Show AN EXTRA SESSION NEEDED THERE are in the treasury vaults at washington funds for the contingent requirement of the government amounting to the colossal figure of nearly half a bulion billion dollars and in addition a steady stream of revenue Is continuously debouching debou ching into the coffers of the nation millions more than current expenses or prospective requirements quire ments demand the national debt all told with interest added is much less than four times the amount of money actually on hand and under the terms of the debt which those wh who 0 are the creditors would not change it they could this great sum is no more available than if it did not exist nor is the revenue over above present requirements such sach a state of things is almost as bad as bankruptcy for the reason that beyond a reserve fund proportioned to the gro win and wealth of the country and never exceeding a certain limit limi t the nation has no more right to exact of its subjects more than it needs than it has to confiscate their property by any other process and when it if has so much more than it wants that a cumbersome surplus is the result it has bas just so much that it has to account to the geiple people for and how can it be done one it is in vain to say that toe the money comes along naturally in n accordance with the operation of the revenue laws and that the exact requirements of the government prospectively if even presently cannot be gauged with the nicety of an arithmetical problem to all this sophism the reply will come back we dont expect mathematical equations and we do de expect the laws to operate freely and fully but since the laws as they stand take from us millions more than is required to keep the machinery in motion all of which is idle in your hands bands but would be put to good uselin usein ours why are not the laws changed the president urged sueh cla changes sages in iii his bis last ime nine out of ten of the presidents president S party are in favor of it and there ire are more then than elou enough h republicans willing to assist in thin the reduction to offset any defections there may be in the democratic so why is it not done that is the question the theory of taxation can be explained in a very lew few words it Is a reciprocal obligation in which one party must provide means for the direct support of the other and therefore the protection of themselves the payer is part of a vast corporation an and has impliedly as such mem ber consented to be shorn of some of his rights and privileges privilege sin in order that the whole fabric may thereby be cemented and strengthened among the concessions which he makes in order that he may share in the profits accruing te rom united effort is the right of those he actually or impliedly p chooses to make rules and regulations to tax him ratably with others on certain articles of con production possession and im importation or tation but it has also been ac dually y understood that no such exaction as that last mentioned shall be made for a greater amount in gross than is needed by the executives of the ae concern to keep its affairs in proper condition and the whole corporation out of debt if possible all must yield more when the occasion requires more as in case of war or widespread devastation but this by parity of construction means also that none need give up so much when the occasion requires less than the prevailing rate ot of taxation would yield for instance it if a producer of a certain article is taxed one cent on each hundred pounds thereof to meet certain expenses of the government and after such taxis tax is collected from all sources and the sum total is found to be twice as large as is required ired for the liquidation of all bills payable and all current expenses it is the duty of the powers that be as soon as practicable to reduce the tax to correspond with the requirements that is to make it fifty per cent less anything above and beyond this they are not entitled to and it properly belongs to the th original producer to put it in a few words the people are supposed to pay the governments bills but not to give it money to hoard or squander it is this situation that mikes makes the calling of an extra session of congress by the president at an early date so strongly advocated that he favors it would seem to be evident from the fact that he is so decidedly in sympathy with the movement looking to revenue reform generally and a lightening of the present burden upon the government and the people particularly tue the expense of of an extra session will not be as great an evil as the further continuance of the evil complained of especially when it is considered that members of Cob congress gress get their pay just the same whether they work or not but what a light it places toe the solons in and what a pillar of strength it will add to Clev elands power he did all that an executive can to have them take just such stich action last winter as it now seems probable they will have to be called together specially to perform if they had attended to his bis recommendations ions more and to things he be did not recommend less all the expense and bother of an extra session with the acerbity of feeling that is now engendered been obviated |