The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-26

sad practice, which had grown to a
 threatening proportion, so that mo-
 body could run for office without prof.
 iting in some degree by the enormous
 improper and even criminal use Of
 money.
 The custom had grown up gradual
 ay. Many good men had tolerated If
 not cOuntenanced it, since 1t was the
 custom. But now, thank God, the
 end of it is near! The Democratic
 campaign, with a candidate of Jeffer-
 sonian simplicity and moderation up-
 on one side and candidate of pro-
 fligate expenditure upon the other.
 has resulted in the beginning of bet
 ter things, and in a corrupt practices
 act which includes a limit upon ex-
 penditure and a wholesome restriction
 upon the sort of thing rich represen-
 tatlves of very rich corporations have
 hitherto indulged in.
 None there is, I believe, so blind to
 conditions as to assert that there
 would be in existence our public utii- ities legislation had Democrats not
 been swept into partial power.
 mems compensation and employers liability are not yet written into law. they have been dragged from the ob- Scurity in which they languished for To those many years. into the arena of living issues. and one more Demo- cratic victory will write them indel- ibly into the statutes where they be- long and should long ago have been. But if Democratic accomplishment in Connecticut is not in its totality all that we could wish, let us dwell with pride the more upon Democratic accomplishment in the nation. Let us point with pride to the unit ed, patriotic and industrious congress
 which, in a few brief months has be-
 gun a real correction of the injustices of the tariff, has projected the search. light of investigation into many 8
 dark cave of trust corruption, with the purpose of passing stringent rem edial legislation upon the facts estab. lished, and has adopted an excise tax which will reach swollen fortunes tc find means to support the Federal 1 government, which now is supported by sums taken from men according to their necessities. instead of from
 men according to their ability to pay And this attitude of the Democratic
 congress toward taxation is illustra. tive of the difference between Demo cratic and Standpat methods in deal ing with the people.
 In order to make myself plain tc
 this point let me speak a little about taxation, and if you find me some.
 what dull. kindly remember that the subject is dull also, and that few things really worth knowing are ac- quired without some unp1easurable effort
 am little insistent upon this mat ter because 1t iS your right to know the attitude of another of your fellow townsmen upon legislation in which you are interested, inasmuch as have already referred to the services of Senator Donovan.
 The revenues of the Federal govern ment are raised almost entirely upon
 internal revenue and customs taxes
 which are paid according to consump- tfon and almost entirely by the masses
 of the people.
 Such taxes, while justifiable in part
 are neither scientific nor supportable
 as the sole means of finding nation g
 revenue. Every economist of first
 class standing has declared the injus-
 tice of these taxes. from. Adam Smitt
 to Prof. Hadley of Yale University
 science of taxation to be from each
 citizen according to his ability to
 pay"
 The townsman to whom refer is
 MT. Hill. Of all the men in Con- gress he now Is and always has been about the most insistent that the Federal government should be sup ported and his salary paid by tax laid upon the masses of the people. When the question came up about an income tax year or two or more ago. he was one of the fourteen men In the House who voted mo" And then he made that wonderful and sophisticated argument that an !, excise tax would be unjust to the State of Connecticut and to the other States , in New England, because they would
 be taxed, being wealthier, to pay foI improvements in the West. And this strange and peculiar argu- ment he urged again when he as one of very few voted against the so- called excise tax.
 l Now, since that argument of MT Hills is about the only thing of its kind that has ever been discovered, propose to analyze it briefly, and show you how ridiculous it is, and to leave quite naked to your eyes the real mo- | tives of those who offer it. States do not pay Federal taxes Men and women pay them. You and I, when we buy a cigar, or our wives
 when they purchase sugar trust su- gar.
 Neither do States pay the tax when an income tax Is laid. Men pay 1t, ac-
 cording to their ability to pay, that 1 is according to their wealth. Tn the
 case of the Democratic biM all in- comes above $5,000 are reached. NOW do you see the point? States
 oo not pay taxes. Men do. (Continued on Page 14.)