River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-12-09

national efficiency and development that
we should have q great merchant ma
rine. The great merchant fleet we once
used to make US rich that great body of
sturdy sailors who used to carry our flag
into every sea, and who were the pride
and often the bulwark of the nation, we
have almost driven out of existence by
inexcusable neglect and indifference. and
by a hopelessly blind and provincial pol
icy of so-called economic protection. It
is high time we repaired our mistake and
resumed our commercial independence on
the seas
For it is a question OF independence.
II other nations go to war or seek to
hamper each others commerce, our mer-
chants, it seems are at their mercy,
to do with as they please. We must use
their ships, and use them as they deter
mine. We have not ships enough OF our
own. We cannot handle our own COM
merce on the seas. Our independence is
provincial, and is only on land and with
in our own borders. We are not likely
to be permitted to use even the ships Of
other nations in rivalry of their own
trade, and are without means to extend
our commerce even where the doors are
wide open and our goods desired. Such
a situation is not to be endured. 1T is
Of capital Importance not only that the
United States should be its own carrier
on the seas and enjoy the economic in
dependence which only an adequate mer-
chant marine would give it, but also that
the American hemisphere as a whole
should enjoy a like independence and self
sufficiency, if it is not to be drawn into
the tangle Of European affairs. Without
such independence the whole question Of
our political unity and self-determination
is very seriously clouded and complicated
indeed
Moreover, we can develop no true or eff
fective American policy without ships of
our oWn-not ships of war, but ships of
peace, carrying goods and carrying much
more: creating friendships and render
ing Indispensable services to all interests
on this side of the water. They must
move constantly back and forth between
the Americas. They are the only shuttles
that can weave the delicate fabric of
sympathy, comprehension, confidence and
mutual dependence in which we clothe
our policy of America for Americans.
Ships Are Needed.
With a view to meeting these pressing
necessities of our commerce and ayailing
ourselves at the earliest possible moment
of the present unparalleled opportunity of
linking the two Americas together in
bonds of mutual interest and service, an
opportunity which may never return
again if we miss it now, proposals will
be made to the present congress for the
purchase or construction Of ships to be
owned and directed by the government
similar to those made to the last con-
gress, but modified in some essential par
ticulars. I recommend these proposals
to you for your prompt acceptance with
the more confidence because every month
that has elapsed since the former pro-
posals were made has made the necessity
for such action more and more mani
testify imperative.
Question of Finance.
The plans for the armed forces Of the
nation which I have outlined, and for
the general policy Of adequate prepara-
ton for mobilization and defense, in
volve of course very large additional eX-
penditures of money-eXpenditures which
will considerably exceed the estimated
revenues of the government. 1t is made
my duty by law, whenever the estimates
Of expenditure exceed the estimates of
revenue to call the attention Of the con-
gress to the fact and suggest any means
of meeting the deficiency that it may be
wise or possible for me to suggest. l am
ready to believe that it would be my duty
to do so in any case; and | feel particu-
larly bound to speak of the matter when
it appears that the deficiency will arise
directly out of the adoption by the con-
gress of measures which l myself urge
it to adopt. Allow me, therefore, to
speak briefly of the present state of the
treasury and of the fiscal problems
which the next year will probably dis
close.
On the thirtieth Of June last there was
an available balance in the general fund
of the treasury of $1O4, 17O, 10578. The to-
tai estimated receipts for the year 1916,
on the assumption that the emergency
revenue measure passed by the last con-
gress will not be extended beyond its
| present limit the thirty-frst of Deem
Der, 1915, and that the present duty OF
one cent per pound on sugar will be dis
| continued after the first of May, 1916
| will be $3.50, $685. 500. The balance of June
| last and these estimated revenues come,
therefore, to a grand total of STA, 535, sos 49,
| The total estimated disbursements for the
present fiscal year, including $25000,00O
| for the Panama canal, $12000,000 for prob
| able deficiency appropriations and $780,
| 600 for miscellaneous debt redemptions
| will be 1888, S91 900; and the balance in the
| general fund of the treasury will be re-
duced to $20, 644, 6O578. The emergency
revenue act, if continued beyond its pres
| ent time limitation, would produce, dur
| ing the half year then remaining, about
! forty-one millions. The duty of one cent
| per pound on sugar, if continued, would
| produce during the two months Of the
fiscal year remaining after the first Of
| May, about fifteen millions. These two
| sums, amounting together to $56OO0,0OO,
! if added to the revenues of the second
| half of the fiscal year, would yield the
treasury at the end of the year an avail
able balance Of $76,644, COSTS.
The additional revenues required to
carry out the program of military and
naval preparation of which I have spok-
en-, would, as at present estimated, be
for the fiscal year 1917, $93,80O,0O0. Those
| figures, taken with the figures for the
| present fiscal year which I have already
| given, disclose our financial problem for
| the year 1917.
How shall we obtain the new revenue?
1t seems to me clear dictate of pru-
| dent craftsmanship and frank finance
that in what we are now, hope, about
to undertake we should pay as we sc.
| The people of the country are entitled to
know Just what burdens Of taxation they
| are to carry, and to know from the outset,
now The new bills should be paid by in
| ternal taxation.
To what sources, then, shall we turn?
| We would be following an almost uni
! versal example of modern governments
| If we were to draw the greater part or
| even the whole Of the revenues we need
/ hat