Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1910-06-03
Vital Washington News.
BY TAvENNER,
Special Correspondent of The Sentinel

-
! Washington, d. c., MAY 80, 1910.
M,
Uhe hundred ana 'hrty-'hree ni'iiois OF
uolraIs
Try 10 conhpiehehu uie nlashituue .,
tlas sum II you can, anu .heh pause ana
. 81 over tlie Iact 'iiat II Is the amount
.lie ocnate mas Vo'eu W spenu oii lne navy
~ s'"sle year, ~ u!he VI p,olouIu
pea'e , tnen vohsluer ,hat ohly - years
aso' a IN 1929 0S9 .ne naVaI approprlatlon was
i pu. @oo,ovo'1o4, vi one huhureu rhllIiohs
iess 'llaI .l,e alhou az appropriated ior the
yea enui.ls oune %, ioii.
aae. ~ eViieoIn VIII .',is awful ~ ~ M
WHICH ','e 40 nnn - ma.
eV1ly PENNY Vi lllls @ioo'Vuo,ooo Which Is
in 1898 comes from the people not from
| the rich, but largely from working men and
women.
1t is the ultimate consumer who pays
the battleship bills, who maintains an ever
increasing army of ofiiceholders in Wash
ington, and who meets the one-hundred-
and-one extravagances of the government.
He does 1t by paying excessive prices for
the things he buys.
The government raises practically all of
its funds through the customs houses and
the internal revenue offices, where taxes
are levied on things that are eaten. worn
or used by the people. When the consumer
purchases a protected article and practi-
| cally all of the necessaries of life are pro-
tected-he pays the real or natural value
of the article and in addition thereto the
amount Of the tariff tax.
The more battleships constructed the
greater the amount the government must
raise through the tax on consumption, and
the greater the cost of living.
Thus it is not so strange that under the
Taft administration, which is spending
more than twice the amount used by Cleve-
I;,,;na IL en- my 81, a.nn,n. . ,h 0o'u y.
tho ciavojo,d Neutrality-suspicious., '''' "N''
While the hat, coat and shirt of the
masses are taxed almost II per cent to
build Sl1 100000 battleships and keep an
extravagant government in spending mon
ey. Messrs. Morgan, Rockefeller and Car
negie are not asked by the federal govern
ment to pay any tax whatever on their
swollen fortunes.
Wealth escapes bearing its Just share of
the burden of taxation because Of the
| absence of a federal income or inheritance
tax, such as were long ago adopted by
Great Britain, Germany, France, Japan,
Holland, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland
Australia and New Zealand.
A majority of both Houses of Congress
were in favor of lacking an incOme-tax
clause to the new tariff law Such legisla-
ton would now be upon the statute books
had not President Taft and Senator Aldrich
defeated the project through the substitu-
sarv ,hree, fa"r,hs Of a." S,a,a Iaa; s
will not vote 70 amend Tho "ons,;,,,ion j 10
nrac,;coIIv oar,a;n ,.,h,oh ,,on~a ,hn. 20 70
income tav con oniv no hod ~ 'bo hands
of a nemncro,ic odD,;nio,rn,;on ~ '"' ''"''"'
'DO'N''''O "''''
1t is estimated that in 1908 the cost Of
living was nearly IL per cent higher than
II would have been without the tariff.
Hence, calculating that the average family
consumed $941 worth of supplies per an
mum, its increased payment on account Of
the tariff was Sill. Of this Sill, $40. so
went to the government in collections and
$94.5O went TO the trusts in high prices.
OF this $3.50, 1925 was on woolens, more
than SIT on other clothing, $6.25 on fur