The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-11-27
BY ERNEST O. WALKER
mail special 70 The Advertiser)

/ NnhhAA NbpChaa " Nuo fAuNoftlbofDs
WASHINGTON, November l0-The
shutters Of congress win no sooner be
down, il now seems, than revenue talk
aud discussions Of governmental where.
withal will be rampant. Men there
were in senate and house but n few
short weeks ago were boosting the
! mammoth revenue bill through It's final
stages. with predictions, and siyhs Of
relief that there would be no more
revenue legislation for quite while.
Nevertheless the big law is hardly in
operation before congressional plans
are under way for even further re.
vision with the purpose Of much higher
taxes And there seems not the slight.
est doubt but by mid-winter this newer
revenue law will be in immediate pros.
pect. ~. i.
The alarum is sounded out Of the
treasury department into legislative
circles, for treasury officials see the
money dumped in there by hundreds
Of millions Of dollars and even by bill.
lions Of dollars but more speedily
checked out. Human vision could not
foresee how the war enterprises expand
and multiply. II is q standing require,
ment up and down through the Offices
of several departments having 70 do
directly or indirectly with the war,
that old timers and new corners alike,
hand In suggestions OF things that
could well be done to further efficient
war making. Many of these sugges.
tions yield good results in preparedness
but everything calls for money and
money is allowed unsparingly for ev:
cry undertaking Of my promise
Take on the Limit
And by the same token representa-.
tires OF ways and means will soon be
eagerly Selling upon all suggestions
for revenue raising. Income taxes will
undoubtedly be revised again and it
may soon be that every man will be
called upon to pay stipend. In other
words, the $1,000 limit win be entirely
taken of and every man and family
be required to drop at least few dol.
lars annually directly into the federal
till. Very many who are, or who have
been, in the public service would hail
such statute as a further step toward
better government. For il Is evident
that when any man puts even a SO
bill in as direct contribution to q
cause, whether il be governmental or
on-goyernmental, eyes and ears and
/ individual interest become tenscr for
its veal. The federal spirit will be
quickened and strengthened. !. o.,
| And Secretary of the Treasury Me.
Adoo, in ranging up and down the land
for the sale of Liberty Bonds, is en-
phasizing only ore of the notable war
activities of his department.. Tax col,
Letting and tax administration are
become a colossal task. 1t bears less
heavily as TO customs, because customs
tariffs have not been greatly increased.
The yield OF funds comes more largely
from internal revenue and the Internal
revenue bureau is already. the one
great bureau of the government. Fed
eral officials, who intend well. and stand
the test of satisfactory performances,
must see ahead. They must have thS
equipment and personnel ready. Ae-
cordingly there was significance some
weeks ago in q clearing out process for
the internal revenue bureau. Matters
are now said to have been placed upon
far more satisfactory basis. And
! also, in passing, it may be remarked
that official impatience with ineapaeity
and lack of performance these days is
growing. A realization Of war work
has reached the stage, whore tout you
GO" is a quicker dictum. to the incom,
! petent in high places. s.... 3. ..-.a.,
/ People Are In Earnest H..
The country took the last Liberty
Loan so readily and so cheerfully as TO
cheer congress for the unweleome task
of laying more taxes. The forthcoming
re.revision will be a long and tedious
| task of necessity. But subjects Of the
new taxation are accepting the Law
in such good part as to constitute a
noteworthy incident Of loyalty. Usual
| ly new revenue bill draws out wide,
spread protests and demonstrations of
i'll temper. Protests there were in
! plenty while the law was in formation
| but the operations thus far have been
attended with exceptional acquiescence
This is another evidence of the earn
estness with which the people finally
are coming to regard the war. So.
Another session Of congress is now
only four weeks away. While the mem
bership is now widely scattered, few
even being in the trenches in Elan
ders and a few others on a trip to the
Mid Pacific, the gathering Of senators
/ and representatives here for the win
ter will soon be on apaee 1t promises
to be q serious problem, possibly for
the first time in American history, as
to where congress shall lay its head.
There are 435 representatives and nine.
| ty-six senators, with their families and
employees. Hardly twenty-five percent
of these have their own domieiles in
Washington and hotels and boarding
houses are already overlooking into
Alexandria, Hyattsville and other near.