Middletown transcript., 1915-12-11

0SklInaIeu NlO,VOOiOOV1 u 'ldN ot
80 cents per horsepower on automobiles
and internal explosion engines, Sis, 1000 900;
a stamp tax on bank checks, probably
SIS, ,O00, 900; a tax Of 25 cents per ton on
pig iron, s10OOO,O0O; a tax of SO cents per
ton on fabricated iron and Steel proba-
bly, $1O.O0O,OO0 In q country Of great in
dustries like this 1t ought to be easy to
distribute the burdens Of taxation with
out making them anywhere bear too
heavily or too exclusively upon any one
set of persons or undertakings. What Is
clear is, that the industry Of this gener-
alton should pay the bills Of this genera
/ tion.
The Danger Within.
have spoken to you today, gentlemen.
upon a single theme. the thorough prep
aration of the nation to care for Its
own security and to make sure Of entire
| freedom to play the impartial role in this
| hemisphere and in the world which we
/ all believe to have been providentially
assigned to It. have had in mind no
thought Of any impediate or particular
/ danger arising out OF our relations with
| other nations. We are at peace with all
| the nations of the world, and there Is
/ reason to hope that no question In con-
| troversy between this and other govern
| ments will lead to any serious breach OF
| amicable relations, grave as some diner
/ ences of attitude and policy have been
| to say that the gravest threats against
| our national peace and safety have been
uttered within our own borders There are
citizens of the United States, blush to
admit, born under other flags but welcomed
| under our generous naturalization laws
to the full freedom and opportunity OF
America. who have poured the poison OF
disloyalty into the very arteries of our
national life; who have sought to bring
the authority and good name of our gov
ernment into contempt, to destroy our in
dustries wherever they Thought 1t effec-
tive for their vindictive purposes to strike
at them, and to debase our politics to the
uses of foreign intrigue. Their number
is not great as compared with the whole
number of those sturdy hosts by which
our nation has been enriched in recent
generations out of virile foreign stocks;
but 1t is great enough to have brought
deep disgrace upon us and to have made
1t necessary that we should promptly
make use OF processes of law by which
we may be purged of their corrupt dis
tempers. America never witnessed any
thing like this before. 1t never dreamed
1t possible that men sworn into its own
citizenship, men drawn out of great free
stocks such as supplied some of the best
and strongest elements of that little, but
how heroic, nation that in high day of old
staked its very life to free itself from
every ENHANCEMENT that had darkened
the fortunes of the older nations and set
up a new standard here-that men of such
origins and such free choices Of allegt-
ance would ever turn in malign reaction
against the government and people who
l'had welcomed and nurtured them and
seek to make this proud country once
more a hotbed of European passion. A
little while ago such a thing would have
seemed incredible. Because it was in
credible we made no preparation for It..
We would have been almost ashamed to
prepare for 1t, as II we were suspicious
Of ourselves, our own comrades and
neighbors! But the ugly and incredible
has actually come about and we are with
out adequate federal laws to deal with
1t. I urge you to enact such laws at
the earliest possible moment and feel that
in SO doing l am urging you to do moth
ing less than save the honor and self
respect of the nation.
Must Be Crushed Out
Such creatures of passion, disloyalty
and anarchy must be crus7ed out. They
are not many, but they ara infinitely ma
lignant, and the hand OF OUT power should
close over them at once. They have
formed plots to destroy property, they
have entered into conspiracies against the
neutrality of the government, they have
sought to pry into every confidential
transaction of the government in order
to serve interests alien to our own. 1t is
possible to deal with these things very
effectually. I need not suggest the terms
in which they may be dealt with.
1 wish that 1t could be said that only a
few men. misled by mistaken sentiments
OK allegiance to the governments under
which they were born, had been guilty oi
disturbing the self-possession and misrep-
resenting the temper and principles OF
| the country during these days of terrible
, war, when it would seem that every mar
! | who was truly an American would in.
I ,aNNv IL
= to keep the scales of judgment even ant
prove himself a partisan OF no nation bu
8 his own. But 1t cannot There are somC
! men among us, and many resident abroad
who, though born and bred in the Unit
!, ed States and calling themselves Amer
' leans, have so forgotten themselves anC
= their honor as citizens as to put thei
8 passionate sympathy with one OF the 9th
= er side in the great European conhlc
above their regard for the peace and dig
: nifty of the United States. They ais
J. preach and practice disloyalty. No laws
e I suppose, can reach corruptions of tn
!, mind and heart; but should not speal
!. of others without also speaking of thes
g and expressing the even deeper humilia
NJ ton and scorn which every self f-possesse
i and thoughtfully patriotic American mus
= feel when he thinks of them and of tn
}, discredit they are daily bringing upon u:
e Many conditions about which we hav
: repeatedly legislated are being altere
v from decade to decade, It is evident, ur
J. der our very eyes, and are likely to chang
= even more rapidly and more radically
It the days Immediately ahead of US, whe
It peace has returned to the world and ns
d tions of Europe once more take UP the
e tasks of commerce and industry with th
" energy of those who must bestir then
% selves to build anew. Just what thes
O. changes will be no one can certainly for,
d see or confidently predict. There are +
e calculable, because no stable. elements
l. the problem. The most we can do Is
make certain that we have the necessaI
10 instrumentalities of information constan
I'd | ly at our service so that we may be SUI
& that we know exactly what we are dea
,e ing with when we come to act. If
Sc should be necessary to act at all. v
,e must first certainly know what II is tn
ly we are seeking to adapt ourselves to.
Dr. may ask the privilege of addressing "
more at length on this important matt
e? little later in your session.
u Transportation Problem.
ce The transportation problem is an Q
ut ceedingly serious and pressing one in III
20. country There has from. time to tir
to of late been reason to fear that our ra
ey roads would not much longer be able
It, cope with it successfully as at prese
n equipped and co-ordinated. / sugge
that it would be wise to provide for
n? commission Of inquiry to ascertain by
li- thorough canvass of the whole questi
its whether our laws as at present fran
or and administered are as serviceable
ed ! they might be in the solution of the pre-
lat lem. 1t is obviously a. problem that l
on at the very foundation of our efficien
ali as a people Such an Inquiry ought
lg, draw out every circumstance and opini
Id worth considering and we need to KIN
res all sides of the matter II we mean
eld do anything in the field of federal legis
of ton.
Ear For what we are seeking now, what