The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1919-05-29

tute assets not liabilities, and will not
have to be taken care Of by our tax
payers.
The main thing we shall have to
care for is that our taxation shall
rest as lightly as possible on the pro-
ductive resources of the country, that
its rates shall be stable, and that it
shall be constant in its revenue-yield-
ing power.
MANY of the minor taxes provided
for in the federal legislation of 1917
and 1918, though no doubt made neces-
sary by the pressing necessities of the
war time, can hardly find sufficient
justification under the easier circum-
stances of peace, and can now happily
be got rid of. Among these, I hope you
will agree, are the excuses upon vari-
Gus manufactures and the taxes upon
retail sales. They are unequal in the
incidence on different industries and
on different individuals. Their cOlIec-
ton is difficult and expensive. Those
which are levied upon articles sold at
retail are largely evaded by the read
Justment Of retail prices. On the other
hand, I should assume that it is ex-
pculCnl " lildAllLStAI COItSluCA s1DAC
range of indirect taxes; and the fact
that alcoholic liquors will presently
no longer afford source of revenue
by taxation makes it the more neces-
sary that the field should be carefully
restudied in order that equivalent
sources of revenue may be found
which OF will be legitimate and not
burdenSOme to draw upon.
Import Duties Correct.
"There is, fortunately, no occasion
for undertaking in the immediate fu-
ture, any general revision of our sys-
tenn of import duties. No serious dan
ger of foreign competition now threat
ems American industries. Our country
has emerged from the war less dis
turbed and less weakened than any of
the European countries which are our
competitors in manufacture. So far
from there being any danger or need
of accumulated foreign competition, it
is likely that the conditions of the
next few years will greatly facilitate
the marketing of American manufac-
lures abroad. Least of all should we
depart from the policy adopted in the
tariff act of 1913, of permitting the
free entry into the United States of
the raw materials needed TO supple
ment and enrich our own abundant
supplies.
Asks Woman Suffrage.
''Will you not permit me, turning
from these matters, to speak once
more, and very earnestly, of the pro-
posed amendment to the Constitution
which would extend the suffrage to
women and which passed the house
of representatives at the last session
of the congress? 1t seems TO me that
every consideration of justice and OF
| public advantage calls for the imme-
date adoption of that amendment and
! its submission forthwith to the Iegis-
latures of the several states. Through
out all the world this 1Ong-deIayed ex-
tension of the suffrage is looked for.
'The telegraph and telephone lines
will, Of course, be returned to their
owners so soon as the retranSfer can
be effected without administrative
confusion; so soon that is, as the
change can be made with least pos
| sible inconvenience to the public and
| to the owners themselves. The rail-
roads will be handed over to their
owners at the end of the calendar
| year; if I were in immediate contact
with the administrative questions
| which must govern the retranSfer of
the telegraph and telephone lines, I
| could name the exact date for their re-
turn also. Until 1 am in direct con-
tact with the practical questions in
vOlved l can only suggest in the case
| e IL
in the case of their railways, it is
clearly desirable in the public inter
est that some legislation should be
considered which may tend to make
of these Indispensable Instrumental
tiles of our modern life a uniform and
| cO-Ordinated system which will afford
those who use them q complete and
certain means of communication.
1.-The rehabilitation of the military
forces of the country has progressed
to such point that it seems to me en-
tirely safe now to remove the ban up-
on the manufacture and sale of wine
and beers, but I am advised that with
out further legislation 1 have not the
legal authority to remove the present
restrictions. I therefore recommend
lAldl lEAC att dppIONeu November IL
1918. entitled, AN act to entftIe the
secretary of agriculture to carry out
during the fiscal year ending June 80
1919, the purposes of the act entitled
"an act TO provide further for the ma
tionaI security and defense by stimu-
| Iating and facilitating the distribution
of agricultural products" and for
other purposes be amended or re-
pealed in so far as it applies to wines
and beers
81 sincerely trust that I shall very
soon be at my post in Washington
again to report upon the matters
which made my presence at the peace
| table apparently imperative, and to
put myself at the service of the con-
gress in every matter of administra-
| ton or counsel that may seem to de-
mand executive action or advice.
WOODROW WILSON"
father and sOn-were concerned. One
4 -