Weekly Republican, Volume 57, Number 32, Plymouth, Marshall County, 10 August 1911 — Page 3

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Vigorous Article In South Bend Times, . Commenting On Wealth of Marshall Field, Tells of Injustice of Tax. ation In Our Government.

(Jin Charles Kellison. recently wrote an article for the South Bend Times, which on account of its strength and depth of argument and thought, we are pleased to copy almost entire. He shows that a tax cn incomes is only a makeshift and dees not at all strike at the root of the question. The article is worthy of the earnest reading fnd study of

everyone, and especially those who j savings of the average , industrious care about and have thought about man were two hundred million dolour industrial system Editor) lars, instea I of less than four thousTo the Editor of The Times: and dollars, as is the fact, what

Dear Sir: I am in receipt of a copy of vour editorial entitled "The Pocket in the Shroud," together with your request for an expression of opinion thereon. That -editorial, taking for its text the address of Mr. C. R. Lane recently delivered at Ft. "Wayne, Ind., deals with the fact that Marshall rieid, late mercnant prince 01 unifacro, left a fortune of two hundred millions of dollars ,and that by his will he created a trust in his property to continue until his yet unborn grandchildren shall have reached the age of thirty years. The danger and injustice of permitting such vast aggregations of wealth to be passed from the ancestor down to unborn generations is suggested, together with the remedy of an inheritance tax, by means of which the pocket in the shroud will be ripped open and a portion of the financial honey gathered and appropriated by the busy Mr. Field in his lifetime shall be transferred to the state of Illinois. The editorial closes with the suggestion that it is high time that the public conscience be aroused on these subjects, to the end that a more earnest and determined effort be made to correct such evils and it is suggested that the church ought to be depended on as an efficient and powerful champion of the reform. Twenty-five years of personal acquaintance with the editor of The Tiroes has brought the conviction that he is a man of profound thought, on most questions, and one having warm sympathy for the submerged classes of his countrymen, albeit strongly inclined by nature and temperament to optimistic views and conservative methods. Optimism has its uses and its limitations, and it strikes me that in a raring sea. it is akin to folly to ding to so frail a spar as to hope and trust that in good time, with a little tinkering now and then, the generosity of the powerful and the patient suffering of the weak, will bring about a correction of "industrial and political evils, without' resorting to 'drastic measures and without the necessity for radical changes in cur political and industrial systems. Right here lie the lines or divergence between the editor of The Times and Mr. Lane, on the one side,, and the writer on the other. With profound regard for their opinions and reasoning, it impresses jne that their loric is faulty and sadly lacking in knowledge of economic principles. Both seem to proce?d on the assumptionthat, the possession of such a colossal fortune in the hands of one individual is not necessarily an evil, but that its perpetuation for generations in the hands of the same family holding it in trust in dead hands is a great wrong that ought to be corrected in some way, (invie of the fact that society contains thousands of other individuals who, with the greater economy and industry, are scarcely able to exist, and the further fact that many more are actually suffering for the necessaries of life.) In reaching the conclusion they did, they must have had in mind tha fact that the world today contains hundreds .of thousands of human beings who are in destitution and want men, women and innocent . children, each and all created, like ' Marshall Field and his descendants,' in the image ,of God, and they must have contrasted in their minds the situation of these unforunatea with the situation of the , man who. , owned,' possessed and exclusively controlled more than one five-hundredth part of the taxable value of all the prop- - in - Tia TTn?'f1 Rtaf Tf no C3 if they did not Suppose that JJlorshall Field did leave a fortune cf two "hundred million of dollars and that lie' did entail that fortune to Uj descendants for succeeding fenerations f Then, suppose that at tha time of Mr. Field's death,, every individual in this land surviving tarn

had and possessed a like fortune, so that the wants and necessit:es of every other member of the human family were fully suppl'ed, and every one had enough and more than enough to make him comfortable, where would be the wrong or injustice in Field's willt Suppose that the averge lifetime

