The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, June 17, 1918, Page 4

the hot weather, the southern camps have a health average far above that of the average section of the United States, either city or country, and the authorities intend to keep them that way. SEND YOUR /BOYS EATS AND LETTERS . It is pretty hard on the individual soldier, though, to know that right around the corner is a canteen, where he can buy unlimited ice cream, and not to have the chance, or to have some fnend in town that he wants to see, and not be allowed to go in. It is especially hard because during the first two weeks of a camp the mess isn’t at its best, the mess sergeant usually trying to make some saving from his allowance so that he will have surplus funds to work on a little later. It is during this two weeks’ period that packages from home with home-made “eats” in them, will be particularly appreciated. But don’t imagine, when you make up a package for John or Henry, that he is going to eat it all. Make it big enough for eight Johns and Henrys, because there are gomg to be'that many in each tent, and they are gomg to see‘that they get their share, just as your boy is going to see that he gets his share of whatever comes for them. And if anything is more appreciated than pack- ages of eats, if that is at all possible, it is letters and newspapers from home. There is a mail line twice a day, generally, and it is a pretty blue look- ing fellow who goes for a couple of days without hearing his name called out by the mail clerk. And (Contlnued on page 22) President Wilson on Paymg as We Go Backed by the Nonpartisan League, Conscription of the Profiteers Is Being - Forced Upon a Reluctant and Fearful Congress BY A. B. GILBERT RESIDENT WILSON has again spoken for high taxation. His message to con- - gress May 27 puts squarely up to that body the issue of higher taxes on <war profits and swollen incomes, the issue on which the Nonpartisan league has been pounding away in spite of the propaganda and persecu- tion of big business since we entered the war. Many will recall that the president made virtually the same demands in his speech announcing our declaration of war but public opinion was not suf- ficiently crystalized at that time to force congress to follow the president closely in his advice. On April 2, 1917, he said: “It will involve also, of course, the granting of adequate credits to the government, sustained, I hope, so far as they can be equitably sustained by the present generation, by well con- ceived taxation. I say sustained so far as may be equitable by taxation because it seems to me that it would be most unwise to base the credits which will be necessary en- tirely on money borrowed. THE FARMERS WITH THE PRESIDENT “It is our duty, I most respectfully urge, to protect our people so far as we may against the very serious hard- ships and evils which would be likely to arise out of the inflation which would be produced by vast loans.” Long before our declaration of war the Nonpartisan league had taken a determined stand against the “prof- iteering which was bleeding the Allies and -our people at home, and June 7, 1917, it adopted resolutions calling for conscription of all war profits as a means of financing the war. This de- mand was repeated in the resolutions adopted by the conference of organ- ized farmers and workers in St.- Paul in September, 1917, and again at the state conventions in the spring of lQlfiz No one can seriously hold that thesef demands are not within a fair efpretation of equitable taxation. That the president would consider the taking of all war profits as equitable is indicated by a key statement in his recent message: “Profiteering that can not be got at by restraints of conscience and love of country, can be got at by taxation.” LEAGUE HAS CRYSTALIZED PUBLIC OPINION Through months of persistent agi- tation for taking war profits, the Non- partisan league has helped greatly to build up /sentiment to support the president in his last appeal for ending profiteering, with the result that con- gress is now.,likely to go much further than it did previously. The organized farmers have thus.rendered a service beyond estimation to their country. No congressman: from the Northwest, at least, will dare to come back for re- election unless he has- stood for high taxation of war profits and big incomes. The amount of abnormal profits in the year 1917 . The whole world is familiar with the face and words of President Wilson. Com- mon people everywhere indorse his stand agamst junkerdom at home and abroad.. Read the story on this page of how he is forcing congress to line up for a ;ust plln of tantion to pay for the war. Read it and think how he is. testing the patriotlsm of the profiteers. e | PAGE FOUR due directly to war conditions, could not have been less than $6,000,000,000 and probably was a great deal more. Nearly every big business corporation engaged in war work equalled or sur- passed its great 1916 earnings in spite of the war profits taxes. The taxes on war profits.and incomes in 1917 . yielded only about $2,775,000,000. In- heritance taxes on estates brought in a little over $50,000,000. R@presenta- tive Kitchin, the house leader who will the new taxation measure, declares that from three to four billions can be added to the tax revenue. He and other leaders express themselves as planning to raise about six billions from incomes, war profits and in- heritances and two billions from lux- uries and miscellaneous sopurces, or eight billion dollars altogether. But mild as this tax program is and even though it falls considerably short of the amount which would be raised if the principles announced by the president were to -be followed rigor- ously, the profiteers will undoubtedly make a vicious fight to compromise. Anticipating this fight the president says: “If lobbyists hurry to Washing- ton to attempt to turn what you do in the matter of taxation to their protec- tion or advantage, the light will beat upon them also. There is abundant fuel for the light in the records of the treasury with regard to profits of every sort.” PRESENT WAR PROFITS TAXES big business did when the present war profits taxes were up for considera- tion. Not only did the lobbyists over- whelm congress, but the kept press made a tremendous furor against every congressman who dared to stand for high taxation. The result was that we got a war profits tax which takes on the average only 31 per cent of the war profits above the generous minimum of about-9 per cent. The bill which proposed an 80 per cent rate, the rate in force in England, was de- feated in the senate by-a voté of 65 ‘to 15. The Hollis amendment propos- ing only a 50 per cent tax lost by a vote of 52 to 18. These figures on the voting a year ago show what oppo- sition must be overcome to get a strong war tax measure through. and FROM THE PLAIN PEOPLE. The present law, in fact, is not a real war tax measure at all in that it levies on all profits. above the minimum ‘whether they are due to the war or not. On the other hand many heavy consumption taxes which fall finally on the poor were levied—for instance post and express. TAXATION . AND PRICES checked by taxation alone, for so long crease prices they will charge the have a very important part in writing - The fmegomg states exactly what Y THE NEED OF MORE PRESSURE - on freight, passenger tickets, pm'cels ‘ The experience of the last year. shows that profiteering can not - be! as the big corporations are free to in~ 3 buyers enough to cover the extra taxes '