The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1912-03-14
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Special Washington Correspond
ent of The Times.

ent of The Times.
By CLYDE II. Tavenner.
Washington, D. C.-Instead Of tax
ing sugar nearly two cents a pound,
place a tax on wealth!
The Democratic House of Repre-
sentatives has announced this as a
part Of its program to bring about a
reduction in the cost of living.
Now get ready for the old cry Of:
"You can't do it; it's unconstitution-
al" Whenever it is proposed to tax
wealth instead of poverty, wealth
raises the question of constitutionality,
accompanied with the charge of "rad-
icalism." An income tax is not radi-
cal. Every first-class nation on the
earth's surface-except this country
raises a part of its revenue to meet
the expenses Of the government by
taxing incomes, among such nations
being Great Britain, Japan, France,
Germany, Holland, Australia, Dem
mark, Switzerland, Austria, New
Zealand and many more.
! Under our present fiscal policy the
expense Of maintaining the army and
navy, building public buildings and
running the government, is met by
taxing the things the people must
have in order to live. Practically all
revenue is derived through the GUS
toms houses and internal revenue Of
fices, with the exception of compar-
atively small amount derived from
corporation tax, which was recently
passed as cheating substitute for an
income tax. While the hat, coat and
shirt of the masses are taxed almost
II per cent under this fiscal system,
Rockefeller, Morgan and other mil
lionaires are not asked by the federal
government to pay any tax whatever
on their swollen fortunes. Thus a
poor man with family actually pays
more toward running the government
than millionaire bachelor.
The Democratic plan is to place
sugar on the free list. This will re-
peal a tax on the breakfast table, now
borne by the American people. Then
the present corporation tax will be
extended to include individuals and
co-partnerships having an income of
s., 600 year or more. The excess
of income over s., 900 will be taxed l
per cent, bringing into the treasury
between $50, 100000 and $50, 600, 900
year, which will more than cover
the $50, 600, 900 now derived annually
from the sugar tariff. The price of
sugar to the consumer, it is estimated,
will be reduced about 1-2 cents a
pound.
Those who scout the idea that an
excise tax bill can be so drawn as to
stand the test of the Supreme court,
may be referred to the opinion of one
of the countrys leading lawyers,
William Howard Taft, as follows: "In
my judgment an amendment to the
constitution for an income tax is not
necessary. believe that an income
tax, when the protective system of
customs and the internal-revenue tax
shall not furnish income enough for
government needs, can and should be
devised which under the decisions of
the Supreme court will conform to
the constitution.
protecting" the Children
Nothing in the history of American
tariff making has so thoroughly dem
the fallacy of the high pro-
lection principle as the testimony of
he Lawrence, Mass, mill strikers. .
In the same room where Carnegie
md Schwab told how they had Jug
yled millions, the Rules Committee of
he House heard fathers, mothers and ;
children tell how whole families were
orced to live on IS and S. week !:
'aid by the highly protected Wooden !,
Trust. The witnesses told how they 9
we're forced to work ten hours day;
low they had to use "a sort of mo-
asses" as substitute for butter;
low children had to 60 into the mills
It an early age in order to keep the
amily from actual starvation, and
low the constant demand of the mill
,wners was for more and more speed
md less and less pay.
In the committee room sat some of