Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-01-27

A BUSINESS man called on friend to
~ indorse his note at the bank for
large loan
81 will leave the money in the bank and
repay you in short time" said the bor-
rover 81 am putting through a deal which
may be bigger than | can carry with my
present cash, but ! do not think it viii be.
| want to be prepared for any emergency
The friend indorsed the note, only to find
in few weeks that his money had been
used in an unsuccessful attempt to stave
off bankruptcy.
man with a limited vocabulary would
have no difficulty in properly characteriang
this transaction.
The states of the Union today find them
selves in the prcdcamcnt of the man who
indorsed the swindlcrs note. They were
urged few years ago to empower the
National Government to levy an income tax.
They wero told that there was no intention
of using that power, but that it was needed
as measure Of financial preparedness
against war or other grave emergency.
In response to this plea of national
patriotism the States consented to share
with the Government in Washington the
right to raise money by a tax on a source
Of revenue open in the past to the States
alone
Congress, controlled by the Democrats.
betrayed the confidence of the country. No
sooner was ii empowered to levy cn income
tax than it set out to reduce the revenues
from the tariff and to create an emergency
which would Justify resort to taxing the
incomes of the rich
That is. Congress decreased the burden of
taxation on the foreigner and increased it
on the man at home. That the foreigner
pays n large part of the tariff tax cannot
hn
anu-dumping laws. He sells his goods in
our market at such price as will find
purchasers. If the tariff is high he reduces
his price, and if it is low he make. so much
more profit The producer in America does
the same thing He sells abroad for less
than he charges at home because he Is com
PEELED to do 1t to get into the foreign
market. And he is glad to do it in order
to dispose of his surplus product He pays
a large part of the tariff levied to protect
the home market of the foreigner, Just as
the foreign producer pays large part of
the tariff levied to p IteCt our producers.
The power of Congress to levy any sort of
an income tax in any way that plcases it
has now been sustained by the Supreme
Court and the Democratic leaders are plan
ming to place a heavier burden of domestic
taxation on the country, regardless of the
needs Of the States. Any form of tariff is
so offensive to it that it is ignoring the old
Democratic plea of a tariff for revenue, which
could be levied without trespassing on the
preserves of the States.
The leaders in Washington, who owe
allegiance to their States as well as to the
nation, should read the recent message of
Governor Mccall to the Great and General
Court of Massachusetts, in which he says
The States perform the most expensive
inns pf
those functions which most closely concern
the people. They provide education, roads
fire and police protection and many other
important services. We raise each year in
Massachusetts to carry our local govern
ments $83GO,ls6, about S26 per capita.
Exclusive of the postal department. where a
special service is rendered in carrying let
ters and commodities, the national cxpendi-
ture Is now about 81 per capita, and that is
larger than it has been in time of
peace. In other words, require in Massa-
chusetts nearly three times as much per
capita to carry on our local governmental
functions as is needed by the nation and a
similar disparity is shown in very many of
the other States of the Union
obviously, If the States are to continue to
perform the vital functions which they have
so long performed, the National Government
must respect their sources of revenue. and
should contine itself to those rich and almost
lmitess fields of which it has exclusive
command. In times of grave emergency,
when the existence of the nation is at stake
the last dollar in the country should be at its
command, but except in such times there
should be no settled policy or taxation cstab-
lished at Washington which would threaten
to cripple the local governments OF the coun-
try and impair their efficiency
The logic of this reasoning applies to the
proposed new taxes on automobiles and
gasoline as directly as to the contemplated
lowering of the limit of taxable incomes and
the increase in the rate of tax on large
fortunes, The nation is confronted by no
emergency which justifes emergency taxes
If we exhaust our domestic sources of
revenue, where can we go when a real
emergency arises and our sources of revenue
from taxation on foreign trade are closed?