The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1915-12-10


charge upon individual expenditure.
one per cent tax per gallon on gasoline
and naptha would yield, at the present
production, Sl0,0O0000: tax OF
50 cents per horsepower IN automobiles
and internal explosion eng nes $4,000 900;
a stamp tax on bank checks probably
SIS COO, 600; a tax of 25 cents per ton on
pig iron. s10O00.000: a tax of 50 cents per [
ton on fabricated iron and steel. proba-
bly, $l0000.000 In a country of great in |
dustries like this 1t ~ught to be easy tc |
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
ton.
The Danger Within.
have spoken to you today. gentlemen.
upon single theme, the thorough prep
aration of the nation to care for It's
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 1t. l have had in mind no
thought of any immediate 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 differ
ences Of attitude and policy have been
and may yet turn out to be- l am sorry
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
81
disloyalty into the very arteries of our
national life; who have sought to bring
the authority and good name of our gov
eminent into contempt to destroy our in
dustries wherever they thought 1t effec-
tive for their vindictfye 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 yirile foreign stocks;
] but it is great enough to have brought
/ deep disgrace upon us and to have made
/ it 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
| it possible that men sworn into its own
! citizenship, men drawn out of great free
stocks such as supplied some OF the best
4
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 new standard here-that men of such
origins and such free choices Of allegi-
ance would ever turn in malign reaction
against the government and people who
had welcomed and nurtured them and
seek to make this proud country once
more a hotbed of European passion A
little while ago such thing would have
seemed incredible. Because 1t was in
credible we made no preparation for it
We would have been almost ashamed tC
prepare for it, as If 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
it. l urge you to enact such laws a.
the earliest possible moment and feel tha
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 crushed out. The,
, are not many, but they are infinitely ma
. Iignant, and the hand of our power should
close over them at once They hav'
, formed plots to destroy property. the!
, have entered into conspiracies against tn,
neutrality OF the government, they hav
sought to pry into every confidential
, transaction of the government in orde
to serve interests alien to our own. 1t i
, possible to deal with these things yer,
effectually. need not suggest the term
in which they may be dealt with.
I wish that it could be said that only
few men, misled by mistaken sentiment
! of allegiance to the governments unde
! which they were born, had been guilty o
: fcft, Ea eli nd
resenting the temper and principles o
4 the country during these days of terribl
: war, when it would seem that every ma
who was truly an American would in
| stinctively make it his duty and his prid
to keep the scales of Judgment even an
: prove himself a partisan of no nation bu
' his own. But it cannot There are som
. | men among US, and many resident abroa
: who, though born and bred in the Unit
/, ed States and calling themselves Amer
I leans have so forgotten themselves an
A their honor as citizens to put thei
: passionate sympathy with one or the 9th
p er side in the great European conttiC
n above their regard for the peace and dig
/, nifty of the United States. They ais
Il preach and practice disloyalty. No laws
. / suppose, can reach corruptions of tn
E mind and heart; but should not spea
of others without also speaking Of thes
: and expressing the even deeper humilis
!. and thoughtfully patriotic American mu:
= feel when he thinks of them and of III
3 discredit they are daily bringing upon Vi
e Transportation Problem.
y The transportation problem is an e,
# ceedingly serious and pressing one in til
country. There has from time to tim
= of late been reason to fear that our raj
l. roads would not much longer be able
e cope with it successfully as at preseI
1t equipped and co-ordinated. I sugge!
.. that ii would be wise to provide for
20 commission of inquiry to ascertain by
y thorough canvass of the whole questic
t, whether our laws as at present frame
\ and administered are as serviceable
they might be in the solution of the prol
i? lem 1t is obviously a problem that Ii,
j. at the very foundation of our efficienC
IS as a people. Such an inquiry ought
Or draw out every circumstance and opinic
d worth considering and we need to kno
1t all sides of the matter if we mean
N do anything in the field of federal legisl;
ii ton.
g. For what we are seeking now, what
J. my mind is the single thought of tn
IS message. is national efficiency and S
Id curity. We serve a great nation. "
Of should serve 1t in the spirit of its peculii