principle is practically the same. Senator David B.
Hill, of New York, has called the progressive tax a "modern fad." It is
so modern, however that it can be traced back to the Romans, Greeks, and
Egyptians. During the palmiest days of Greece--the days of Solon and
Lycurgus--a progressive tax was a stern reality.

Our own country has not been without a progressive tax. In 1797 a graded
inheritance tax was levied by Congress. This law was repealed in 1802.
In 1862 a similar law was passed. But after having been decided to be
constitutional by the Supreme Court, it was repealed in 1872.

Other governments at the present time tax the rich. In England, besides
the income tax, many other items of revenue are contributed entirely by
the rich--contributed upon the principle that those who have acquired
riches shall bear the burden of taxation. In the United States we seem
to place the burden of taxation upon the shoulders least fitted to bear
it. Every effort to tax the rich, to properly tax corporations and
trusts, has met with failure. The lobbyist and corporation lawyer have
defied the tax-gatherer until they have worn out the patience of the
people. The time is now ripe for proper legislation. A progressive
income tax and a tax upon inheritances should be made a law in every
State. The power to tax, it has been said, is the power to destroy. If a
scale of taxation were wisely adopted it would eventually enable us to
reach without political disturbance the almost total abolition of an
aristocracy of wealth and thus solve the great problem of the day. If we
are to consider humanity of any importance at all, wealth must be
limited. The rights of all must be considered. When this is done we may
be able to have a truly prosperous nation--a nation in which prosperity
will not be confined to a favored few, but given to all.

"Prosperity," says Rousseau, "is best secured when the medium-class
income prevails, when no citizen is so rich that he can buy others, and
no one so poor that he might be compelled to sell himself."

THE BATTLE OF THE MONEY METALS

I. BIMETALLISM SIMPLIFIED.

BY GEORGE H. LEPPER.

The "free-silver delusion" is not dead, nor will it die unless the
McKinley administration shall give it its quietus by providing the
country with a sound and popular system of bimetallism. Even the most
sanguine of the Republican leaders must admit that the prospect of
accomplishing this task by international agree