Milford chronicle., 1918-03-22


lively or selfishly. The money that 1t Is
n his power actually to waste is ex-
ceedingly limited The bulk OF what
be has must be spent and used for
productive purposes. just as would be
the case II It we're spent by the gov
eminent, with this difference, however,
that, generally speaking. the individual
is more palnstaking and discriminating
in the use Of his funds and at the same
time bolder, more imaginative. enter
prislng and constructive than the gov
eminent with It's necessarily bureau
cratic and routine regime possibly
could be. Money in the hands Of the
Individual ls continuously and fever.
Ishly on the search for opportunities
L E.. for creative and productive use.
In the hands Of the government 1t is
apt to lose a good deal Of its fructify-
ing energy and ceaseless striving and
to sink instead into placid and sOmnO-
lent repose.
There need not be and there should
not be any conflict between profits
and patriotism. l am utterly opposed
to those who would utilize their coun-
try's war as a means to enrich them
selves The "war profiteer," as the
term is generally understood, is a pub
lie nuisance and an ignomlny. Extor-
tIonate profits must not be tolerated.
but. on the other hand. there should
be a reasonably liberal disposition to-
ward business and a willingness to see
It make substantial earnings
For. taxation presupposes earnings.
Our credit structure is based upon
values, and values are largely deter
mined by earnings. Shrlnkage OF
values necessarily affects our capacity
to provide the government with the
sinews Of war.
The conserIptlon Of Men.
Reverting now to the subject Of the
conscrlption of men, know l 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 a man who would not
willingly go to fight If the country
needed or wanted US to fight But the
country does not want or call its en-
tire manhood to fight It does not
even call anywhere near its entire
young manhood It has called or IN
tends to call in the immediate future
perhaps 25 per cent of its 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 lmposts fall
Ing principally on the well to do, APP
prOximately ninety per cent Of our
war taxation, not to mention the con-
tributlons to the Red Cross. the z. NJ.
G. A. and other war relief activitieA
Let me add In passing that the chill.
dren Of the we'll to do have been taken
for the war In proportlonately greater
numbers than the children Of the poor,
because those young men who are need
ed at home to support dependents or to
maintain essential war industries are
exempted from the draft
Our Laws Favor Sons Of the Poor.
Tho draft exemption regulations die |
erImlnate not, az 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 burden
of the abnormally high cost Of living,
caused largely by the war. weighs heav-
lily indeed upon wage earners and still
more upon men and women with mod
crate salaries. yield to no one in my
desire to see everything done that Is
practicable to have that burden light
ened. But excessive taxation on capital
will not accomplish that; on the con.
trary. 1t will tend to intensity the trOu-
bic.
Taxation must be sound and wise
and scientific and cannot be laid in q
haphazard way or on impulse or ac-
cordIng to considerations Of politics,
otherwise the whole country viii suffer.
History has shown over and over again
that the laws Of economics cannot be
deAed with Impunity and that the re-
sultlng penalty falls upon all sections
and classes
The question Of the individual is not
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