The Government should not be permitted to run behind or increase its
debt in times like the present. Suitably to provide against this is the
mandate of duty - the certain and easy remedy for most of our financial
difficulties. A deficiency is inevitable so long as the expenditures of
the Government exceed its receipts. It can only be met by loans or an
increased revenue. While a large annual surplus of revenue may invite
waste and extravagance, inadequate revenue creates distrust and
undermines public and private credit. Neither should be encouraged.
Between more loans and more revenue there ought to be but one opinion.
We should have more revenue, and that without delay, hindrance, or
postponement. A surplus in the Treasury created by loans is not a
permanent or safe reliance. It will suffice while it lasts, but it can
not last long while the outlays of the Government are greater than its
receipts, as has been the case during the past two years. Nor must it
be forgotten that however much such loans may temporarily relieve the
situation, the Government is still indebted for the amount of the
surplus thus accrued, which it must ultimately pay, while its ability
to pay is not strengthened, but weakened by a continued deficit. Loans
are imperative in great emergencies to preserve the Government or its
credit, but a failure to supply needed revenue in time of peace for the
maintenance of either has no justification.

The best way for the Government to maintain its credit is to pay as it
goes - not by resorting to loans, but by keeping out of debt - through
an adequate income secured by a system of taxation, external or
internal, or both. It is the settled policy of the Government, pursued
from the beginning and practiced by all parties and Administrations, to
raise the bulk of our revenue from taxes upon foreign productions
entering the United States for sale and consumption, and avoiding, for
the most part, every form of direct taxation, except in time of war.