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Show BURDEN OF TAXATION. The administration has completed plans for raising an additional $500,-000,000 $500,-000,000 by taxation, and the issuance of bonds and a .bill bearing the indorsement indorse-ment of President Wilson and Secretary Secre-tary of the Treasury McAdoo will be framed at once. The programme involves in-volves increases in the inheritance tax, a new tax on excess profits and partnerships partner-ships and a .bond issue of $2S9,000,000. It is said that the increase in revenue under the plan will be more than half a billion dollars annually, and that if it fails to take care of the expected treasury deficit a $100,000,000 issue ot treasury certificates of indebtedness may be the next step. The excuse for the additional burden of taxation will be the outlay necessqry for the greater navy and the increased strength of the army, but it is a notorious no-torious fact that the leaks in the treasury treas-ury cannot be charged to military preparedness pre-paredness alone. The expenses of the government have been increasing by leaps and bounds in all directions, and so far congress has not shown the least inclination to plug the holes. It costs more to run the government of this republic re-public than any mouarchy or empire in the world in time of peace, and we get less for the money so expended. Just now the great European nations are engaged en-gaged in a life-and-death struggle, and it has become necessary for the various governments to levy taxes right and left without regard for the consequences, so far as individuals or corporations are concerned, while rigid economy is practiced prac-ticed in every branch of the governments govern-ments save the military and imposed upon the peoples by the most stringent regulations. But this country is not at war. On the contrary, the most profound peace prevails. Yet the people are to be taxed out of an additional half a billion dollars, dol-lars, a sum sufficient to pay all the expenses ex-penses of tho government not so many years ago. It is evident, and has been evident for a long time, that the affairs af-fairs of the United States are administered admin-istered in an extravagant and wasteful manner, and that unless this tendency is checked taxes of all kinds will mount to unheard-of figures. If President Wilson desires to do a real service he should iusist that the budget system be adopted at once. |