Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1918-03-23


eeedingly limited. The bulk II what
he has must be spent and used for
productive purposes, just as would be
the case II II were spent by the gov.
eminent, with this difference, however,
that generally speaking, the individual
10 more painstaKing and discriminating
In the use OF his funds and at the SAINT
time holder, more imaginative, enter
prising 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 on the search for opportunities
- e., for creative and productive use,
In the hands Of the government II is apt
10 lose a good deal OF Its frnctifying
energy and ceaseless striving and to
sink instead into placid and somnolent
repose.
There need not be 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 q means to enrich them.
selves, The war profiteer," as the
term is generally understood, is pub
lie nuisance and an ignominy, Extor-
tionate profits must not be tolerated
but, on the other hand. there should
be a reasonably liberal disposition to-
ward business and willingness to see
1t make substantial earnings.
For. taxation presupposes earnings.
Our credit structure lie based upon
values, and values are largely deter
mined by earnings Shrinkage OF
values necessarily affects our capacity
to provide the government with the
sinews of war
The Consumption Of Men.
Reverting now to the subject of the
CONSUMPTION 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 go to fight II the country
needed or wanted us TO fight. But the
country does not want or call Its en-
tire manhood to fight 1t does no,
even call anywhere near It's entire
young manhood. 1t has called or In
tends to call In the immediate future
perhaps Is 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 1t has called from incomes,
business profits and other imposts fall.
ing principally on the well to de- ap.
proximately ninety per cent. OF our
war taxation, not to mention the con.
tributions to the Red Cross, the Y. NJ
G. 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 scns Of the Poor
The draft exemption regulations dis
eliminate not. 40 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-
men with moderate salaries. | yield
to no one in my desire to see every
thing done IT,, is practicable to have
that burden lightened. But excessive
taxation on capital will not accom-
plish that; on the contrary, 1t will
tend to intensity the trouble.
Taxation must be sound and wise
and scientific and cannot be laid In a
haphazard way or on impulse or &C.
cording to. considerations of politics,
otherwise the whole country will suf-
fer. History has shown over and over
again that the laws of economics can.
net be defed with IMMUNITY and thai
the resulting penalty falls upon all
sections and classes.
The question of the individual IL not
the one that counts The question is
not what sacrifices capital should and
would be willing to bear II called upon,
but what taxes 1t Ia to the public sd-
vantage to impose,
! do not say all this to plead for
reduction of the taxation on wealth or