Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1918-05-31
President In Address to Congress
Demands War Tax Revenue 4
Legislation.
QUIT POLITICS IS PLEA
Consideration Dominating Every Other
Now is Winning Of War Says
Observation-Disclosures Must -.
Be Crushed BY Taxation. .

| Washington. May 2S.-President
Wilson appeared Unexpectedly before
Congress and demanded that it re-
main In session until it has enacted
new war tax laws to finance the
growing cost of the war and prepare
the country for the burden it must
bear. He spoke as follows:
The Presidents Message.
Gentlemen Of the congress:
It is with unaffected reluctance that
come to ask you to prolong your sesA
| sion long enough to provide more ade-
| quate resources for the treasury for
the conduct of the war. I have reason
to appreciate as fully as you do how
arduous the session has been. Your
labors have been severe and protract-
ed. You have passed a long series Of
measures which required the debate
of many doubtful questions Of judg-
ment and many exceedingly difficult
questions of principle as we'll as OF
practice. The summer is upon us in
which labor AID counsel are twice ar
duous and are constantly apt to he i'm
paired by lassitude and fatigue The
elections are at hand and we ought as
soon as possible to go and render an
intimate account of our trusteeship to
the people who delegated lis to act for
them in the weighty and anxious mat
tiers that crowd upon US in these days
OF critical choiice and action. But we
dare not 60 to the elections until we
have done our duty to the full. These
are days when duty stands stark and
naked and even with closed eyes we
know It Is there. Excuses are unavail.
ing. We have either done our duty or
we have not. The fact will be as gross
and plain as duty itself. In such a
case lassitude and fatigue seem neg
ligible enough. The facts are tonic.
and suffice to freshen the labor.
Additional Taxes Needed.
And the facts are these. Additional
revenues must manifestly be provided
for. It would be most unsound policy
to raise too large q proportion Of them
by loan and It 10 evident that the four
billions now provided for by taxation
will not Of themselves sustain the
greatly enlarged budget to which we
must Immediately look forward We
cannot in fairness wait until the end
of the fiscal year IN at hand to apprise
our people of the taxes they must pay
on their earnings Of the present cal.
endar year. whose accountings and ex-
Denditures WI then be closed. We
cannot get increased taxes unless the
country knows what they are to he
ard practises the necessary economy
TO make them available. Def1niteness.
early defniteness. as to what its tasks
70 ho Is ohr tN1v &c.
the successful administration Of the
trea snry. 1t cannot frame fair ana
workable regulations in haste. And 1t
"'nst frame its REGULATIONS in haste II
It is not to know its exact task until
tho very eve of its performance.
The present tax laws are marred.
moreover by ineouities which ought to
Ne remedied. Indisputable facts. ev-
az" one: and We cannot alter or blink
t"om. To state them is argument
enough.
Would Prevent imitation.
And vet perhaps you will permit mo
to dwell for a moment upon the sit,,a-
tion they disclose. Enormous loans
freely spent in the stimulation Of in
dustry Of almost every sort produce in
flations and circumstances which pres
emily make the whole economic Strllc-
ture questionable and insecure and the
very basis Of credit is cut away Only
fair. equitably distributed taxation It
the widest incidence and drawing
chiefly from the sources which would
be likely to demoralize credit by their
very abundance. can prevent imitation
and keep our Industrial system free
from speculation and waste. We shall
naturally turn. therefore. ] suppose to
war profft1 and incomes and Injuries
for the additional taxes. But the war
profits and incomes upon which tho
Increased taxes will be levied viii
be the profits and incomes Of The cal |
cndar year 1918 It would bo mani. |
testify unfair to wait until the early
months Of 1919 to say what they are
to be.
It might be difficult, I should fmae.
inc. to FUN the mill with water that |
had already gene over tho wheel.
Politics 10 Adjourned.
That is the situation, and It 10 tho |
situation which creates tho duty, no |
choice or preference OF ours. There 10 |
only one way to meet that duty. We |
must meet it without selhshness o.
fear of consequences. Politics 10 ad- |
iourned. The elections will 20 to |
those who think least Of II, to those |
who go to the constituencies without |
or excuses, with a plain |
record Of duty faithfully and disinter. |
Vast Spells Of War Taken.
London, May 2S.-Large areas Of
have been cltared Of the