Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-09-02
YOUNG ROBERT
FLA VS. MELLON'S
TAX CUT PLANS
War PrOfteer Should Bear
Just Proportion of
War Cost.
Continued from first page)

sponsible to their trust 1t is not safe
to rely on senators and members of
the house who have no Independent
Judgment, who wear the party collar
and do the administration bidding. l
speak from conviction bred in me by a
lifetime of close association and OBJ
ServatiOn
LaFOllette Broke Tradition.
The great service rendered by Rob
ert NJ. LaFollette was that he broke
away from these false traditions. 1t
did not matter to him what might be
the dictates of part bosses nor did
he care who welded The party lash.
Robert NJ LaFOllette was not a stand
pat Republican. He was not what
they call a regular Republican" He
was not the kind of man who let some
other man, whether he sat in the
White House or in the office of rail-
road president or in a Wall Street
banking house, do his thinking for
him.
Scores Mellon Plan.
'"What policy shall be pursued in
carrying out the reduction of federal
taxes? Shall we reduce merely the
super-taXes of wealthy individuals, or
shall we make such a reduction as will
benefit and relieve the entire body of
American taxpayers? The administra-
ton has repeatedly stated, not only
through the declaration of Secretary
Mellon but also through the speeches
of President Coolidge, that its first
concern was to reduce super taxes and
to abolish the inheritance tax which is
now levied upon estates of more than
$4,000 In his official message to con-
gress last December the president
said that business must continue free
from excess profits taxation; that sur
taxes on the larger incomes of the
country should be reduced in accord
ance with the Mellon plan. Every
device of cunning propaganda has
been used to make the average taXpay-
er believe that this program is in his
interest. Millions of dollars of public
and private money have been spent in
wholesale propaganda to mislead the
American people and make them be-
lieye that they will be benefited by
large reductions in the super taxes
levied upon multi-millionaires and by
abolishing the taxation upon great es-
tateS
Tax Exempt Wealth.
The people of Wisconsin have al
ways demanded the facts upon any
economic or political ISSUE A few
facts taken directly from the official
records of the United States treasury
department fully expose the false and
misleading character of the prOpagan-
da that has been put forth by Secre-
tary Mellon in his drive to reduce his
own and other multi-milliOnaireS' SUI
per taxes.
Last year and the year before the
principal argument that was used in
favor of the reduction of super-taxes
was the statement that wealthy indi-
Viduals who pay super-taXes were
withdrawing their wealth from pro-
ductive industry and investing it in
taX-eXempt securities. Secretary
Mellon stated repeatedly that this al
legged transfer of wealth to tax
exempt securities was not only drying
up the revenue sources of the govern
ment, but was destroying industry
Help Little Fellow.
let us see what this will mean to
the people of Wisconsin. In 1925, the
last year for which we have official
returns, there were 194050 persons
w nv IlIcldC CCuI llS. II 10 sale W say
that more than 100000 of these were
heads of families with incomes under
$4,000, or single men and women with
incomes under $500. I propose to
exempt these people of moderate and
small incomes and give the internal
revenue department chance to devote
its attention to collecting the income
tax from those who have incomes
large enough to pay the cost of collec-
ton.
'The third step in the program of
tax reduction is to reduce the super
taxes by whatever amount remains
after the abolition of the nuisance tax
es and the exemption of the first $4,000
of personal income. 1t is impossible
to estimate exactly how much this
will be, but whatever the figure is the
reduction should be applied to all
groups of super-taX payers alike.
81 believe that the rich men with
large incomes are entitled to some
further reduction from the high level
of super-taXes which were justly and
properly imposed during the war, and
/ am ready to do my part in seeing
that they receive equitable treatment
in the program of tax reduction But
[ will oppose any plan to abolish SUI
per-taXes or to reduce them below
the level dictated by the fundamental
Progressive principle that taxation
shall be in proportion to the ability
to bear the burdens
LaudS Estate Tax.
Every man whose eyes are not
blinded by his own great wealth or by
his personal and political obligations
jcr ho4 he foIn iYh nrito
tax must remain. 1t must be preserv-
ed not only in order that great wealth
shall bear its share of the cost of
government, but even more in order
that some check may be imposed upon
the growth of colossal fortunes, many
of which are already so great that
they imperil the fundamental welfare
of the nation.