possible harm or injury could lesnlt to any person from the fact that Mr. Field had such a fortune and chose to perpetuate it in Irs family in that manner? Suppose, even, that he had seen fit to hurl all his personal property into Lake Michigan and raze Iiis palatial stores and warehouses to the ground, what moral wrong would there be in such an act. when there was an abundance remaining in the hands of every person surviving him? It is, therefVre evident that right and wrong, justice and injustice, are relative, terms and depend altogether npon the conditions that surround a transaction. If every man had his pockets filled with paper money, as much or more than he could possibly need, would it le a moral offense, under such circumstances, if some fool should see fit to lisht his cigar with a ten dollar bill? No one would contend for such a proposition. But unfortunately the riches and natural resources of this earth are not so lavish and abundant as that. On the contrary, the sad and serious fact is that the supply of things necessary and useful to man. with a few possible exceptions, are limited. Without laborious toil and constant work the masses of mankind would perish. Nature has set its limitations, and the natural food supply of the earth would support but a small portion of its present population, without being supplemented by the labor of men. All the workers of the world, toilin? throughout the entire year, produce but little more than the bare necessities of life for all mankind, and were it to be distributed equally among all men, there would be no more than the means of a comfort able living in the hands of anv one! person. It is therefore manifest that for one man to le immensely rich, many more men must be poor. And to the mind of those who look deeper into this pro-i it is likewise manifest that for one man to apnropriate to himself vastly more of the products of lalor than he has, himself, honestly produced by his own laboring power, and that which is in excess of his needs .thereby depriving his fellows of the necessaries of life, is wrong in principle and indefensible in morals. . .It is IfcewLv manifest that it makes no difference, in its effect upon society at large, or from any moral viewpoint, whether Marshall Field be permitted to gather together such fabulous riches and to enjoy and con trol them during his lifetime, or whether he be permitted to hand them down to others, by will, , in such manner that they continue under the possession and control of his family indefinitely. The result is the same in either instance, or if there be any difference it is in favor of the trust contained in Mr. Field's will, for by its. terms several persons are the beneficiaries of his wealth, not, one alone, as was the case while Mr. Field lived. , ' - We may reasonably suppose that the executors of Marshall Field's will are just as capable of successfully managing the estato as was its founder, or o shrewd a man as he would not have madeisueh a disposition of his property, and all reports we get from that estate confirm the supposition that it is being successfully managed, and that these millions are marching "on nd' addict? many millions more to the aggregate in dead hands just the same as in the lifetime of Mr. Field. And I understand that it is a fact that the number of employes of fhe Marshall Field estate are Just as numerous, faithful and well paid for their services as those who served him when in life. j There is a Jaw that pervades 1 industrial and economic world, 3 the just

as : certainly as tie laws . that govern

that physical world, the law of accretion and gravitation. That law is that the tendency of all great bodies is to attract and attach to them selves all smaller bodies, and thus it is that many . great enterprises are so strongly entrenched and systematized in their methods that nothing is required to insure their continued success, but ordinary business sense and honesty. They just grow, and that is about all there is to It. And it is matter of common observation and knowledge that many large enterprises such as railipads, manufacturing plants and commercial houses have been successfully managed and placed upon their feet financially, by courts, acting through the agency of receivers and trustees and that many of these receivers aid trustees knew but little about such business enterprises as compared with, the men who had p'anned and set them going, but whose extravagance or recklessness had brought their affairs to the verge of ruin. All of which goes to prove that there is not such mighty difference in the abilities of men as some persons seem to imagine. The real difference between the man who has a genius for accumulation and the man who does not amass great wealth may lie in the fact that the one man may not be willing to pay the price of such success, which in nany instances is the sacrifice of self-respect and the commission of acts that are revolting to his sense of justice and right. But place that same man in a position of -trust and resporsibil!ry, where he' has nothing to do but to faithfully and honestly manage.that which is intrusted to him, pnd he not unfrequently makes good, and ."IVonishies fliis acquaintances fwith lire business judgment and capacity. The wrecking of a railroad or two, where thouands of small stockholders are bet t rayed by its business aients and officers, and robbed of their holdings by some brilliant stroke of liicrh finance, accounts for many a colossal fortune in this land of ours. . It is, therefore evident that if it is right to permit one individual to grasp all he can. by methods little short of criminal, and to hold exclusive possession and control of the same to the exclusion cf all other men, then it is equally just and right that he be permitted to do with his property as he pleases, even to the extent of entailing it to succeeding generations of his posterity. The effect upon the commonwealth, and upon each individual member of society, is precisely the same in the one case as in the other. Two hundred million dollars, nominally wrapped up in a shroud,' but in reality out of the grave, working every day in the. year, as is the estate of Marshall Field, is no greater menace to the rights and interests of those who under the law have no interest or ownershic in it than was the same property in the hands of its original owner, Marshall Field. The incurable vice in our present industrial system and laws of property lie in the assumption that it is normally right for one individual to get all the property he can, without breaking ihe criminal code, and to hold his possessions during life to the exclusion of society at large and to the exclusion of every other individual without regard to its effect upon commnniy or individual. This assumption is based upon the untenable and false supposition that the possessors of such fortunes have honestly earned them that is, that their laboring power has produced them. Nothing could be further from the truth than" such an assumption as that. Another false assumption is that entertained by a class of sleek, wellfed and smug gentlemen who seem to see nothing wrong in the world, and who act upon the supposition that everything is lovely and the goose hangs high. Men like these sleep peacefully on the crater of an open volcano, and nothing in the way of acts or argument will ever awaken them from their slumbers except it be the roar of a revolutiou in their ears. Not- even a irumpet blast from on High could disturb their serene and blind confidence in the excellence of all earthly things! Let us consider these two false assumptions and the hypothesis on which they arc based in their order. First, do such, fortunes as that of the late Sir. Field honestly represent the labor of his hands and brainin other words did his laboring power produce it all? Statistics ßhow that the net lifesavings of all working men in the nation, and by Workingmen I mean all those who toil with hand or brain m productive employments, . are on an average but a few . paltry thousands of dollars. J The man never lived who could save from that which his individual labor has produced quarter of a million of dollars ira lifetime. ' In productive employments, the life-savings of no man probably ever exceeded . fifty thousand dollars. Marshall Field, individually, could not, in the very nature of things, have contributed by a small part to the creation and production of his two hundred million dollar fortune. That which' a man may receive for

