The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1919-05-30

| uCtS anu our money Will IedCu llelli
| to deem us more than ever friends
whose necessities we seek in the right
way to serve.
Our Merchant Marine.
Our new merchant ships, which have
| i'll some quarters been feared as de-
structive rivals, may prove helpful
rivals, rather, and common servants,
very much needed and very welcome.
Our great shipyards, new and old, will
be so opened to the use of the world
that they will prove immensely serv-
| iceable to every maritime people in
restoring, much more rapidly than
would otherwise have been possible
| the tonnage wantonly destroyed in
| the war. l have only to suggest that
| there are many points at which we
can facilitate American enterprise in
| foreign trade by opportune legislation
and make it easy for American mer-
chants to go where they will be well
coined as friends rather than as dread
ed antagonists. America has a great
and honorable service to perform in
bringing the commercial and indus
trial undertakings Of the world back
to the old scope and swing again, and
putting a solid structure of credit un-
der them. All our legislation should
be friendly to such plans and purposes
Taxation Legislation.
And credit and enterprise alike will
be quickened by timely and helpful
legislation with regard to taxation. I
hope that the Congress will find it
possible to undertake an early recon-
sideration of federal taxes in order
to make our system of taxation more
simple and easy of administration and
the taxes themselves as little burden
some as they can be made and yet
suffice to support the government and
meet all its obligations. The figures
to which these obligations have arisen
are very great indeed, but they are
not so great as to make it difficult for
the nation to meet them, and meet
them, perhaps, in a single generation,
by taxes which will neither crush nor
discourage These are not so great as
they seem, not so great as the i'm
mense sums we have. had to borrow,
added to the immense sums we have
had to raise by taxation, would seem
to Indicate; for a large proportion of
those sums were raised in order that
they might be loaned to the govern
ments. with which we were associated
in the war, and those loans will of
course constitute assets, not liabili-
ties, and will not have to be taken care
of by our taxpayers.
The main thing we shall have to
care for is that ops taxation shall rest
as lightly as possible on the produc-
tive resources of the country, that its
rates shall be stable, and that it shall
be constant in its revenue yielding
power. We have found the main
sources from which it must be drawn.
1 take it for granted that it's main
stays will henceforth be the income
tax, the excess profits tax, and the
estate tax All these can so be ad-
justed to yield constant and adequate
returns and yet not constitute too
grevious burden on the taxpayer. A
revision of the income tax has al
ready been provided for by the act
of 1918, but I think you will find that
further changes can be made to ad-
vantage both in the rates of the tax
and in the method of its collection.
The excess profits tax need not long
be maintained at the rates which were
necessary while the enormous expenses
of the war had to be borne; but it
should be made the basis of q perma-
nent system which will reach undue
profits without discouraging the en-
terprise and activity Of our business
men. The tax on inheritances ought,
no doubt, to be reconsidered in its
relation to the fiscal systems of the
several states, but it certainly ought
to remain a permanent part of the
fiscal system of the federal govern
ment also.
Many of the minor taxes provided
for in the revenue legislation of 1917
and 1918, though no doubt made neces-
sary by the pressing necessities of
the war time, can hardly find suffi-
cient justification under the easier
circumstances of peace, and can now
happily be got rid of. Among these,
1 hope you will agree, are the ex-
the taxes upon retail sales. They are
unequal in the incidence on different
industries and on different individuals
Their collection is difficult and eXpen-
sive. Those which are levied upon ar
ticles sold at retail are largely evaded
by the readjustment of retail prices.
On the other hand, / should assume
that it is expedient to maintain a con-
siderable range of indirect taxes; and
the fact that alcoholic liquors will
presently no longer afford a source of
revenue by taxation makes it the more
necessary that the field should be care
fully restudied in order that equivalent
sources of revenue may be found which
it will be legitimate, and not burden
some, to draw upon. But you have
at hand in the treasury department
many experts who can advise you
upon the matters much better than I
can. l can only suggest the lines of
q permanent and workable system,
and the placing of the taxes where
they will least hamper the life of the
people.
No Dangerous Foreign Competition.
There is. fortunately, no occasion
for undertaking in the immediate fu-
ture any general revision of our sys-
tenn of import duties. No serious
danger Of foreign competition now
threatens American industries. Our
country has emerged from the war less
disturbed and less weakened than any
of the European countries which are
our competitors in manufacture Their
industrial establishments have been
subjected to greater strain than ours,
their labor force to a more serious dis
organization, and this is clearly not
the time to seek an organized advan-
tage. The work of mere reconstruc-
ton will, l am afraid, tax the capacity
and the resources of their people for
SERVE THE GERMANS RIGHT.