The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 3, 1921, Page 4

who force up rents and who hold vast tracts of land for speculation, would be a good thing. The Keller bills do make an attempt, by certain exemptions, to prevent the land value tax from hitting farm- ers but at the same time it attempts to make it certain that land speculators, rent hogs and land monopolists do pay what they should. Congressman Keller claims that only about 4 per cent of the working farmers of the nation would pay any tax at all under his bill, and these would be only the biggest farm land owners, mostly wealthy men who have retired and do not actually do any: farm work themselves. v However, whether the Keller bills make sufficient exemption for actual working farmers, is something for the farmers to study before they indorse the bills. Mr. Lord thinks the exemptions are sufficient, as do a large number of Nonpartisan league farmers who have studied the question. A group of progressive farmers, some of them prominently known nationally as leaders of farm reform, lfigfire organized the Farmers’ Federal Tax league to press the Keller ills. : : The Leader is in favor of some kind of a land values tax that will hit the land speculator and monopolist but at the same time protect actual working farmers from having to stand any more tax burden. God knows farmers’ taxes now are too high. We believe in such legislation because we know that land speculation causes high rents and thus absorbs a large part of the profits of share farmers or renters, and also absorbs so much of the*income of city people that they have little left to purchase farm products, thus materially injuring the farmers’ market. We- also believe that natural resources like coal should be forced out of the hands of monopolists by taxes that will force these resources to-be developed, - thus cheapening coal and similar products to the people. It will not be disputed by any one, we think, that land speculators and monop- olists do not pay the taxes they should, thus forcing producers'to bear an unfair share of the burden. : : Farmers can not do better than to study the Keller bills and all similar propositions offered to meet these evils. Eventually there will be evolved legislation which all progressives and producers can get back of, and when that time comes, if indeed it is not now,-we will at last be ready to take a step that will do more to emancipate humanity than any one thing that comes to our mind at this writing. UNDREDS of years ago England made the army and navy subservient to the civil power, and provided that the heads of the army and navy should not be military or naval mem Experience had proved that it was dangerous to trust a military - man with the supreme command of the army, because he would run the army in the interests of militarists instead of the whole people. This system was so sound that the forefathers of our country adopted it.-when our Constitution was written. The president of the United States was made the commander-in-chief of our army and navy, and the president is an elective officer and with few exceptions not a military man. The president handles the army and navy through two appointees, the secretaries of war and navy, who are civilians and not-military or naval men. : : Undoubtedly when it was first proposed to make the military power subservient to the civil power and put the army under a civilian instead of a military man, opponents of the plan said: Dangerous to Give Bankers Such Power . .The Nonpartisan leagueas it exists today is the result of nearly seven years’ work and expenditure of time, money and energy by the farmers of the United States. It has been a gigantic task to get to this point of develop- ment a progressive farmers’ organization which proposes fundamental reforms. Prob- ably, during these seven years, 400,000 differ- ent farmers at one time or another have been members, received League publications and been convinced that the League program is right. But this has been only a beginning. The League today is as strong as ever in numbers, and much stronger than it ever was in influ- ence and prestige, because it has demonstrated to everybody its ability to live through opposi- tion and crises that would have wrecked any DON'T BE A SLACKER! . PAGE FOUR , = “What? Would you try to have someone who is not an army man run the army? Who knows better how to handle the military es- tablishment than a milit man?” But sound reasons made it foolish to give the final authority to military men. : Sei Later England applied the same principle to its financial sys- tem. The Bank of England, the central government bank,’is man- aged by a board composed of men who are not bankers. It was found unsafe to let bankers run the government’s finances. Why? Because they would run them in the interest of bankers rather than - in the interest of the whole country. g c While we here in America have applied this English principle to our army and navy we have not applied it to our financial system. The Federal Reserve board, which controls the money and credit of the country, is composed of bankers exclusively, giving the banks a . sinister monopoly. The result is, as shown by John Lord in his Leader articles, that our financial system is operated to protect banks and financiers and give them eyery advantage at the expense " of -business men, farmers and workers. Our financial system can not be reformed until bankers are kicked out of control of the federal reserve system. We can use the best bankers and best banking brains to handle the details, and we can benefit from their advice as to general financial policies, just as the president and secretary of war use military men, but, as with the army, the actual final confrol of the system must be in other hands than those who use it or would use it for selfish class in- terests. g EMOCRATS in congress are doing good work in showing up the iniquities of the new tax bills being put through by the Republicans. The press has minimized the criticisms of the bill by the Democrats. There is no doubt whatever that if the gen- eral public was familiar with the telling points made by the Demo- - cratic and progressive Republican-congressmen there would be a “holler” that would give the Republican plunderbund - pause. ls)figlvg %elp We have before us a speech by Congressman Wil- p liam A. Oldfield of Arkansas, Democrat, against the Tax Steal rew income tax provisions and-the repeal of the ex- cess profits tax. It is not a “canned” speech, written . and inserted in the Congressional Record without being delivered on the floor, but an actual stenographic report of the debate on the bill. Mr. Oldfield would doubtless be glad to send copies to Leader read- ers who write him, addressing him at Washington, D. C. Mr. Oldfield shows how the Republicans are failing to tax the. privilege of corporations to issue stock dividends, which during the last year would alone have brought in a revenue to Uncle. Sam of $300,000,000. Stock dividends are a method of paying dividends resorted to by corporations to avoid payment of income tax on reg- ular dividends. While the supreme court has ruled that stock divi- dends are not “income” and can not be taxed as such, Mr. Oldfield shows they can be taxed through a privilege tax. He also shows in figures exactly how the Republicans are taking income taxes off wealthy individuals and profiteering corporations and placing an additional-burden on the ordinary farmer and workman. He says that when the facts are known it will wreck the Republican party. That may be a strong statement, but certainly the tax bills as pro- posed are the most unfair effert to protect the rich at the expense of the people that has been made in congress in some years. i similar organization ever formed. Today the League is needed more than ever. There never was a time when farmers needed a fear- less, fighting -organization more. Will the farmers fail to support their organization now that it has been built to a point where it is in a position to do them the most good? The Leader believes the answer to that question is “no.” It would be folly to abandon a machine that has just been built and perfected. But.during the next few weeks the farmers themselves will give the answer in the way they renew their memberships and pay their post-dated checks. Have YOU made your plans to do YOUR duty by your organization, that it may continue to | fight your battles? If not, doso atonce; There is no other way for farmers to win. = T ]~