New Britain herald., 1919-05-20

rapidly than would otherwise have
 been possible, the tonnage WantonIy 1 destroyed m the war. I have only to suggest that lhere are many points at Whlcn we can facilitate American
 enterprise Tn foreign trade by oppor-
 tune lcGlslallon and make it easy for American herch7ntS to go where they
 will be welcomed as friends ,ather
 than as dlpaded antagonists An,,ri-
 ca has a great and honorable service
 to perform in bringing the commercial
 and industrial undertakings of tho
 world back to their old scope and
 swing again, and putting solid
 structure of credit under them. All l
 our legislation should be friendly to !;
 such plans and purposes.
 Consider Federal Taxes.
 And credit and enterprise alko |
 will be quickcncd by timely and hclp
 full legislation with regard to taxa
 tion. I hope that the congress will l
 find it possible to undertake an carly
 reconsideration of federal taxes, in
 order to mako our system of taxa
 ton moro simple and easy of admin
 istration and the taxes themselves as
 little burdensOmc aS they can be
 made and yet sufficient to support
 the government and meet all it's Obli-
 sations. The figures to which those
 obligations have arisen are very great
 indeed. but they are not so great as
 to make ii difficult for the nation 10
 meet them, and meet them, perhaps,
 in a single generation, by taxes
 which will neither crush nor dis
 courage. These arc not so great as they seem, not so great as the n-
 mcnse sum we have had to borrow, added to the immense sums we nave had to raise by taxation, would seem to indicate; for very large propor- tion of those sums were raised in order that they might be loaned to the govcrnm with which we were associated in the war, and those loans will on the other hand constitute as- 1 sets, not liabilities, and will not have ] to be taken care of by our tax payers l Excess Profits1 Taxes Unnecessary 1 The main thing we shall have to i care for is that our taxation shall rest
 as lightly as possible on the produce 1 tive resources of the country, that it's | rates shall be stable and that it shall 1 be constant in it's revenue yielding 1 power. w" have found the main 1 sources from which it must be drawn.
 take it for granted that it's main stays will hcnccforth be the income tax, the excess profits tax and the estate tax. All these can so be Nad- justed to yield constant and adequate returns and vet not constitute a too grievOuS burden on lax payers. -A revision of the income tax has al- ready been provided for by the act of 1918 but l 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 it's collection. The excess profits tax need not long be maintained at the rates which were necessary while the enormous expenses Of tho war had to be borne: but it should be made the basis of a permanent system which will reach undue profits without discoura ging the enterprise and activity of our businessmen. The tax on inhcritanccs ought, no doubt, 10 be grcconsidcrcd Tn it's relation to the fiscal systems of tho several states, but it certainly ought to remain a permanent part of the fiscal system of the federal gov ernment also
 Can Cut Out OthCr Taxes
 Many of the minor taxes provided for in the revenue legislation of 1917 and 1918, though no doubt made nec- essarN by the pressing necessities of i the war time, can hardly find sufII- l clent Justification under the easier l circumstances of peace and can now | happily be got rid of. Among these l hope you will agree, are the cNciscs | upon various manufa cturers and the | taxes on retail sales. They arc unequal l in the incidence on different indus l tries and different individuals Their 1 collection is difficult and expensive. 1 Those which arc levied upon articles 1 sold at retail arc largely cyaded by 1 the readjustment of retail prices On l the other hand, l should assume that ! it is expedcnt to maintain a consider 1 able range of indirect taxes, and the fact that alcoholic liquors will pres l ently no longer afford a source of 1 revenue by taxation makes it tho more 1 necessary that the field should be 1 carefully re-Studied in order that equivalent sources of revenue may be l found which it will be legitimate, and 1 not burdcnsomc, to draw upon. But 1 you have at hand in the treasury de- ! partment many experts who can ad- 1 wise you upon the matters much bet l ter than I can. I can only suggest l the lines of a, permanent and workable l system, and the placing Of the taxes l where they will least hamper the life | of the people.
 "There is fortunately, no occasion 1 for undertaking in the immediate 1 future any general revision of our 1 system Of import duties. No serious 1 danger of foreign competition now 1 threatens American industries. Our
 country has emerged from the war 1 less disturbed and less weakened than any other countries which are our | competitors in manufacture. The 1 work of mcrC reconstruction will. I am afraid, tax inc capacity and the