his share m a productive , industry, ; and that which his laboring power J

has actually produced in the business, are two widely different things. Any. compensation that an individual may receive, over and above that which his labor has produced, is a pure gratuity, paid to him or appropriated by him, or because society has ignorantly or unwittingly given him that power, or because society has negligently permitted him to evade some duty or obligation resting upon him as one of its members. Let us make this statement a little plainer. Every now and then we read of some lawyer charging and receiv ing a hundred thousand dollar fee, or a much larger one. for some work he has done as a representative of the government, in the' collection of some claim asrainst the citizens or rovernment of. another country. He was nothinsr but an ordinary fellow, who probably never averaged three thousand dollars a j-ear in his practice, ar for a few months' service, mostlv spent in sight-seeing 'and pleasure, he has received more monev than he can ever hope to honestlv earn in his professional life. He rot the job by favoritism and po litical pull. Has he earned that en. ormous fee? It is ridiculous to sup pose SO. N Yet it vis no more ridiculous in the case of the lawver than in the case of Marshall Field. The lawyer got his fee undei the forms of law, yet every cent of it came out of the taxpayers or citizens of this or some other government, and his fee equalled all that he was capable of earning in over 33 years of ordinary practice in the courts. In the case of Marshall Field he has received for his life-work ovei and above the cost of his living," about as much as one hundred thous. and workinjnnen are accustomed to save from a lifetime of labor. Those familiar with the history of such estates and fortunes as that of the late Marshall Field, know that they represent, for the most part, un paid labor und unpaid taxes. By unpaid labor I do not mean that he failed to pay his employes the wages asrreed upon, but I do mean that he did not pav his laborers the full pro ductive value of their labor. As to taxes, had the property of Marshall Field been valued for taxation, during the years it was being accumulated, in the same proportion as was that of the small merchant and taxpayer; had he paid taxes on such just valuation, and had he not thereby received the benefit of lax and jadly enforced taxation laws, and had he not made enormous and unfair profits from the labor of his employes, the ledger at the close of his life might have shown an estate worth two hundred thousand dollars instead of two hundred million. Neither would it be correct or fair to charge that men of the Marshall Field class are wbollv to blame for these tax conditions. Mr. Field-probably paid taxes on as high a proportionate value as did other men of his wealth and class. The fault is ... . 1 , t lanrely with the laws and the men who execute them. Yet the evil ex. ists, and the baneful results thereof are shown in swollen fortunes on the one side, and pitiful poverty on the other. S (To be Continued.) Cn.ts and bruises may be healed in about one-third the time required by the usual treatment by applying Chamberlain's Liniment. It is an antiseptic and causes such injuries to heal without maturation. This liniment also relieves soreness of the muscles and rheumatic pains. For sale by All Dealers. WE SELL ' WOOLEY'S REMEDIES BECAUSE We know they are made of the purest and best ingredients, and they do all that is claimed for them. HERB TONIC Enriches the blood, strengthens the nerves, creates healthy appetites, aids digestion, and is pleasant to take. Regulates, stimulates and invigorates the stomacn, bowels, kidneys and liver HERB TEA The same as the Tonic but cheaper, as you mix it yourself. IMMEDIATE RELIEF Positive and instantaneous relief for sprains, cuts, bruises, muscular pains and neuralgia. Should be in every home, ready for the unexpected in jury or pain. CHOLERA & DIARRHOEA ' REMEDY ( COUGH & CROUP REMEDY "P. B.n THE WONDER WORKER We refund your money if you arc not benefited. Tnii expresses our ' ' confidence in thess remedies. DIStni2UT03 PLYIIOUTÜ, IIIDIAIIA

