Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-12-09
Congress Hears Presidents Defense Plan

/, the end of the present fiscal year and
! a deficit at the end of the next year
of some $112,000,000, reckoning in $62,-
100000 for deficiency appropriations.
Proposing that the new bills should
be paid by internal taxation, the presi-
dent suggested that by lowering the
| present limits of income exemption
and the figure at which the surtax is
| imposed, and by increasing step by
step throughout the present gradua-
| ton, the surtax itself, income taxes as
| at present apportioned would yield
sums sufficient to balance the books OF
the treasury at the end Of the fiscal
year 1917 without anywhere making
the burden unreasonably heavy he
added that there were many additional
sources Of revenue which justly could
be resorted to without hampering the
| industries of the country or putting
any too great charge upon Individual
expenditure. He estimated that tax
| of one cent per gallon on gasoline and
| naptha would yield $10,000,0O0; tax
of fifty cents per horsepower on auto
mobiles and internal explosion en-
gines, $15,000,00O; a stamp tax on bank
checks, probably $1S,000,000: and a
tax of twenty-five cents per ton on
fabricated iron and steel, probably
$lO,0O0,O00.
Hits "Hyphens" Hard.
The president said there was reason
to hope that no question in contro-
versy between this and other govern
ments would lead to any serious
breach of amicable relations, and that
he was sorry to say that the gravest
threats against national peace and
safety had been uttered within the
country's own borders
There are citizens of the United
States, | blush to admit" he declared,
born under other flags but welcomed
under our generous naturalization
laws to the full freedom and oppor-
tunity 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 government into con-
tempt, to destroy our industries wher-
ever they thought it effective for their
vindictive purposes, to strike at them
and to debase our politics to the uses
of foreign intrigue"
No federal laws exist to meet this
situation, said Mr.. Wilson, because
such a thing would have seemed in
credible in the past. "Such creatures
of passion, disloyalty and anarchy" he
added, must be crushed out. They
are not many but they are infinitely
malignment and the hand of our pow.
er should close over them at once"
Will Consult Experts.
Turning again to military questions,
the president said he might find it
advisable to call into systematic con-
sultation with the directing officers !
of the army and navy, men of recog-
nized ability who are familiar, for ex-
ample, with the transportation IA
cilities Of the country and therefore
competent to advise how they may
be coordinated when the need arises,
those who can suggest the best way
to bring about prompt cooperation
among the manufacturers, and those
who could assist to bring the technical
skill Of the country to the aid of the
government in the solution Of prob
lens Of defense. He said he might |
later ask congress for an appropria-
ton to defray the expenses of such
work
The president told the members he
might address them again later on
commercial conditions about which
much legislation has been passed, and
which are likely to change rapidly
after the war when the nations of
Europe again take up their task OF
commerce and industry. The most
that can be done now, he said, is to
make sure that the necessary instru-
mentalities are at hand for securing
adequate information.
Regarding the railroads, the presi-
dent said there had been reason to
fear that they could not cope much
longer with the transportation prob
lem, and suggested it would be wise to
provide for commission of inquiry
to ascertain whether the laws as at
present framed and administered !,
were SIS servicable as they might be
in the solution of the problem. He
said that the regulation of the rail-
roads by federal commission has had
admirable results and that tho ques-
ton was whether there was anything
else to be done to better the condi-
tons under which the railroads are
operating.