The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-11-22
War Taxation.

Sir--The kaiser and his pirate crew |
must be hung by the neck, literally
and not figuratively. or the moral law
will not be vindicated and the fact
made apparent to the world that a
royal skin cannot save n murderer, 4
rca,ber or a. raper. incidentally, II IS
our business to make America safe
for Americans without sleeping on
their gun carriages for the next CEN
tury: and unless we help to hunt the
Hun off Of the face OF the earth, that
is what ii would come to.
Meanwhile ii would be well for us
to stop and think moment before
going on with this taxation business
which, on the one hand cuts Off prot
its needed for the expansion of pro-
duction imperative TO replace the
waste of the war and beat the boche
at the earliest moment; and on the
other piles up billions a year Of war
bond interest, to act later as a lever
age for social unrest and the lining OF
the pockets of Socialist and |. w. ".
leaders.
Neither confiscation of profits by
| tn nation, or any taxation, direct, at all,
| for that matter. nor bond issues. are
necessary to help Uncle Sam to all
the supplies for the war he wants, ii
the United states holds them. The
war bonds are said to be collateralized
and to rest on the pledge OF redemp-
| ton made good by all the property in
| the United States. II that is so, Uncle
| Sans certificates. issued right off the
| reel without tax and war bond cir
! cumlocution. would be collaterallzed
| BY the same property. would be Just as
| authoritative and effective and could
| be used to bring the supplies imme-
| diately, without the dangerous delays
| involved in these slow. extraNagant
/ and wasteful methods of first getting
i money to get goods. Let these cefu-
| ficates be good to bearer down to the
| end of time and be in all trade de-
| nominations from 81 up and be the
| equivalent of peremptory sight drafts
| against any goods offered for sale in
| the public market, to the full face
| value of the certificates, in such
| goods, at current prices and carry a
| stiff penalty for dishonor. In effect,
| by exchanging these certificates for
|
to the bearers thereof in succession,
the power he had to levy contributions
Of supplies from us all alike, the only
difference being in the operation OF the
plan. which, instead of first getting
the contribution OF each OF MS through
leyying taxes or selling his bonds,
would give Uncle Sam the supplies in
lump wherever he wanted to take
| them and would relegate the contri-
buttons by all directly to goods them
| selves as held by each, such cOntrl-
| button being merely in the way OF q
pro rata reimbursement of the parties
from whom the lump contribution
would have been made. This scheme
would impartially distribute over all
the people the war burden until ii was
felt, not in taxation for interest bear
, ing bonds or the snatching of profits,
but only in the increased price OF
, supplies reduced by the war draft;
and, il war profits were not disturbed,
but allowed to do their natural work.
| the inducement to production would
r soon offset the earth from our bound
| less natural resources; or the increase
in price could be easily offset by in-
creasng the earning power of our
people through embargoes and high
tariffs on imports, which would trans
: fer to our own producers some three
, | billion dollars worth of product orders
| now being filled abroad yearly under
the low tariffs. This is the way Eng
J land has euualiZed the war burden t
: her people. Ask your readers what
e they think of it.
q r. A. BENEDICT.