If this bill should become a law, with its
tremendous addition to our pension obligation, I am thoroughly convinced
that further efforts to reduce the Federal revenue and restore some part
of it to our people will, and perhaps should, be seriously questioned.
It has constantly been a cause of pride and congratulation to the
American citizen that his country is not put to the charge of
maintaining a large standing army in time of peace. Yet we are now
living under a war tax which has been tolerated in peaceful times to
meet the obligations incurred in war. But for years past, in all parts
of the country, the demand for the reduction of the burdens of taxation
upon our labor and production has increased in volume and urgency.
I am not willing to approve a measure presenting the objections to which
this bill is subject, and which, moreover, will have the effect of
disappointing the expectation of the people and their desire and hope
for relief from war taxation in time of peace.
In my last annual message the following language was used:
Every patriotic heart responds to a tender consideration for those who,
having served their country long and well, are reduced to destitution
and dependence, not as an incident of their service, but with advancing
age or through sickness or misfortune. We are all tempted by the
contemplation of such a condition to supply relief, and are often
impatient of the limitations of public duty.
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