The Holbrook news., 1921-04-22

E<traVa9ance Menace to Nation.
 One cannot be unmindful that
 economy is a much employed cry most
 frequently stressed in prediction ap- lpeals, but it is ours to make it an out
 standing and ever impelling purpose
 in both legislation and administration.
 The unrestrained tendencies to heed
 less expenditure and the attending
 growth of public indebtedness, extend
 ing from federal authority to that of
 state and municipality and including
 the smallest political subdivision, con-
 Stitute the most dangerous phase of government today. The nation cannot
 restrain except in it's own activities, but it can be exemplar in a wholesome reversal. The staggering load of war debt must be cared for in orderly fund
 ing and gradual liquidation. We shall
 hasten the solution and aid effectively
 in lifting the tax burdens if we strike
 resolutely at expenditure. It is far more easily said than done.
 In the fever of war, our expendi- lures were so little questioned, the
 emergency was so impelling, appropri-
 ation was so unimpeded that we little
 noted millions and counted the treas
 ury inexhaustible It will strengthen
 our resolution if we ever keep in mind
 that a continuation of such a course
 means inevitable disaster. Our current
 expenditures are running at the rate
 of approximately five billions a year
 and the burden is unbearable. There
 are two agencies to be employed in
 correction One is rigid resistance in
 appropriation and the other is the ut most economy in administration. Let us have both. have already charged department heads with this necessity. am sure Congress will agree; and both Congress and the administration may safely count on the support of all right minded citizens, because the bur den is theirs. The pressure for ex- penditure, swelling the flow in one To- cality while draining another, is sure to defeat the imposing of just burdens and the effect of our citizenship pro- testing outlay will be wholesome and helpful. I wish it might find it's re- flex in economy and thrift among the people themselves, because therein lies quicker recovery and added secur- ity for the future.
 The estimates of receipts and ex- penditures and the statements as to | the condition of the treasury which the | secretary of the treasury is prepared | to present to you, will indicate what | revenues must be provided in order to | carry on the governments business and meet it's current requirements and fixed-debt charges. Unless there are striking cuts in the important fields of expenditure. receipts from internal taxes cannot safely be permitted to fall below $4,O00OOO,O00 in the fiscal year 1922 and 1923. This would mean to- tai internal tax collections of about one billion less than in 1920 and one half billion less than in 1921.
 Tax Adjustment Essential.
 The most substantial relief from the tax burden must come for the pres ent from the readjustment of internal taxes, and. the revision or repeal of those taxes which have become unpro- ductive and are so artificial and bur densOme as to defeat their own pur pose. A prompt and thorough going revision of the internal tax laws, made with due regard to the protection of the revenues, is in my judgment, re- quiSite to the revival of business ac- tivity in this country. It is earnestly hoped, therefore, that the Congress will be able to enact, without delay, revision of the revenue laws and such emergency tariff measures as are %o la l and industry.
 It is of less concern whether inter I nal taxation or tariff revision shall l come first than has been popularly { imagined, because we must do both, { but the practical course for earliest ac- ( cOmplishment will readily suggest it. self to the Congress. We are commit { ted to the repeal of the excess profits i tax and the abolition of ineauities t and unjustifiable exasperationsS in the t present system. z
 The country does not expect and I will not approve a shifting of burdens. i It is more interested in wiping out the C necessity for imposing them and elim- s mating confusion and cost in the col I lection. |
 Emergency Tariff Demanded.
 The urgency for an instant tariff emergency in character and q by our people that it is for | the emergency only, cannot be too a much emphasized. I believe in the O protection of American industry, and y it is our purpose to prosper America | first. The privileges of the American P market to the foreign producer are of l' fered too cheaply today, and the effect a On much of our own productivity is the destruction of our self-reliance, c which is the foundation of the inde- g )endence and good fortune of our peo- O Dle. Moreover, imports should pay o -heir fair share of our cost of gov h s
 One who values American prosperity lt md maintains American standards of II wages and living can have no sympa W thy with the proposal that easy entry a md flood of imports will cheapen our il costs of living. It Is more likely to destroy our capacity to buy. Today c American agriculture is menaced and n ts products are down to pre-war nor le