_To the Congress of the United States_:
You are confronted at the threshold of your legislative duties with a
condition of the national finances which imperatively demands immediate
and careful consideration.
The amount of money annually exacted, through the operation of present
laws, from the industries and necessities of the people largely exceeds
the sum necessary to meet the expenses of the Government.
When we consider that the theory of our institutions guarantees to every
citizen the full enjoyment of all the fruits of his industry and
enterprise, with only such deduction as may be his share toward the
careful and economical maintenance of the Government which protects him,
it is plain that the exaction of more than this is indefensible
extortion and a culpable betrayal of American fairness and justice. This
wrong inflicted upon those who bear the burden of national taxation,
like other wrongs, multiplies a brood of evil consequences. The public
Treasury, which should only exist as a conduit conveying the people's
tribute to its legitimate objects of expenditure, becomes a hoarding
place for money needlessly withdrawn from trade and the people's use,
thus crippling our national energies, suspending our country's
development, preventing investment in productive enterprise, threatening
financial disturbance, and inviting schemes of public plunder.
This condition of our Treasury is not altogether new, and it has more
than once of late been submitted to the people's representatives in the
Congress, who alone can apply a remedy.
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