The Washington herald., 1920-12-09
SEESCHANCES
TO CUT BILLION
FROM SCHEDULE
Fordney Says H0ustOn's
Estimates Sound Like
Fairy Tale.
FAVORS SALES TAX
TO MEET EXPENSES
Claims Half of One Per
Cent on All Deals Seems
Practicable.

tority members OF the House Ways
and Means committee calls for
hearings on the proposed changes IN
the existing revenue laws immc-
d:ately AMI hearings on the tarirt
beginning on January s. II con-
tempiates : special session Of Con-
gress socn after the inauguration
of President-elect Harding on
March 4.
The proposed plan offers no nope
to persons desiring legislation per-
mittiug the deferment of the last
instaiIment of taxes for tnis year
and the reinstatement of the So
called met loss provision 10 hg-
urinS taxes.
Exclamation Asked.
Joseph w. Fordney, of Michigan
chairman of the Way and Means
committee, announced thai as soon
as the members of the committee
had found time to study the TAX
reconIul, ndations contained in the
annual report of David +. houston
Secretar yof the Treasury. Houston
would be invited to explain to the
committe the views of the admins
tra.ion.
Il have studied the annual re-
port of the Secretary of the Treas
ury and his estimates for govern
ment expenditures sound like fairy
tale" Fordney said. They are ri
dicuIousIy high. 1 can go down
his list of estimates and chop out
approximately s1,25OoOo.ooO as un-
necessary. Just for example. he
wants sIs1. 100000 for the Bureau
of War Risk Insurance. l think
that is s10o.sgO, 900 too highi
SAY. Parry Car save sIiliions.
with the proposed consolidation
of the various soldiers relief agen-
cies into one bureau we can save
500. .00O. 900 and eliminate 10000
clerks in Washington Last year
$4,000 was appropriated for mis-
cellaneous expenses OF military
posts This year Houston Is ask
ing $1,000, 900 under the same item.
He wants $75.OO0OOO for rivers and
harbors improvements. l do not
think Congress will grant any such
sum this year"
The program for egislatfon as
outlined for this session looks chiefly
TO cutting down these estimates
in view of effecting great economy
in governmental expenditures. 1t is
,wrra nj
the revenue and tariff bills in con-
tempIation of having these meas
ures prepared for consideration in
the House beginning in March.
Fordney said:
Extra Session Sure.
TT is a foregone conclusion that
Harding will call Congress in extra
session shortly after the inaugu-
ration and. in the opinion of the
chairman and other members Of the
commfttee, the final enactment of
a tariff measure at the special ses-
sion could not be accomplished IL
hearings were to be delayed until
the new Congress is convened"
The program will necessarily
mean that the revision of the tariff
and the revenue laws will be under
taken almost simultaneously. The
expressed views of many members
of the committee is that the two
measures are in many ways so
closely related that one cannot be
considered entirely apart from the
other.
aThs comittee has not definite
plsns of revision" a statement
issued from Fordney's office said.
-After the hearings, which will last
until the holidays, it is possible that
some general outline Of the revision
will be formulated.
Wants Simpler Tax.
Fordney has in mind definite
plan for simplification of the tax
On corporation incomes. He pro-
posed a nat tax on the incomes of
an corporations having no qualifi-
cations or other modifying provi-
sIons-
ut is my desire" Fordney said,
"that the income tax laws can be
made so simple that a corporation
will not have to hire an expert or
a lawyer to figure out how much 1t
owes the government. / think that
sI 600. o0O. 900 or $780, 100000 can
be rasied by such a tax"
Favors sales Tax.
"A tax of one-half of per cent
upon sales of all kinds does not
seem so bad to me. After the civil
war there was a tax of cents a
pound on coffee imports If we tax
coffee S cents per pound IL would
raise s65. 900, 900, and IL we tax tea
10 cents per pound 1t would raise
from SIC. 100000 to $15.o00.0o0."
isaac Bachrach, another member
Of the committee. said he favored
sales tax Of 1 per cent on final re-
tail sales in place of the excess
profits tax an dsurtax. He figured
that this tax would raise S2'ooo'-
100000.
There vs. sentiment among Re-
nublfcans in the committee for the
elimination of the luxury tax, the
soda water tax and the cosmetics
tax. on the other hand there is
talk of raising the tobacco tax. in
one instance a raise OF IS per cent
Is proposed. retaining the admis-
sion tax, and the taxes on express.
telephones and railroads.
Favor Half billion Tariff.
The view OF Fordney and leaders
of the eSnate is that the new tariff
should not yield more than S50e.-