The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-07-07

Propert wis not the proper test Of taxes, because, as 1 said before, tue | property of the poor may be levied | upon to make up the deficiencies Tn the property of the rich; unproduc- | tive property that yields no rent and II oincome may be compelled to pay l the same rate of taxation as property which yields an annual rental Of from l 10 to 15 per cent. If ycu now repeal the tax on incomes, you have to continue the | taxes on the consumption of the poor. You have now the choice betwe en i levying a little bit of a tax on proper 1 ty, which. after all, will only yield us l about per cent of our annual m come, and piling the whole of this | taxation, with it's accumulation of the past, upon consumption, and not up on property.
 Senator Morton, of Indiana, in the second session of the Forty-first Con- gress, speaking against the repeal of | the income tax, said:
 Then there is the argument of de- moralization. These people who 1 have to pay income tax insist that 1 they will be demoralized; they do not want to be demoralized, but they will | be! Therefore we must exempt them | for fear they will be demoralized! | All this argument about demorali- zatiOn, therefore, is just as applicable | to the state taxes as to federal-ln- | comee tax; and if it is good argu- ment for abolishing one it is a good argument, not a bit; I have heard it ] urged for years. now against the in | come tax, but a nom ent's examfna- ton will satisfy anybody that if it is a good argument at all 1t is good against any tax except mere tax on real estate which is visible to the assessor. and which he assesses with | out consulting the owner.
 l What honest objection is there to l letting his neighbors know his real condition?s If he conceals his real condition, it is ipso facto a fraud for some purpose, though not one of take .cogniZance. He may hold out the impression that he is doing we'll when he is not, and get a false credit. Does the law, or do morals require that he shall have the right to do that? Certainly not. No honest man, then. need be afraid of the inquisitor- iaI feature ! The income tax is, of all others, the most just and equitable, because it is the truest measure that has yet been found of the productive property of the country
 But, sir, when you tax a man on his income, it is because his proper ty is productive. He pays out of his abundance because he has go the abundance. If to pay his income tax is misfortune, it is because he has the misfortune to have the income up- on which it is paid. MT. McCreary, at the time Of it's re- peal, said:
 MT. Speaker, there is another con sideration which, to my mind, is en- tlrely conclusive against the abolition of the income tax. It is the only mode by which a large part of the ! wealth of this country can be taxed at all.* * Abolish the income tax and the man who has his fortune in those bonds, and so forth, will con tinue to receive his interest and con tribute nothing to the support of the Government, either state or national.
 General Garfield said
 Whenever man terminates his ac- tive career in life and becomes n1ere capitalist, living upon the profits of ms wealth invested in some perma- nent form, that mans income should pay a tax.
 MT. President, would not, if I could, lay all the tax upon the rich l would not, If I could, place all the burden there. And I want it under stood. once and for all. that my plea IS not to oppress wealth. b ut for equality of burdens, as Senator Sher- man said, between the rich and the poor Who will deny that as a fun dmental principle upon which to build Republican institutions?
 
 the repeal of the income tax was op- posed by some of the greatest leaders the Republican party has ever. had Among them were Allison, Hale. Da- wis, Hoar, Howe, Morton, Sherman. and the others whom I have named. 1T remember correctly, recurring now to memory, the veteran Senator from Illinois (Mr. CuIIom), now occu- pylng an honored seat in this Cham Der, was in Congress and also voted against the repeal of the income tax "a man who has given all the years or h1S life to the service of his Com monwealth and his Government, and who has nothing to show at the close In the way of personal gain or con ven1ence except the high honor of an untarnished name and a faithful dis charge in every crisis of public duty
 It will not do to send out through the newspapers of this country, as saw published in one this morning. that the advocates of an income tax are enemies of great wealth. They are men advocating a principe as old as the party itself and older than the party by nearly fifty years It was advocated by men who helped to pre- serve the Union and maintain the nag, and who fought for the continu- alton cf this great constitutional Gov ernment which protects the rights of all cltlzens regardless of whether they are rich or poor.
 You can not long blind the eyes of the American people. You can not rePud1ate it and say that it is equally oetWeee consumption and wealth. the ricn ana the poor, nothing more
 Senator Morton, of Indiana. at the close of the debate said:
 MT President. l was not surprised al the vote we had here this morning. nave expected it for some time. but l regret it deeply I regard it as a Histake on every point of view. whether we consider it in regard to puoIlc sentiment, whether we consid- CT It Tn regard to public justice, ,wheth- CT We consider it in regard to what IS que to the great mass of the peo- pie, and especially to the great mass or the poor people of this country. I regard It as mistake and as a great mistake.
 MT. Drake. A bIunder.
 MT. Morton. Aye; it is blunder. ana that in politics is calleld d
 crime, but I will not so designate IL this morning. That would not be respectful, but I do designate it as olunder, and such a one as legis- lators rarely commit
 DO not let us make such a blunder here to-day.
 Extracts should carry weight com Ing rom such men. In 1895 anoth- CT Income Tax bill passed, decided Unconstitutional 5 to 4.
 Four Judges deserting Harlan. white, Brown and Jackson. Read opinion: -
 Here is the language of this great