Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-25

'ne nour lS the surest and safest course 10
bring about a speedy and successful ter
mination of the war.
Taxes Follow Fast
Taxes will now follow fast upon the heels
Of war. The President must be backed by
men and money. and the thought prevails
that II money in sufficient quantity is raised
Immediately the necessity for sending troops
abroad may not be so insistent, Raising
the money and lending it to the European
Allies will at least strengthen them until
American soldiers can be properly trained
and equipped for work in the field. The loan
bills have passed the problem of taxation
arises and the first step will be to raise
Upward of $500, 0O0. 900 by direct taxes to
meet In part the 50 900 000, 900 of certificates
OF Indebtedness authorized for pressing war
demands. The Secretary of the Treasury
has submitted certain suggestions TO the
Ways and Means Committee of the House
which will proceed at once to frame a bill
putting these and other suggestions into
erect. As was to be expected the income
tax and the excess profits tax are to be in
creased Stamp taxes and a variety of
other sources. from glucose to gasoline are
to be tapped Automobiles. musical instru
ments and theatre tickets are not to escape
Liquor and tobacco, TRANSFORMATION and
freight receipts are TO be included Most
sighlhcant OF the Secretary's suggestions
however, are those relating to imports
Revenue is to be raised upon hides. WOOL
crude rubber, cotton and many other ar
ticles, some of which have been conspicuous
on the Democratic free list The proposed
tax on coffee and tea is new, these house,
hold commodities having enjoyed long pc
riod of exemption in tariff measures.
THE Other Fellow" Preferred
The Secretary's recommendations which
are not necessarily final, have produced an
avalanche Of protest. just as there are
plenty Of hints from enthusiastic patriots
that their wives relatives" should enlist
so there is no limit to the commercial pa
! trio's who are now coming forward to ex-
plain why they ought not to be taxed and
why some other fellow should be- The
out-and-out army man favors conscrlpton
as scientific military proposition. He is
cold-blooded about it. because he knows
the men are needed ir. the service The
national guardsman. 3 : rule fayors con-
scrption, because T. is not a square deal
for him to make sacrifice as a volunteer
while able-boded men remain behind to
reap the profits of war or to look after the
widows and orphans. In the matter of
taxes, business men are beginning to real
ize that they must be met only some of
them are insisting that they should be uni
versal and should be passed on down the
line with no favorites, just as conscription
is expected to play no favorites with men,
There few large producers who are
not saying much, including the cotton raiser
and the grain grower. Each OF these has
been doing very well exports, but is
rather inclined to put the taxes on the big
Industries not directly allied to the farm
Moreover. the Constitution forbids a tax on
exports, so that cotton and grain going out
of the country will have to be reached in
some other way than through the custom
house, il reached at ALL
Some Stray Tax Suggestions
While there is no present prospect Of a
tariff bill, the tariff is likely to figure In
the tax debate. The Treasury Secretary's
recommendations are or themselves sur
fcient I'd start something on this line. Take
wool, for instance. Wool has always been
a good taxpayer when subjected to tariff.
Under the protective system it is good for
approximately $10,000.000 per annum.
which is the amount the Secretary thinks
we could now raise raw wool imports.
Republicans will probably not object to
placing wool back on the dutiable list. from
which it was taken by the Underwood law.
The climate of Australia is more favorable
for raising wool than the climate of Mon
tana and 1t can be raised there less ex-
pensively, so that the American WOOL
raw wool, even IL the Democrats should be
responsible for It, The wool question, how
ever, has induced many side suggestions,
| one of which Is that IL the United States Is
| to compete fairly with England for the
| wool trade 1t will be necessary to impose
| a tax on dogs. Dogs are the natural
| enemies of sheep and have SO discouraged
American farmers that the sheep industry
| has been seriously affected in this country.
| The dog tax may be regarded as frivolous
| for the moment, but sheep herders do not
| so regard 1t. since many OF them are out
spoken in the belief that the dog is as
preJudicial to the sheep industry as is free
| trade itself. A dog tax in war times comes
| along in better faith, perhaps, than that
| other suggestion that bachelors shall be
| first conscripted for war service. since to
| remain in the single state is a direct chaI-
| lenge to civilization
| Cation Co1ld Heln