Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-08-10
THIS GENERATION
TOPAY ASHARE
OF WARS COST
Congress Plans to Raise Great
Sum of Money by Direct
Taxation
BY Associated Press

Washington, Aug. 10. - In the
Senate debate on the $2.Oo6, ,97O, 900
war tax bill to-day, Senator Sim
mons, chairman of the finance COM
mittee, said the bill proposed to
raise larger proportion of war rev.
enues by direct taxation and less by
bonds, distributing the war burden
between the present and future BEN
erations. He pointed out that near
ly $1,400,000.000 of the new war
taxes are to be obtained from in
comes and war profits alone with
over 5000, 100000 more from intoxl-
cants.
Before the war" continued Sen
ator Simmons. "our total eXpendi-
lures were between 800, 900, 900 and
$500. 100000, exclusive of postal
costs 1t is evident that the expendi-
lures during this fiscal year will
reach something lige ten billion dol
lars. These conditions suggest in
comes and war profits as the chief
and Just course of revenue to de-
fray the expenses Of the war. APP
parently the House did not take this
view. As the war profits for 1916
exceed thirty hundred millions Of
dollars, the House levy of S2O0,0O0,-
900 war excess profits In the bill, es-
timated 10 raise 1900 900, 900 does
| not meet the manifest equities of
the situation. Your committee
thought that the equities of the stu
alton required at least one-half of
| the sum proposed TO be raised
! should be drawn from incomes and
excess profits"
Big Corporations Pay
Senator Simmons submitted sta
tistics said to have been compiled
! by j. z. Morgan and Company,
showing that forty-five great cor
porations alone will pay. under the
proposed committee revision, war
profits taxes of S239,799, 900, against
only $77,736,000 proposed under the
House bill.
Regarding elimination of the
House general ten per cent. avvalo-
rem tariff levy Mr. Simmons said
Whlle the government could
realize from these tariff levies $780,
100000 the domestic producers OF
this country would as a result collect
out of the people an amount three OF
four times greater than the amount
which it is estimated the government
will receive from the tax. In the
face of these facts the contention OF
some that the senate amendments
in these respects has increased the
ia xto be paid by the masses of the
people is manifestly without foun.
dation. On the other hand it seems
clear that by these amendments the
senate has relieved the peopl of the
country of several hundred millions
of dollars which they would under
the house provisions have been com
ment or to private interests.
Publishers Taxed
The reduced Tobacco taxes, he said
would raise the same revenues as the
house rates without burdening either
producers or consumers. Liquor
rates, he added, were raised because
the food control laws provisions
stopping manufacture of whiskey
made it advisable to find other rev.
enue sources.
Mr.. Simmons statement regarding
the publishers tax was:
Your Committee decided to elm
mate the house zone system because
it was made clear to him that 1t
is tax that would be not only bur-
densome but in number of cases
disastrous to many valuable publi-
cations. Representatives of practi-
cally all great publications of the
country appeared before the COM
mittee against this tax. The tax sub
stituted by your committee is not a
logical one, 1t must be confessed
but it was the best your committee
was able to devise in view of the
present conditions of the publishing
business"