The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1915-02-05
DEMOCRATIC LEADERS REALIZE
$50 ,00o0 900 TREASURY SHORT
AGE MUST BE MET-HoPE
TO MAKE GOOD.
SHIP PURCHASE BILL
ADDS TO DIFFICULTY
Government Looks to Returns From
Corporation and Income Taxes to
Answer Situaton-McAdoo's
Denial of Condition Is
Not Credited.

Washington, Jan. 30.-With treas
ury deficit of $S0,000,000 in sight the
Wilson administration faces one of the
most serious dilemmas of it's existence.
Coming as it does at time when its
opponents are taking courage to openly
attack it, the administration realizes
the seriousness OF the situation.
Notwithstanding the denial of Sec
rotary of the Treasury McAdoo to the
effect that the governments finances
are not in a bad way, the fact remains
that deficit of $SO,OO0,0O0 exists and
that the fiscal year has still about five
months to run.
Hopes to Make Good This Deficit.
The government hopes to make good
this deficit by the returns from the
corporation and income taxes after
June 1, calling attention to the fact
that the returns on these items will
not be in until after June 1, thus max
ing large paper deficit, but this will
hardly answer the situation.
The fact is, no one in the govern
ment or out of it, is able to determine
Just what the returns from this form
OF taxation Will amount
While Mr.. Average Man knows com
paratively little about the ramifications
of finance, it does not require an ex
pert to realize that $80,000,000 and pos
sibly considerably more, on the wrong
side of the ledger makes a big differ
ence.
Try to Reach Solution.
l,af a,,,f-
tration circles are giving themselves
no little concern in trying to reach
solution. The conferences which have
been held in which Representative
Fitzgerald of the house committee on
appropriations, with Secretary McAdoo
and the chairman of the senate COM
mittee participated, shows how serf-
GUS is this concern.
On top of this comes the administra-
tons demand for large additional
appropriation for a ship purchase |
measure, adding to the difficulties.
What makes the situation one of es- |
pecial concern is the fact that all of |
the different measures of the admins |
tration are likely to receive the test |
of this deficit.
Test Interests Northwest.
One of the issues, in fact the chief |
one upon which the Democratic ad-
ministration was elected, was the high
cost of living, which it was pledged
to reduce. There was demand
throughout the country that this re-
duction should be brought about large
1y through a reduction of the tariff and
the tariff revision bill was the result.
This test will be of especial interest in
the Northwest, where the farmers may
not be expected to believe they were
given special consideration, and where
the situation was saved, SO far as they
were concerned, only by the interven
ton of war prices and war condi-
tions.
No Change in Living Cost.
While the bill cut down the govern
ment revenue several million dollars,
there is no marked evidence of a re-
duction in the cost of living. The ap-
plication of the income tax has appar-
emily failed to fill the gap caused by
this reduction, which lends additional
color to Republican charges that this,
like other Democratic measures, was
loosely framed and without a definite
of the conditions that were
to be met.
The application of the war tax has
been especially burdensome because of
It's vexatious provisions, but Republic
cans call attention to the fact that this
also has been a makeshift measure,
since it has failed of its purpose in not
the necessary revenues with
which to operate the government.