The occasion is not of our own making. We had no part in making it. But
it is here. It affects us as directly and palpably almost as if we were
participants in the circumstances which gave rise to it. We must accept
the inevitable with calm judgment and unruffled spirits, like men
accustomed to deal with the unexpected, habituated to take care of
themselves, masters of their own affairs and their own fortunes. We
shall pay the bill, though we did not deliberately incur it.
In order to meet every demand upon the Treasury without delay or
peradventure and in order to keep the Treasury strong, unquestionably
strong, and strong throughout the present anxieties, I respectfully
urge that an additional revenue of $100,000,000 be raised through
internal taxes devised in your wisdom to meet the emergency. The only
suggestion I take the liberty of making is that such sources of revenue
be chosen as will begin to yield at once and yield with a certain and
constant flow.
I cannot close without expressing the confidence with which I approach a
Congress, with regard to this or any other matter, which has shown so
untiring a devotion to public duty, which has responded to the needs of
the Nation throughout a long season despite inevitable fatigue and
personal sacrifice, and so large a proportion of whose Members have
devoted their whole time and energy to the business of the country.
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