The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-04-09
HENRY CLEWS
 WEEKLY LETTER

t
 WEEKLY LETTER
 Suspense is ended and the onl.or : etatea has definitely entered the wa, on behalf of denocracy ana poe .1S,'a fraedom. That is the one Issue which unites all nations aeaihs. e al : Herman government; for, as mas al ready been said, it IS not the r man neople against whom we are
 wa , ginr war. but its cruel submarine
 ard noi,itaristic methods. President
 wilson. however patient he may nave ,,aa,, iY, taking decisive action, has at Iast met the situation in bold ana pa tric+;c fashion. His address to con orrss will 20 down into history as one of tha strongest, ablest and loftlest { noaitical documents on recoro' aiiu
 wrill rank with some of Lincoln's most ' 5ravered addresses on great occasloHs, ?, she whole country is earnestly anu Enthusiastically behind the Presloent' aYd this war will undoubtedly pe
 n,,shed / with unrelenting v1gor.
 5 Our joining the Allies will sureiS na stan the end. There are some opti-
 u,ista who expect that host1uues VIII ana this summer, and not a 1eW are confident that the struggle Will not slast through another winter. let is would be a grave mistake to act up- on any such assumptions. we must ! nrenare for the worst. Germany ahility to withstand siege has by no . Yoaans reached the limit. She may pc feeling the intense strain upon ner aconomic. financial and polltcal sys- fem. but nations have often snoWn . ahilitv to wield the sword long aIteI tha utmost pressure had been appueo. AE, long as Germany can sustain ner armies and preserve their morale, lt
 nav Be possible for her tq be ape .to hold off her enemies both within and without; and in any event a oe- lciaive result seems impossible untli settled by conclusive victory, 1T sucn a,, assumption isIcorrect,i our govern
 ment must take up the war In earn text and prepare to send an ampie cnn+fn1ent across the Atlantic 1T an ecessary to fight with the Allies. Our flaet must cooperate, and we can render further aid by supplying nun
 itions and by helping finance the Al lies whose resources are undergoing terrific strain.
 The Administration is considering several plans of financing the war; such as pay-as-you-go as Tar as pos sssible. a big bond issue for home uses' another for foreign purposes, also the issue of short term Treasury notes. Inst how much dependence will be all llotted to these various proposals IS not vet decided; but in any event, the war means a big increase in tax .atdon. This, too, is matter or new 'Ieefslation. Various projects are all ready under discussion, such as ln- crease of the income tax, widening the limit of the same, a supertax on large incomes, a heavy increase Tn the tax on profits, taxes on coffee, tea. sugar. Revival of the stamp tax is certainly most desirable. Without attempting to discuss these different proposals, two or three definite aims should be observed. The burden should not be entirely imposed upon the present, but should be fairly shared by the future. Taxes should be distributed among all classes Tn proportipni to their ability to pay; light upon small incomes. and heav1est upon the largest incomes. At the same time, taxes on profits cannot be carried to excess without seriously discouraging enterprise. impalrlng business activity, lessening the de- mand for labor and drawing upon the principal sources of capital, which is savings. If enterprise IS stopped and savings checked, indus trial progress will also stop, to the serious detriment of the whole coun- try.
 Ordinarily war means initiation, but the evident purpose of current leg islation' and government action will be to check this as far as possible. In dustrials are not likely to be favor ably affected by proposals to tax prof its; nor are commodities likely to soar indefinitely under oppressive government regulation or the patrio- tic efforts of many large industrial concerns to sell at low prices to the government Inevitably both foreign and domestic buyers will seek similar concessions. High prices are al- ready checking consumption of many commodities, causing substitution for different articles, or switching over to inferior grades, and this tend ency will be accelerated in spots. War
 may cause a sudden and imperative
 
 demand for some articles, though in the long run consumption will not be largely increased. For some articles the demand will positively diminish. Even in steel, which goes into muni- tios more extensively than any other article, the increased demand result ing from war will be but moderate
 fraction of the total national output
 For period considerable derange- ment and activity must be expected, while industry and trade are being mobilized or adjusted to the new re- quirements. Some lines will be ex- ceedingly active; others nesitating or slowing down. Eventually the cus- tomary activities will be largely re- newed. and the nation become accus- toned to new conditions Our vari- ous commercial and financial bodies are already leading conspicuously in patriotic movements, thus affording the government all possible help. One important factor has to be taken into consideration, that is a much larger assumption of government control in industry than has ever yet been anticipated. There will be no occasion for such extreme govern ment interference as has taken place in Germany, Great Britain and other European countries because we are