The Alaska citizen., 1910-06-25
Increase of Over 400 Per
 Cent in F Years
WHERE WILL T ALI END?
Unhrited EtraIagance of Present Ad-
 miniStrati0n Falls Upon the Shoulders
 of Those Least Able to Bear II, While NiIionaireS 60 Practically Scot Free

WASHINGTON, June 5. -(Spe. cial Cotrcspondence.t-On hum dred and thirty-three millions of dollars
 Try to comprehend the magni- Jude oi this sum if you can, and then pause and reflect over the fact that 1t is the amount the senate has voted to spend on the ;iavy Tn a single year, in a time of profound feaCe. Then consider that only I2 years ago, in 1898, the naval ap- propriation was but S33,oo5,234, or one hundred millions less than the amount appropriated for the year ending June 30, G9II.
 \ fact in connection with this awful increase which the public sell dom hears is that every penny of this SIoo, 600, 900 which is 10 be spent in excess Of the amount used i'll 1898 comes from the people; not from the rich, but largely from working men and wonlen.
 It Is the ultimate cousumer who pays the battleship bills, who main faius all ever increasing army of ot- dceholders i'll Washington and who meets the one hundred and one eXtravagances of the govern ment. He does it by paying ex eessive prices for the things he buys.
 The government raises practical y all ot its funds through the GUS Toms houses and the inter nal rev. enue offices, where taxes are levied on things eaten. worn or used by the people. When the consumer purchases a protected article and practically all of the necessarics of fife are Nrotected-he pays the real or natural value of the article and in addition thereto the amount of tariff tax.
 The more battleships sconstructed, the greater the amount the govern ment must raise through the tax on consumption, aud the greater the cost of living.
 Thus 1t is not so strange that un- der the Taft administration, which is spending more than twice the amount used by Cleveland 10 run the government, the cost of living is 50 per cent greater than under the Cleveland administration.
 While the hat, coat and shirt of the masses are taxed almost 1T per cent to build ST, 900, 900 battle ships and keepan extravagant gov ernmentin spending money, Messrs. Morgan, Rockefeller and Carnegie are not asked by the federal gov- ernment to pay any tax whatever on their swollen fortunes.
 Wealth escapes bearing its just share of the burden of taxation be- cause of the absence of federal in- come or inheritance tax, such as were adopted by Great Britain, and other countries.
 A majority of both houses of con- gress were ill favor of tacking an income tax clause to the new tariff law. Such legislation would now be upon the statute books had not President Taft and Senator Aldrich defeated the project through the substitution of a corporation tax. That the necessary three louTthS of the state legislature will not vote to amend the constitution is practical ly certain, which means that an income tax can only be had at the hands of a Democratic administra- ton.
 Here is little table which speaks for itself. It compares the expen- ditures on the army and navy in 8 period of peace with amounts ex- pended for features of civil estab- lishment:
 EXTENDED SINCE 1897.
 For rural free delivery SI76,755,3I3 For rivers and harbors 296,o73,Ie1 For public buildings
 and grounds. =. I7S,I72, ,4o7 For the navy. ...... I,I26, 2Io,I93 For the army ........ o44,IoI. .I8S