146 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



authorities as unfitting the tax for use by the federal government, and 

 its application has been denounced in many quarters as an invasion of 

 the proper field of state taxation. 



In the efl:orts now being put forth to establish a federal income tax 

 the same tendency is to be seen. While it can not be denied that the 

 federal government should have the authority in time of need to levy a 

 federal income tax, yet it is distinctly questionable as to the wisdom of 

 such a tax in time of peace for federal purposes. The problems which 

 confront the states at the present time are indeed serious. Upon them 

 fall all of the burdens of maintaining local government, and these, with 

 the growth of wider ideas regarding the development of society, con- 

 stantly tend to increase rather than diminish. The states are now called 

 upon to develop extensive educational systems, to care for the insane, 

 to punish criminals, to maintain courts, to preserve order, to build 

 roads, and support the poor, besides erecting public buildings, and in 

 the municipalities providing water, light, paving and the other neces- 

 sary improvements of modern towns and villages. To have the federal 

 government, therefore, step aside and reach out into the states for addi- 

 tional funds for federal support means interference with the states' 

 fiscal systems and in the long run the weakening of their financial 

 power. In the customs duties and the internal revenue, the federal 

 government has every facility to secure sufiicient revenue for the con- 

 duct of its business. 



What has already been said regarding the history of federal legis- 

 lation in connection with the interstate commerce act, the national bank 

 act, the pure food and dairy legislation, and the tariff indicates clearly 

 the slowness with which congress meets the problems of legislation, and 

 how difficult it is to secure modification of a law by a body so over- 

 whelmed with legislation for a country as big as America. In nearly 

 every instance the states began the legislation, and carried it forward 

 to a point where it was necessary to look to congress for some wider 

 interpretation in order that relief might be given. The work which 

 congress has done, while commendable in many cases, shows clearly that 

 it can not act intelligently in every instance because of its distance from 

 the problem, and that while it does work out in general some specific 

 lines of action, it can not by the very nature of things meet local needs. 



Sixteen years after the introduction of the Began bill came the 

 interstate-commerce act, and for as many more no modification of the 

 law was made, despite the insistent demands for such changes. The 

 national bank act remained practically unchanged after the date of its 

 passage until the year 1900. Examples of this kind go to show that 

 federal legislation is attended by many disadvantages. Undoubtedly 

 congress can deal with large problems on general principles, but on 

 that very account it is often unwise for it to attempt to work out experi- 

 ments and changes in the law. 



