William Gibbs McAdoo

“ The question of taxation touches every home in America. There is no man, woman, or child who can escape the relentless tax law. It reaches into every pocket, and extracts its share whether the pocket belongs to the rich or to the poor. While the poor do not pay these taxes directly, they do pay them indirectly, because the taxes increase the price of every ounce of food, every pound of coal, every piece of clothing and every article consumed or used by the people. ”

“ Instead of trying to reduce the burden of taxation, the Republican Senate has spent its full time trying to defeat the plan for a League of Nations, which if organized will cut down and limit military armament among all the great powers, and will make war almost if not impossible. If the Senate destroys the League of Nations, then the United States must begin at once to arm on a greater scale than any other nation in the world, because we must be strong enough to beat all comers from the Atlantic, the Pacific, or any other quarter. ”

“ Do we want to promote or prevent human slaughter in the future? Do we want to increase or reduce taxation? If we want to promote human slaughter and increase taxation, we should defeat the League of Nations. Our war preparation will then necessitate increasing present income taxes at least fifty percent per annum to say nothing of a general increase in every form of federal taxation. ”