New-York tribune., 1918-07-21

even after the last possible nen,,
has been extracted from 9TH.
sources.
Twenty billions Of revenues n.a,
individual contributions at the r.,.
of two-fifths of the average incom.
$500 per capita for the populations
Of the United States-s1 900 ner
family. The absorption of the on
tire incomes Of the well to do would
still leave an enormous deficit. Tba
rich having paid all that thew can
the poor will still have to paw all
that they can. Equally the labor
leaders and the financiers must rec.
ognize this. Hocuspocusing with
the problem will not change tex.
cepting to make it more difficult or
it's solution impossible. New dol
lars cannot be eaten by our armies
abroad OF made to serve as cannon
or powder. 1t is only the things
that we don't have here that we can
send there. No monetary thimble-
rigging will help, nor any way of
doing it by devices for not doing it
We must clear the way Of all i'm
pediments to indirect taxation. Bv
one method or another it is the
only practicable way Of reaching
the smaller incomes. These smaller
incomes have to be reached.
Time Factor in
Consumption Imposts
But whatever system of taxation
is preferable, whether by the infa-
tion of prices or by customs and
excises, the two cannot go together
without becoming iniquitous. 1t
must be one Or the other, not both
II, then, customs and excises are to
form part Of the new programme
it must be with the clear recognition
that imitation finance has been aban.
doned. And more than this. the
new taxes should be set far enough
ahead in their application. so that
wages shall have had time to catch
up with prices. This you'd mean
that the consumption taxes should
be timed to take effect at some.
thing like a six-months' interval af.
ter the commission OF the last infs.
ton.
A further tax also-not yet seri-
ously considered as war resourcs
could wisely be imposed, land
tax, and especially a tax on agri-
cultural lands, in order to reach the
farmer incomes they otherwise must
mostly escape. War profits are as
real fact in farming as in any Of
the other industries; there is the
same need of their being reached.
What Our Programme
Should Include
A wise fiscal programme will then
provide for:
CD Profits taxes TO the utmost
limit of practicability.
CD Income taxes to the limit Of
The ability to bear.
CD Customs and exeises to the
limit of pressing necessities.
CD A national ad valorem land
tax.
(5) Borrowing confined to meth
DDS automatically avoiding bank a0-
sorptions or bank support-e. 8,
war savings stamps and postal saw
ings collections.
Congress does, in fact, seem like
ly to impose greatly increased prof.
its and income taxes-somewhat TOO
leniently doubtless, and yet on the
whole commendably-and to levy
those new indirect taxes that arc
to be justified only after the indl'
rect taxes of imitation have been
abandoned, and at the same time 10
retain the imitation.
This programme, however, WINE
only partly and passably good,
still a great improvement on whS'
was accomplished last year; Is
vast advance on anything that any
other of the warning nations LID.
done; and has in it the promise u
increasing wisdom in the years "
come-the years in which, as 'n'
problem becomes increasingly oi'
ficult through the unwisdoms OF us'
lay, the errors Of the past VIII nave
made the wise way still more manF
fest.