The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1915-08-27

duty and at such rates of duty
as made American competition i'm
possible, the Wilson anti. artificial"
tariff law cost the American Treasury
full 500, 000.0 of revenue the fret
year. The retail price of foreign COM
modities was not reduced to the Ameri-
can consumer because the foreigner ad-
ded the duty to his price. The Demo
Gratis. therefore, did not relieve the
American consumer, but added 500,
900, 600 TO rthe profits of the foreign
manufacturer who was thus enabled to
take the work from the American work
ingman..
If anyone thinks the cost of living
has beer. reduced by Mr.. Wilson's plan
Of. reducing the tariff and lowering the
artificial" barriers which check COM
petitive imports, all he has to do is to
compare the prices of 1915 in the hey.
day of the Wilson Administration with
the prices of household commodities in
the closing days of the administration
of Mr.. Taft. The advantage in prices
was all in Europe not in the United
States.
We cannot forget how the cost of
living was to be reduced. because 1t has
not been reduced; nor should we forget
the other terrific losses we have sus-
tanned and the new burdens we have
assumed in addition to the 500, 900, 000
tariff revenue loss which Wilson's Ad.
ministration said the American people
would save. An Income Tax that was
never necessary under Republican
Administration has been imposed.
There is some doubt what the Income
Tax amounts to. The figures given out
from Washington are confusing. But
let us fix the amount at $75, 900, 600 or
$50, 100000. They expected to get $780,
000,000 All this had to come out of
the people of the United States. work.
ingman and employers alike, and they
never had to pay it before. And then
the War Tax. Don't let US forget the
War Tax. You remember Mr. Wilson s
Administration was expected to relieve
the people of taxes rather than to in
crease them. In times of peace we
never had to impose a war tax before.
certainly under no Republican Admins
tration, but here in spite of all promises
of relief, an I'M warranted burden of
800, 900, 600 direct tax was levied upon
the consumers of the land. Although
this War Tax in America was blamed
upon the war in Europe, no man who
understood the financial situation prior
to the war failed to observe that the
Administration was incompetent to
manage our finances on tariff for
revenue only" basis, and that some
form of direct taxation was inevitable.
Don't forget also that the country was
in financial distress beforethe European
War broke out, that all industry and
enterprise was losing confidence in it,
And now, LEST We Forget" let us
sum up~the present situation. The
Wilson Administration, having passed
oil the vexatlous laws it could, is now
trying to assure all business, both big
and little, that it did not mean any
harm. Any suggestions that business
has suffered reverses or that capital has
gone into hiding or that workingmen
have lost employment have been treat
ed as "a state of mind That sort of
loss in business or employment was
purely psychological" The man who
lost employment or who suffered in
business wants to remember this. He
does not want to forget it because we
are having spasmodic prosperity in Ger.
tain parts of the United States, due to