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SLOGS OF Rill

EDUCATIONAL WORK CARRIED ON FOR TWO GENERATIONS. 'Back to The Farm" to Be Especially Emphasized at Big Expotition m Week of Sept. 4. With "back to the farm" as Its ilol gan this rear, the Indiana State Fair will, during the week of September 4, get closer to the agricultural Interests of the State than it has ever been before. The In diana Fair has for nearly sixty years been a powerful educative force among the farming and live stock element and, while never departing from this leadership in promoting the farming welfare, It has sought to quicken the interest of its visitors by offering rich programs of attractions. But for the coming Fair the exposition will concentrate practically its entire energy In spreading before its friends a magnificent dispiay of all that 1p best within the State that the farming1 element may see in a great bird's-eye view what the agricultural and live stock resources of the State amount to. It is not proposed to measure these resources in dollars and cents, but by exhibiting the best horses, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry, orchard and field products, show what the State is producing in quality. From other States, too, as in other years, will come specimens of live stock tfhich will offer means of comparison with these products from Indiana. The "back 'to the farm" movement does not mean that the Indiana Fair is going to tie the men and women who visit It to sober programs requiring brain-fagging effort to get the educational values, but each day's affairs will be. spiced ;wlth clean and wholesome entertainment: Less emphasis will be placed on the lighter forms of entertainment, however, but the band concerts, live stock parades, the Parker midway shows will afford abundant diversions for the pleasure seeker. - v In the night shows, and in the day exhibitions of live stock and other regular departments the displays will keep pace with the high degree of excellency which now marks country life in Indiana. The horse show will be of such quality that vaudeville features will not be necessary to enhance its value. The farmer who is interested In shorthorn cattle will find these animals in such quality and abundance that if he desires he may spend two or three days at the Fair studying the good points of animals that ar brought before his eye. The farm woman who is especially Interested in poultry will find the Fair offers an endless amount of information along this line, or if she is particularly interested in her home dairy she may spend the entire week at the Fair, if she so desires, and give the time to a study of dairy methods. The State Fair, in fact, proposes to become a higher school of information along all lines which will enable the farming people to improve their crops, herds and flocks and' in this improvement bring greater wealth to themselves. A short course September school, when work at the farm may for the time be put by, a school for the farmer, his wife, sons and daughters, an inexpensive and effective college I fej-v an a In o t-rvt tu WttPA en1 f r 1 11 c? irf 1 tUUl DC Iii RU11U1Ü CLilU 1UUUOU J j tm is the ,ndiana state Fair Set. ting off one superb herd against another, one breed of poultry matched against another,, field products from one portion, of the State seeking greater favor than the products from another section, giving the siting farmer opportunity to make compari sons, all will tend toward giving the visitors schooling of the valuable and pleasant sort. Of course, it is the ambition of the exhibitors to win prize ribbons, may be to dispose of some blooded stock to a farmer that is r ambitious to improve his home herds, that brings the highest quality of exhibits to the Fair, but this competition is lost sight of by the visitor who would make of the Fair an educational force and turn it to his personal account It is this line of educational work that the Indiana Fair has been doing among the farmers for two generations, and the exposition may to very large degree be credited with having brought about better homes, better farming, larger and finer herds, more industry through the use of better farm machinery, increased happiness, more money in bank in fact, a new era of better living at the farm homes of the Hoosier landState Fair Open at Night The Indiana State Fair, at Indianapolis the week of Sept. 4, will be open at night laa number of departments and it will be the first year in the history of the exposition that the night displays have been undertaken on auch extensive scale. The coliseum with Its horse shows, and the big brick barn for horses adjoining it, have for some years been gay with light and coloring after night, and in one or two years the Fine Arts, hall has been open for about two hours,. In the evening. But during the coming. Fair, fhe coliseum show and the brick barn will not only; be lighted -and open: to vaiors, but the Fine Arts, Agrlcultur 1, . Horticultural and i Poultry buildings, Mil of them arrayed with their, weakh of Indiana, 'farm, and hone prodiicU,: will , be brilliantly Illuminated and open to all visitors, without xtra cnaxffft.. - : llany a Suffering 7onan Dirags herself painfully through her daily , tasks, suffering from backache, headache, nervousness, loss of appetite and poor sleep, not knowing her ills are due to kidney and bladder troubles. Foley Kidney Pills give quick relief from pain and misery and a prompt return to health and strength." No woman who bo suffers can afford to overlook Foley Kidney Pills. 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Millinery Announcement !

Gone For Fall Goods Will Open Sept. 1st ' With all the Season's Latest and Most Up-to-Date . MILLINERY AND HUMAN HAIR GOODS Thanking you for past patronage, I wish to serve you in the future Dessa T. Myers 401 North Michigan Street. Plymouth, Indiana

Check Your Savings

Marshall County Trust & Ssvings Co. PLYMOUTH, INDIANA

MONEY TO LOAN ON: HOUSEHOLD GOODS, tiVE STOCK, ETC. SECURITY LOAN CO. ROOM 1, PACKARD BLDG. With W. H. ROBERTS AGENCY, Plymouth, Indiana Agent in Office Saturday From 11 A. M. to 5 P. M.

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