Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1914-09-11
President Wilson Asks War Taxes
At Once.

eress asked imposition of internal revenu
taxes sufficient to raise $100,00O.O0O ar
nually because of dwindling customs reve
nues as result Of the European war.
The President said the war tax" wa
necessary Immediately to keep the Treas
ury unimpaired and to place it beyon
public question in strength. He emphati
cally said bond issue would be unwise.
I'VE ought not to borrow" he said. Nv
ought to resort to taxation, however mucl
we may regret the necessity Of putin
additional temporary burdens on our PEG
ple."
That an emergency which did not brool
temporizing or delay, although not of on
making, exists and I'VE must accept tn,
inevitable with calm judgment and unruf
fled spirits" was stated by the Chief Execu
tive. The President said:
Gentlemen of the Congress
81 come to you today to discharge dut!
which wish with all my heart nigh
have been spared; but it is duty which
is very clear. and. therefore, perform i
without hesitation or apology. | come tt
ask very earnestly that additional revenue
be provided for the Government.
During the month of August there was
as compared with the corresponding month
of last year, falling off of $l0,629, 538 in
the revenues collected from customs. A
continuation of this decrease in the same
proportion throughout the current fiscal yeaI
would probably mean a loss of customs
revenues of from $60,00O,000 to $780,.
100000. 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
commerce and economic production ; and
they must be faced and dealt with.
ut would be very unwise to postpone
dealing with them. Delay in such mat
ter and in the particular circumstances in
which we now find ourselves as nation
might involve consequences of the most
embarrassing and deplorable sort, for which
!. for one, would not care to be RESPONSE
BILE for.
ut would be very dangerous in the pres
ent circumstances to create a moment
doubt as to the strength and sufIiciency
of the Treasury of the United States, its
ability to assist. to steady and sustain the
financial operations of the countrys bust
ness. If the Treasury is known, or even
thought to be weak, where will be our
peace of mind. The whole industrial ac-
tivity of the country would be chilled and
demoralized. Just now the peculiarly diff
ficult financial problems of the moment
are being successfully dealt with, with
great self-possession and good sense and
very sound judgment; but they are only
in process of being worked out. II the
process of solution is to be completed, no
one must be given reason to doubt the
solidity and adequacy of the Treasury of
the Government which stands behind the
whole method by which our difficulties are
being met and handled
THE Treasury itself could get along for
a considerable period, no doubt, without
immediate resort to new sources of taxa
ton. But at what cost to the business of
the community Approximately SIS ,000,-
900. a large part of the present Treasury
balance, is now on deposit with national
banks distributed throughout the country.
II is deposited, of course, on call. need
not point out to you what the probable
consequences of the inconvenience and
distress and confusion would be if the d.
minishing income of the Treasury should
make 1t necessary rapidly to withdraw
these deposits. And yet without addi-
tional revenue that plainly might become
necessary. and the time when ii became
necessary could not be controlled or deter
mined by the convenience Of the business
of the country.
ut would have to be determined by the
operations and necessities of the Treasury
itself. Such risks are not necessary and
ought not to be run. We cannot too scrupu-
lously and carefully safeguard financial
which is at best, while war con-
tinues in Europe. difficult and abnormal.
Hesitation and delay are the worst forms
of bad policy under such conditions.
And we ought not to borrow. We ought
to resort to taxation, however we may re-
gret the necessity Of putting additional
temporary burdens on our people. To sell
bonds would be to make a most untimely
and unjustiable demand on the money
market; untimely because this is mani
testify not the time TO withdraw working
capital from other uses to pay the govern
ment's bills; unjustifable, because I'M
necessary. The country is able to pay
any just and reasonable taxes without
distress. And to every other form Of Dor
rowing, 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 particular
EFFICIENCY not the market, to borrow large
sums Of money. What we are seeking is
to ease and assist every financial trans
action, not to add single additional EN-
barrassment 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 to support the government with gen.
erous self-denial. They know and under
stand. and will be intolerant only of those
who dodge responsibility or are not frank
with them.
THE occasion is not of our own making.
We had no part in making it. But it is
here. 1t affects us as directly and palpa-