Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-09-05
The Presidents Message


to you today to discharge duty which
I wish with all my heart 1 might have
been spared: but it is a duty which is
very clear and therefore, perform 1t
without hesitation or apology. come
to ask very earnestly that additional
revenue be provided for the govern
ment.
During the month of August there
was. as compared with the correspond
ing month of last year. falling off of
SIC, 62s, 53s in the revenues collected
from customs.
"A continuation Of this decrease in
the same proportion throughout the
current fiscal year would probably
mean a loss of customs revenues of
from sixty to one hundred millions.
Il need not tell you to what this
falling off is due. 1t Is due, in chief
part, not to the reductions recently
made in the customs duties, but TO the
great decrease in importations; and
that is due to the extraordinary extent
of the Industrial area affected by the
present war in Europe. Conditions
have arisen which no man foresaw;
they affect the whole world of COM
merce and economic production and
they must be faced and dealt with.
1T would be very unwise to postpone
dealing with them. Delay in such
matter, and In the particular circum-
stances in which we now find ourselves
as a nation, might involve conse-
quences of the most embarrassing and
deplorable sort. for which 1, for one,
would not care to be responsible.
1T would be very dangerous in the
present circumstances to create mo-
ment's doubt as to the strength and
sufficiency of the Treasury of the
United States, it's ability to assist, to
steady and sustain the financial oper-
atoms of the country's business. II
the Treasury is known or even thought
to be weak, where will be our peace of
mind? The whole industrial activity
of the country would be chilled and
demoralized. Just now the peculiarly
difficult financial problems Of the mo-
ment are being successfully dealt with,
with great self possession and good
sense and very sound Judgment, but
ed out. If the process Of solution is to
be completed, no one must be given
reason to doubt the solidity and ade-
auacy of the Treasury of the govern
ment which stands behind the whole
method by which our difficulties are
being met and handled.
.oThe Treasury itself could get along
for a considerable period, no DOUBT
without immediate resort to new
sources of taxation. But at what cost
to the business of the community?
Approximately $4,000, 900. large part
of the present Treasury balance, is
| now on deposit with national banks
distributed throughout the country. 1t
is deposited, of course, on call. need
not point out to you what the PROBABLE
consequences of Inconvenience and dis
tress and confusion would be II the
| diminishing income of the Treasury
should make it necessary rapidly TO
withdraw these deposits. And yet.
without additional revenue that plain
| ly might become necessary and the
time when 1t became necessary could
not be controlled or distributed by the
convenience of the business Of the
country. 1t would have to be distribut-
ed by the operations and necessities
of the Treasury itself.
! Such risks are not necessary and
| ought not TO be run. We cannot too
scrupulously or carefully safeguard a
financial situation which is at best,
while war continues in Europe. difficult
and abnormal. Hesitation and delay
are the worst forms Of bad policy und-
| err such conditions
And we ought not to borrow. We
ought to resort to taxation, however
we may regret the necessity of put
ting additional temporary burdens on
| our people. To sell bonds would be
to make a most untimely and unjustifi-
able demand on the money market; I'M
timely, because this is manifestly not
the time to withdraw working capital
from other uses to pay the govern
ment's bills; unjustifiable, because I'M
necessary.
THE country is able to pay any just
and reasonable taxes without distress.
And to every other form of borrowing,
whether for long periods or for short.
there is the same objection. These are
not the circumstances; this is at this
particular moment and in this particu-
| large sums of money.
What we are seeking is to ease and
assist every financial transaction, not
to add a single additional embarrass-
ment to the situation. The people of
this country are both intelligent and
profoundly patriotic. They are ready to
meet the present conditions in the
right way and to support the govern
ment with generous self-denial. They
know and understand and will be in
tolerant only of those who dodge re-
sponsibility or are not frank with
them.
THE occasion is not of our own MAX
ing. We had no part in making it, But
it is here. 1t affects us directly and
palpably almost as if we were partici-
pants in the circumstances which gave
rise to 1t. We must accept the inevita-
BILE with calm judgment and unruffied
spirits, like men accustomed to deal
with the unexpected, habituated to
take care Of themselves, masters of
their own affairs and their own for
tunes. We shall pay the BILL though