The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-21
THE BIRMINGHAM AGE-HERALD WEDNESDAY, MAY 21 1919


 department of labor. for placing mer who are seeking work and 1t can als' be done, in at least one very great field by creating new opportunities for indl- vidual enterprise. The Secretary Of tns Interior has pointed out the way <t5y which returning soldiers may be helpec to find and take up land in the<hithertC undeveloped regions of the coKntry whicf the federal government has already pre-. pared. or can readily prepare. for cult. vation and also on many of the cutover or neglected areas. whlcI lie within the limits Of the older stetes, and I onc' more take the liberty of recommending very urgently that<his plans shall re ceive the immediate and substantial sup port of the ConTfess.
 Peculiar ahd very stimulating con-
 dltions awsft our commerce and indu-
 trlal enterprise in the immediate fu-
 ture Unusual opportunities will pres
 ently present themselves to our mer-
 chants and producers in foreign mar
 kets and large fields will develop for
 profitable investment, these to be
 opened to our free capital. M
 But it is not only of that that l am thinking; it is not chiefly of that that am thinking. Many great industries prostrated by the war wait to be re- habilitated in many parts of the world, where what will be lacking is not brains, or willing hands, or organizing capacity or experienced skill, but machinery and raw materials and capital. l believe that our business men, our merchants, our manufacturers, and our capitalists, will have the vision to see that prosperity in one part of the world ministers to prosperity everywhere; that there is in very true sense solidarity of interest throughout the world of enterprise, and that our dealings with the countries that have need of our products and our money will teach them to deem US more than ever friends whose necessities we seek in the right way to serve.
 Our new merchant ships, which have in 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 serviceable to every maritime people in restoring, much more ra pidly than would otherwise have been possible. the tonnage wantonly destroyed in the war. I 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 merchants to go where they will be welcomed as friends rather than as dreaded antagonists American has a great and honorable service to perform in bringing the com mercial and industrial undertakings of the world back to their old scope and swing again, and putting a solid struc- ture of credit under them. All our leg islation should be friendly to such plans and purposes.
 SIMPLER TAXATION NEEDED
 And credit and enterprise alike
 will be quickened by timely and help
 full legislation with regard to taxa tion. I hope that the Congress will
 find it possible to undertake an early reconsideration of federal taxes, In
 order to make our system of taxation more simple and easy of administra- tion and the taxes themselves as little burdensome as they can be made and yet suffice to support the government and meet all it's obligation.
 "The figures to which those obligations have arisen are very great, indeed, bu they are not so great as to make 1t diff ficult for the nation to meet them ant meet them perhaps in a single generation by taxes which will neither crush nol discourage. These are not so great a: they seem; not so great as the immens' sums we have had to borrow, added tt the immense sums we have had to raise by taxation would seem to indicate, fo a very large proportion of those sum: were raised in order that they might b' | loaned to the governments with whici we were associated in the war, and those | loans will, of course, constitute assets not liabilities, and will not have to b' l taken care of by our taxpayers.
 l The main thing we shall have t care for is that our taxation shall res
 as lightly as possible on the productiv | resources of the country; that its rate l shall be stable and that it shall be con 1 stant in its revenue yielding power. w have found the main sources fror 1 which 1t must be drawn. 1 take it fo 1 granted that it's mainstays will hence | forth be the income tax, the exces ] profits tax, and the estate tax. All thes | can so be adjusted as to yield constan l and adequate returns and yet not con stitute too grievious burden on tn 1 taxpayer. A revision of the income ta has already been provided for by tn | act of 1918, but I think you will fin 1 that further changes can be made to ad i vantage. both in the rates of the la
 and in the method of it's collection. Tn excess profits tax need not long b maintained at the rates which wer | necessary while the enormous expense 1 of athe war had to be borne, but
 should be made the basis of perma nent system which will reach undu
 profits without discouraging the enter prise and activity of our business mer The tax on inheritances ought n {, doubt. to be reconsidered in its rela 1 tion to the fiscal systems of the severa states, but it certainly ought to remai l a permanent part of the fiscal syster
 of the federal government also.
 Many of the minor taxes provide l for in the revenue legislation of 191
 and 1918, though no doubt made nee essary by the pressing necessities 0
 the war time, can hardly find sufficien | justification under the easier circum l stances of peace, and can now happil I be got rid of. Among these. hope yo l will agree are the excises upon variou l manufactures and the tax upon retai sales. They are unequal in the incidenc I on different industries, and on differ | ent individuals. Their collection is diff ficult and expensive Those which ar ! levied upon articles sold at retail ar ! largely evaded by the readjustment 0 ] retail prices. On the other hand, should assume that it is expedient t I maintain a considerable range of indi rect taxes: and the fact that alcoholi liquors will presently no longer affor a source of revenue by taxation make ! it the more necessary that the fiel ! should be carefully studied in orde that equivalent sources of revnue ma be found which it will be legitimat,
 and not burdensome to draw upon. Blu
 you have at hand in the treasury de VIZ EVO