Cox—The Man

by Roger Ward Babson

“A considerable factor in the high cost of living is the continuance of the excess profits tax. In establishing the selling price of its product, every business establishment sets aside a reasonable profit and then adds to it the amount that must be paid to the government. This is done in turn by the manufacturer, the jobber, the distributor and the retailer, the inevitable result being a staggering cost to the consumer.

“Approximately four billion dollars will be necessary to conduct the department of government and to meet sinking fund and interest charges. Almost half of this could be derived by applying a tax of from one to one and one-half per cent on the volume of business done by any going concern. It would be a simple matter to collect this tax; the tax-payer would not be confused by it, and it would be neither cause nor alibi for excessive prices.

“I favor the abolishment of the federal inheritance tax just as soon as we can get along without it. This method of taxation should be left to the states. Tax on inheritance is based upon the principle of government being compensated for service rendered in conveying property from one generation to another. A man makes a will and it has a definite force and effect because the law legalizes it. The right is given to him by the state and the process of the distribution of his estate is thru the agency of local government. The federal authority has nothing to do with it, therefore the compensation for services rendered should be to the states.

“There is some hysteria over the subject of active elements in this country that are menacing to the government. There is no immediate danger in the situation, altho it might easily be aggravated if the governmental policy of restraint and common sense that has endured thru the years, were to become one of force and terrorism. There must be no compromise with treason, but the surest death to Bolshevism is exposure of the germ of the disease itself to the sunlight of public view. In the old days, the treatment for scarlet fever consisted of an intensive attack on the high temperature of fever. The result was a reaction on vital organs that left permanent affliction. Now the fever, under restraint, is permitted to run its course and what was once regarded as a very serious ailment is little more than a simple malady.

“We must protect ourselves against extremes in America. The horrors and tragedies of revolution can be charged to them. If government is assailed, its policy must not become vengeful. Our fathers in specifying human freedom, and providing guarantees for its preservation, recognized that among the necessary precautions was the protection of individual right against governmental abuses.

“If the alien, ignorant of our laws and customs, cowers in fear of our government, he is very apt to believe that things are much the same the world over, and he may become an easy convert to the doctrines of resistance. The skies will clear, but meanwhile, government must be firm yet judicial, uninfluenced by the emotionalism that breeds extremes. The less government we have, consistent with safety to life and property, the better for both happiness and morals. A policeman on every corner would be a bad index to the citizenship of the community, for it would reflect a foolish concept of conditions by the municipal officers.

“In this, I merely seek to give point to the necessity now that the war is over, of junking the most of our institutions devoted to war, and scaling governmental machinery down to the very point of necessity and efficiency. It is idle to talk of reducing governmental expense if the nation has to be armed to the teeth, and vast armies and navies will be necessary if the concerted plan of international peace fails. The guarantee against war is credit against which a debit charge must be made, and after all, this is the very crux of the controversy over the League of Nations.

“Finally, there can be no result worth while unless the nations of the earth assume a definite obligation one to another. The mere promise of this country to place its responsibility on the shifting sands of congressional caprice is a travesty to human intelligence. We are seeking to shake ourselves free from the cost of war, and yet the task of readjustment along the line of constructive economy is faced at the very outset with the question of what our military and naval policy shall be.

“Let us meet these questions as brave and unselfish men, with our eyes focused on the star of righteousness. Let us be liberal, but practical; let us be kind, but firm; let us be patient, but persistent. The great need today is not more government, but better government; not government in the interest of any one class, but government in the interest of all classes, yes, in the interest of all nations.”