Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1918-03-29

Inc ricn nldn Gun openu only rein
lively small sum OF money unprodnc.
lively or selfshly The money that Il IL
In his power actually to waste II ex.
ceedingly limited. The bull ~ what
lie has must be spent and used for
productive purposes, just as would he
the case II II were spent by the gov
eminent, with this difference. however,
that. generally speaking, the individual
Is more palnstaking and discrimina ting
In the use of his funds and at the same
time holder. more imaginative, enter
prisinf and constructive than the gov.
eminent with Its necessarily bureau
cratic and routine regime possibly
could be. Money In the hands of the
Individual Is continuously and fever
ishly OF the search nor opportunities
II g. for creative and productive use.
In the hands of the government II is apt
to lose a good deal of Its fructifying
energy and ceaseles, striving and to
sink instead into placid and somnolent
repose.
There need moi bt and there should
not be any conflict between profits
and patriotism | am utterly opposed
to those who would utilize their coun
try's war as a means to enrich them
selves. The "war prof1teer," as the
term Is generally understood. Ii q pub
lie nuisance and an ignomlny. Extor.
tionate profits must not be tolerated,
but, on the other hand, there should
be a rea sonably liberal disposition to
ward business and a willingness to see
II make substantial earnings
For taxation presupposes earnings
Om credit structure is based upon
values, and values are largely deter
mined by earnings Shrinkage of
values necessarily affects om capacity
to provide tho government with the
sinews of war
The CONSUMPTION OF Men.
Reverting now to the subject Of the
conscription of men, know } speak
the sentiment of all those beyond the
years of young manhood when ] say
that there Is not one of US worthy Of
the name Of man who would not
willingly 60 to fight II the country
needed or wanted us to fight But the
country does no. want or COLL Its en-.
tire manhood to fight II does not
ever call anywhere near Its entire
| young manhood. II has called or In
| tends to call In the immediate future
perhaps 25 per cent of It's men be-
tween twenty and thirty years of age.
which means probably about 4 per
cent Of its total male population OF all
ages But II has called from incomes,
business profits and other imposts fall.
ing principally on the well to do ap-
proximately ninety per cent OF our
war taxation, not to mention the con-
tributions to the Red Cross, the Y. NJ.
| Q. A. and other war relief activities.
Let me add In passing that the chill.
dren Of the we'll to do have been taken
for the war In proportionateIy greater
numbers than the children Of the poor,
because those young men who are
needed at home to support dependents
or to maintain essential war industries
are exempted from the draft
Our Laws Favor Sons OF the Poor
The draft exemption regulations die
eliminate not as In former wars, In
favor OF the rich mans son, but In
favor Of the poor woman's son.
realize but too well that the bur
den of the abnormally high cost of
living. caused largely by the war.
weighs heavily indeed upon wage earn
ers and still more upon men and wo-
| mtD Will odidTlt6 y1elO
to no one In my desire to see every.
thing done that Is practicable to have
that burden lightened. But excessive
taxation on capital will not accom-.
plish that; on the contrary. II will
tend to intensity the trouble.
Taxation must be sound and wise
and scientific and cannot be laid In q
haphazard way or on impulse or &C
cording to considerations of politics,
otherwise the whole country will SUI.
fer. History has shown over and over
again that the laws Of economics can
not be deied with impunity and that
the resulting penalty falls upon all
sections and classes
The auasfion Of the individual IN n0f