed, but when it comes to the actual con- struction there has been in the past too little study of the building plans and sites with view to the actual needs of the government.
 Postof1ce buildings which are in eff feet warehouses for the economical handling of transportation of thou sands of tons of mail have been made monumental structures and often To- cated far from the convenient and eco nonicaI spot In the actual construc tfon of the buildings q closer scrutiny of the methods employed by the gov arnnent architects or by architects enn- ployed by the government has result ed in decided economies.
 It is hoped that more time will give opportunity for a more thorough reor ganization. The last public building bill carried authorization for the ulti- mate expenditure of S33, oil ,500 and approved it because of the many good features it contained, just as I ap- proved the river and harbor bill, but 1t was drawn upon principle that ought to be abandoned. It seems to me that the wiser method of prepar- Ing public building bill would be the preparation of report by a conmis- sion of government experts whose duty it should be to report to con gress the governments needs in the way of the construction of public buildings in every part of the coun- try, just as the army engineers make report with reference to the utility Of proposed improvements in rivers and harbors, with the added function which l have recommended for the army engineers of including in their tance of the various projects found to be worthy of approval and execution.
 Revenues.
 As the treasury department is the one through which the income of the government is collected and it's ex- penditures are disbursed, this seems proper place to consider the operation of the existing tariff bill, which be- came a law Aug. 6, 1909. As an in come producing measure the existing tariff bill has never been exceeded by any customs bill in the history Of the country.
 The corporation excise tax, propor- toned to the net income of every busi- ness corporation in tue country, has worked well. The tax has been easily collected. It's prompt payment indi- &,--. 4Ez, not been heavy. It offers. moreover. an opportunity for knowledge by the government of the general condition and business of all corpora tions, and that means by far the most important part of the business of the country. In the original act provision was made for the publication of returns
 This provision was subsequently amended by congress and the matter left to the regulation of the president have directed the issue of the needed regulations and have made it possible for the public generally TO know from an examination of the record the re- turns of all corporations the stock of which is listed on any public stock exchange or is offered for sale to the
 
 general public by advertisement OF otherwise
 The returns of those corporations whose stock is not so listed or offered for sale are directed to be open to the inspection and examination Of cred itors and stockholders of the corpora tlon whose record is sought. The re- turns of all corporations are subject to the inspection of any government off, cer or to the examination of any court in which the return made by the cor poration is relevant and competent evil dence.
 The Payne Tariff Act,
 The schedules of the rates of duty in the Payne tariff act have been sub jecfed to great deal of criticism, some of it just, more Of 1t unfounded, and to much misrepresentation The act was adopted ill pursuance of a declaration by the party which is responsible for it that customs bill should be tariff for the protection of home industries, the measure Of the protection to be the difference between the cost of produc- ing the imported article abroad and the cost of producing it at home, together with such addition 10 that difference ixRFrT 1b,r