Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 71, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 December 1909 — Our National Extravagance. [ARTICLE]

Our National Extravagance.

By JAMES J. HILL. Chairman

of the Executive Committee of the Great

Northern Railroad.

serious phase of national extravagance is that it t :: BREEDS AND KEEPS ON BREEDING GREATt 1 I J ER AND GREATER EXTRAVAGANCE. We T » are in a period now of reckless spending, both INDI- ? o VIDUALLY AND NATIONALLY. There are ***•”"*♦♦*♦ NO INDICATIONS of that RETRENCHMENT which is necessary for sound economy. One of the most serious phases of our situation is the fact that the BALANCE OF TRADE IN FAVOR OF THE UNITED STATES HAS FALLEN TO A LOW FIGURE. We used to have five or six hundred millions on our side annually. Now it is not more than a hundred millions. We are sending less and less each year of our products abroad and therefore have a correspondingly SMALLER BALANCE TO PAY OUR BILLS FOR FOREIGN PURCHASES.

THE APPROPRIATIONS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT KEEP ON INCREASING IN SIZE EACH YEAR. MILLIONS ARE VOTED, AS IF THERE WERE NO LIMIT TO THE RESOURCES, BUT TAXES KEEP STEADILY GROWING LARGER. 1 here is much talk about an income tax in this country. The taxes imposed on the railroads of the United States equal 12 per cent of their net income, lhe net income of a company represents what it earns, just like the income of an individual citizen. What, would the average citizen say to an income tax of 12 per cent on his yearly earnings? The COST OF LIVING HAS INCREASED greatly. Every housekeeper knows that. Some persons say that the cheapening of gold, lessening its purchasing power, is the cause. That is a subterfuge statement merely to befog the issue. EVERY EXTRAVAGANCE, WHETHER IT BE STATE OR INDIVIDUAL! EVERY INCREASE IN PRICES, WHETHER IT BE IN WAGES, RATES OR COMMODITIES, COMES OUT OF THE CONSUMER. HE MUST PAY THE BILLS.