New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-06-26
CALLS RICH A MENACE
Justice Howard Advocates the
Regulation of Wealth.
URGES BUILDING OF NAVY
Tariff Tinkering and Direct Pri-
maries Described as Hack
neyed and Vapid Fads."

Troy. June 25.-Supreme Court Justice
W. o. Howard, Of the Appellate Division.
in a speech before the Troy High School
alumni tonight. declared that the regU
lation OF wealth and the building of q
navy were far more important subjects
for legislative action than 'tinkering
with the tariff" and "the direct pri-
mary mania" The latter two questions
he described as "hackneyed and vapd
fads." He attacked the idle rich as
''drones of society and said that vast
inherited estates should be taxed TO main
tain the equilibrium Of wealth. and
that the small farmer and small house
owner should be relieved from taxes"
while Congress wrestles with the
tariff. Japan is surveying our islands in
the Pacific Ocean," said Justice Howard.
Some morning we will wake up 20 find
that every ship is sunk and every fort is
captured in the Philippine Islands. Then
Congress will desist from its chronic
habit of the tariff and start to build a
navy.
The sons of the rich-arrogant, inso-
lent, indoent. useless. without calling
or occupation or profession-these are
not only a nuisance 10 society. but they
are a curse and a menace TO the Repub-
lie They toll not. neither do they spin,
yet they eat the fat of the land. They
are the parasites OF civilization, drawing
their nourshment not from the soil but
from the bodies of others. They are the
propagators Of communism; they are the
creators Of hatred between the classes
and the masses.
Thousand Men to Support One.
ut takes a thousand men to support
every idle millionaire. His houses. his
yachts. his automobiles. his table,
his gasolene. his garden, his clothes,
his wines, his cigars, his diamonds.
his furs, his racehorses, his golf
links-al these are supplied to him by
slaves who labor only for their bread.
These drones in society sap the substance
OF the poor: each one wastes more than
hundred families consume; by their ex-
travagance they augment the high cost
Of living: they eat the steaks and the
aboring man bols the bones
"A condition like this is unhealthy in
a republic. II cannot long be tolerated
with safety. 1t demands the serious .
tention of statesmen. But statesmen are
afraid Of wealth.
The tariff as an issue has become a
political mania. Those afflicted with this
disease take no heed of previous failures
Of previous panics. Clingtng tenaciously
TO the delusion Of the tariff, they tinker
with schedules while business trembles;
they buster at lobbyists while the high
cost of living menaces the market basket;
their utterances are majestic on the floor
while in private they fear for the worst
they neglect the navy while Japan is pre-
pairing for war.
Direct Primaries Useless.
The great mass Of people are indiffer-
ent to direct primaries. 1t interests only
the politician. II is the loaded dice In the
hands of gamblers. for no matter what
form the primary law takes the politician
manipulates it TO his advantage.
The cost of living will continue nigh
as long as the land remains uncultivated