New Britain herald., 1917-02-03

derS after the war, especially for the 1nnumerable forms of steel products in which Americans are particularly skilled
 Previous to Germany's last subma- rlne note, the market was more or less
 unsettled by peace prospects, the leak investigation, the proposal to tax prof. it's exceeding S9o and the indifference of Washington to needs of the rail- 1 roads. AS to the leak investigation,
 nothing of much importance has thus far been divulged, and the results seem very inconsequential when com-
 pared with the tremendous efforts to l unearth some morsel of scandal. So much Tor political animus which was self apparent on both sides, the whole affalr being undignified and unworthy
 the noisy attention it received from a great government. The proposa1 to
 tax profits in excess of S% is a more serious matter than generally realized and again illustrates how often legis- latlon Is prompted by prejudice rather than reason. This tax should receive
 universal protest. It is unjust be- cause it aims at class; it is also
 highly sectional because some repre- sentatives openly support it on the
 ground that the tax will be paid by other constituencies than their own This is downright dishonesty. The tax IS necessarily too. inquisitorial, and would operate with much harsh ness upon innum erable small &con-
 rerns, especially retailers. whose risks entltle them to over SGo; it discour- ages enterprise because it is unfair to the numerous establishments which spent many profitless years to estab- hsi themselves in the hope Of aver aging up in later years.
 further, an excess profits tax is un- scientific because it is clumsy and unrellable The most suitable sys- tenn of taxation. the least felt and 1 the least costly is the stamp tax, which can be easily applied in many | directions and with the slightest in- convenience to all concerned. The most serious objection to the profits | tax is it's instability, because in times | Of great prosperity like the present such revenue would be unduly swol- len, tempting all sorts of official ex- 1 travagance; while in case of business depression 1t would produce much less revenue, and the loss and un- certainty would inevitably em barrass the government, especially with such great and steady expenses as pre- paredness and other possibilities must 1 involve. No form of taxation could be more unstable than the excess
 profits system, which makes it a de- fective method for a great govern ment like the United States to de- pend upon. At the critical moment
 it would be most likely to fail. Sure
 ly our legislators are wise enough
 r0f fn
 which threatens to become law sim
 ply through lack of public protest.
 An uncertain and feverish stock
 market must be expected. It's techni-
 cal position has been much strength
 ened, however, by the present heavy
 liquidation; also by the previous
 peace leak semi-panic liquidation;
 but the probability of severing diplo- matic relations with Germany and the possibility of war following are disturbing factors. To this country a war merely against submarines would not be so very serious in its conse quences, as Germany is not likely to send her dreadnaughts here to meet the fate which Happened to the Span 1sh fleet a few years ago. In all probability pea ce will be hastened by our entry. Naval activity outside of preparedness would continue some months before any extensive military movement could be depended upon. A large war loan and increased taxa ton would be inevitable. The bank ing community, however. view the situation win composure, confident in the wisdom and strength of our government as well as in the re- sources and patriotism of the Ameri- can people.
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