Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-04-15
h The Halls of Congress
BY TAV.
Special Washington Correspondence.

Special Washington Correspondence
 WASHINGTON, D. C., April 14.-Corpora- tions had their way in the house of representa- tives when the republicans put through an amendment restricting the operation of the pub licity feature of the corporation tax law.
 When the corporation tax law was enacted it provided that the returns of corporations should be open to inspection by the public. Ex- President Roosevelt agitated for publicity, and President Taft declared the publicity feature of the corporation tax bill was the best argument for its passage
 As amended by the house, the law will provide that "all corporation tax returns shall be open to inspection only upon the order of the pres ident''
 The democrats and eight of the nine "genu- ine'' republican insurgents who voted for the Burleson resolution, which, had it carried, would have unseated Speaker Cannon, opposed the amendment to the corporation tax law on the ground that if corporations are forced to make returns on their business, the reports should be for the public. The democrats take the position that the corporation tax bill was not passed in good faith in the first place, and was but sub terfuge measure enacted to defeat an income
 
 country to bear its fair share of the burden of taxation.
 "To say that you shall have this corporation tax and all this machinery for getting the ln- formation out of the corporations about what they are doing, and that nobody shall have ac- cess to the information except the president and his advisers, is a preposterous and dan gerous proposition" said Minority Leader Champ Clark. "I do not know, do not charge that any man who is connected with the admins tration would abuse it. I pretermit that ques- ton. but I do say that human nature has been the same ever since Adam and Eve were driven from Paradise; it never has changed, and 1t never will change. and some day in the course of time somebody might come along who would use this secret information for political pur- poses, and the most sensible prayer that any man has ever uttered goes Lead us not into temptaton' Mr. Speaker, l am against this whole performance from top to bottom-the whole of il"
 Representative Hitchcock of Nebraska point ed out that "the great trust buster of Ohio, Wade Ellis. had been taken from the prosecu- ton of corporations and placed in charge of the campaign in Ohio, where it would become one of his important duties to solicit campaign funds. He also cited other examples of activity In poll ties of men who possessed information regard ing corporations
 Representative Underwood of Alabama stated he was against the publicity feature of the cor poration tax law, and against the entire meas ure, regarding it as counterfeit for an income tax. which he heartily favored "But," said Mr. Underwood, eff you pass this amendment and the president of the United States wants to use the publicity as whip over any corpor- alton, he can do so; but if he wants to suppress the facts under this amendment he can do so. If you are going to have publicity of any kind, why have honest, straightforward, full publici- ty. and let all the world know what is going on, and not subterfuge of this kind"
 In a message to the Fifty-seventh congress, Ex-Presdent Roosevelt said: "Publicity can do no harm to the honest corporations; and we need not be overtender about sparing the dis honest corporation"
 "Bill poster is on his way southwark, reads a harino headline in the Tucson Citizen. We'll