Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-01-24
UNDERWOOD PLANS
FIGHT ON KLAN At
PARTY CONVENTION

CLEVELAND, Jan. 22-United
States Senator Oscar Underwood, of
Alabama, candidate for the Demo-
cratic nomination for president, in
an address here today fhUrled def
ance at the Ku Klux Khan and
served notice that he will demand
that his party in national conven-
ton next June write into its declara-
ton of principles the plank of the
Democratic platform Of 1856 de-
nouncing the know-nothing move
ment of that period.
"That declaration, my friends, is
as applicable to the Ku Klux Khan
Of today as it was to the Know
Nothings of So" he said.
Taxation of the people of America,
federal and state, is approaching
the danger point" Senator Under
wood declared, giving figures to show
that about one-eightn Of the national
income was paid to tax collectors.
The soldiers bonus, he asserted, was
the lone impediment" to tax reduc-
ton and he declared he could not
follow the mental gymnastics" of
those who advocated the bonus and
tax reduction at the same time.
In his discussion of law observance
the Alabama senator said there was
"organized defiance. against some of
the sacred guarantees of the Consti-
tuition, such as trial by jury, protec-
ton of the home, freedom of religious
worship and protection of property"
and these fundamental warran-
ties Of individual liberty, secured by
that great charter" he continued,
must fail when passion and petty
prejudice are allowed to direct the
course Of government, and when an
uprestrained mob directs the affairs
Of men instead Of even-handed justice
proceeding from courts of law"
Reduction of Taxes
In speaking for tax reduction, Sen
ator Underwood said the people were
being "overburdened by extravagant
appropriations of public moneys on
one hand and the reckless and op-
pressive leVies of taxes on the
other"
Stating that the total national in
come was estimated at SIS, ,000,-
600, Senator Underwood said that
state, local and federal taxes aggre-
gated about $1,000, 100000, or one
eighth of the peoples earnings,
while the national debt had increased
by $4,000, 900, 900.
How far we can carry the burden
and not lose our footing no one can
foretell," Senator Underwood con-
tinued. 'But the fact remains that
we are fast approaching the danger
point. and it is apparent to those
who realize the vast Importance of a
sound system of finance and stabil-
ity in business conditions that labor
must be employed and agriculture
find its markets, and that we have
reached a point where we must call
halt on any further increase in
taxation or extension of the national
credit. In my judgment there can
be but one course to pursue, and
that is to reduce taxes.
There seems to be but one imped-
iment that stands in the way Of
this much-to-be desired result, and
that is the soldiers bonus, the So
called adjusted compensation bill.
In giving consideration to the pas
sage of this measure, it must be
borne in mind that from the begin
ming of the government down to the
present day the soldiers Of every
war in which the nation has been
engaged, except the great war in
Europe, have received only Sc, 500
100000 by way of pension and al
lowances. The soldiers of the last
war already have received in COM
pensation, outside of their statutory
pay, in the neighborhood of $3,000,.
100000 in five years time.
Fav0rs Aiding Disabled
OF course, a great deal of this
expenditure has gone for the care
and maintenance of the wounded and
disabled soldiers, who are properly
entitled to the first consideration of
the government, and every one
agrees that the man who suffered
personal injuries by reason of his
patriotic service to the country
should be we'll and properly taken
care of. But the man who came
home in good health and without in
jury or loss, except the loss of time,
if it can be counted as a loss of
time to serve ones country, stands
on a very different basis from the
wounded and disabled.
eve must not forget that the
great indebtedness of the nation
coming from the recent war not only
rests as a burden on this genera
ton but on the generations to come,
and, in the end, the soldier himself
will bear the larger portion of the
taxes to pay the debt, as his span
of life runs longer than that of the
more mature men who were not
actually involved on the battlefront.
Some of those charged with gov
ernmental responsibility are public
ly proclaiming that we can reduce
taxation and at hte same time in
crease the Indebtedness of the coun-
try under a bonus bill to the extent
of $4,000,000,000 or $4,000, 100000 To
understand such a proposal requires
a degree of mental gymnastics of
which l am not capable, and do not
believe that the American people
take such a proposal seriously. The
issue is perfectly plain to my mind.
If we do not pass the bonus bill and
are economical in our expenditures,
We can reduce taxation to the eX-
tent of 100000, 900 or more. If we
pass the bonus bill, we must expect
that the burdens Of today if not the