Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-02-12
DEBATE over
REVENUE BILL
OPENS TODAY
ayS +,
Senator Penrose Attacks
Rider Designed to Affect
Social Reforms.

Washington, Feb. l2.-Fewer than
q dozen senator's attended todays
opening discussion Of the great rev.
enue bill. levying $4,000, 900. 900 IN
taxes this year and four billion dol
lars thereafter, which was begun IN
the senate today by Senator Penrose
Of Pennsylvania, ranking Republican
Of the senate managers.
Addition Of 'riders" to the measure
designed to effect social or economic
reforms was especially criticised BY
Senator Penrose. Naming the pro-
vision to levy 100 per cen taxes on
campaign contributions, which was
eliminated by the conferees. the
"bone dry" prohibition amendment
affecting the District Of Columbia, the
child labor clause and the special tax
on pistols. Senator Penrose said the
rules should be changed to prevent
the practice of adding unrelated mat
ters to revenue legislation.
II am ready to legislate to regulate
campaign expenditures" said Mr..
Penrose, land nearly to the point OF
~forbidding them entirely. The cleo
torate today il intelligent and no
campaign can he won that does not
make An appeal to their reason"
Senator Penrose said the provision
" u Va WV ~ NAS
charged from the military service
was adopted for patriotic reasons. al
though possibly a violation of con-
ference rules. +.
Regret that the conference COM
mittee was obliged to raise the second
bracket Of the exces profits taxes
from sixty to sixty-f1ye per cent was
expressed by Senator Penrose who
said the longer he considered it, the
more he thought taxes were reaching
the danger point.
Regarding. elimination of the SEN
ate amendment to repeal the zone
rates on second class mail. Senator
Penrose said the senate conferees
I'VE felt certain, he said, that We
would have no bill if the senate con
ferees had not yielded"
What he termed wasteful appro-
priations and expenditures were scor-
ed by Senator Penrose, pointing out
that the bills reduction from eight to
six billion dollars was "more appar.
ent than real because a large part
was covered in losses from prohibi-
ton legislation. He attacked especi-
ally the recent 500, 000, 900 appropri-
alton for European famine relief.
Bills pending/1n the senate aggre-
gate more than $4,000, 600, 900 and in
the house for more than $4,000, 000,-
600 OF proposed appropriations were
detailed by Senator Penrose. Secre-
tary Lanes bill to reclaim swamp and
logged off lands for discharged SOL
diers, at a cost Of $4,000. 100000, he
characterized as "chimerical." Criti-
cising the Kenyon bill for $4oo,o oo,-
900 to be spent in public works to
check unemployment, he said the
senator advocated pet projects and
that the unemployment question had
been greatly exaggerated.
The bill for $1,000, 900, 900 to main
tain guaranteed wheat prices was re-
ferred to by the Pennsylvania sena-
tor as a measure ITO make good the
folly of Hoover in fixing prices. He
urged an accounting Of President
Wilson'S special war fund, saying any
balance now remaining should be
turned in.
Senator PenroSt said government
operation of the railroads was; deplor-
able and Senator Kellogg of Mime
sofa called his attention to the re-
quest of Director General Hines for
$750,000,000 addition which the Min
nesota senator said was to be added
to the revolving fund that did not
revolve."
II think the Bohhevik in Petro-
grad" replied Senator Penrose,
would have run the railroads better
than the American people,"
Senator Thomas of Colorado said
the railroad administration had ef-
fected many economies. Senator
Penrose replied that every one in the
United States is cursing the rail-
roads,"