The daily banner., 1919-08-21
SODA WATER" CONGRESS
MAKES LITTLE PROGRESS
Members Too Busy With Their Own
Affairs TO Meet Demands of Sit
uati0n-NatiOn'S Business Waits
While Members Play Politics.

Washington, u. c., Aug. 19.-The
Sixty-Sixth may become famous as
the SODA Water Congress.
| The present Congress, with Re-
publicans in the majority in both
branches, has been in session three
months, and about all that it has
done is the passage by the House of
a bill to repeal the tax on soda wa
ter, which would cost the Federal
treasury something like $21,0O0,-
900 per annum. Even the soda wa
ter bill, however, has failed thus far
/ to get out of the workless Senate
Committee on Finance. of which
Senator Penrose, of Pennsylvania is
chairman.
For weeks prior to the issuance
of the call for a special session of
| Congress, Republicans were severe
in their criticism of the President
for delaying the call. One of the
reasons they gave for demanding an
early convening of Congress was. the
necessity for the enactment of leg
| islation to meet the reconstruction
problems that followed the close of
the war, and particularly a need for
the readjustment of the tax and tar
| iff schedules.
In his call for the special session,
issued in May, the President recog-
nized the need for constructive leg
| islation, and in his message to Con-
gress at it's convening referred espe-
cially to matters of taxation, urging
the need of prompt and helpful leg
islation, that credit and enterprise
might be Quickened to help business
get back to normal
81 hope that the Congress will
find it possible to undertake an early
reconsideration of Federal taxes"
said the Presidents message, lin or
der to make our system of taxation
more simple and easy of administra-
tion and the taxes as little burden
some as they can be made and yet
suffice to support the Government
and meet all its obligations. The
main thing we shall care for is
that our taxation shall rest as light
fy as possible OH the productive
sources of the country, that its rates
shall be stable, and that it shall be
content in it's revenue yielding
power"
The Ways and Means Committee
of the House is the committee
whence legislation relating to taxa
tion emanates. 1t is the most i'm
portant committee in either branch
of Congress; ordinarily, it is the
ablest in the House. It's present
chairman is Representative Fordney,
of Michigan, a Republican, of course.
This committee has been in ses-
sion most of the time since Con-
gress convened, but it has accom-
plished practically nothing. To date,
it has reported out and the House
has passed the bill repeating the
war tax on soda water, hardly a
necessity of life, and which repeal
centainly has not contributed to a.
reduction of the cost of necessities
of life. In addition, the House
committee has reported out some
half dozen pet bills of 1ndiyiduaE
Republican members of the co1nns1k
tee, in every instance designed TO.
rear a tariff wall around pet irl-
dustry of the authors particular
district, with no apparent regard for
the National welfare.
1t is in this manner that this
most important committee of the
House is meeting the situation that
|confronts the country. 1t mas utter
ly failed to rise to the emergency
with any degree of craftsmanship ev-
en- with a very marked degree of pa