The Connecticut labor press., 1920-12-18
APPROPRIATIONS FOR
1920 EXCEED 1919
BY OVER BILLION
Government Planning to Spend
Five Times as Much as
Before War.
ECONOMY TALK BUNK
Scheme Is Simply to Shift Taxes
From Profiteers Onto All
the People.

The heads of the various govern
mental departments in Washington
have submitted their annual estimates
to Congress. They want 81, 653 $780, oo,
or an increase of more than billion
over the appropriations of last year.
But that IS not all. In addition they
served notice that they have certain
great deficiency appropriations coming
up, and that hundreds of millions must
be provided to take care of the guar
anty provisions of the Cumm1nS-EsCh
bill Altogether Uncle Sam must be
prepared to provide between five and
six billion dollars during the coming
year to take care of the governmental
machine.
Thus two years after the signing of
the armistice, we are spending five
times as much to run our government
as we spent prior to our entry into the
great European war.
The republican leaders denounce the
democratic departmental chiefs for
submitting such "extravagant'' esti-
mates, and insist that the appropriations
will be cut to the bone. There is a
good deal of camouhage about this
assertion, however, because there are
certain items which cannot be cut I'M
less the leaders of the republican party
are prepared to make radical change
in policy.
The army is asking for $692, 100000
and the navy for 500 600, 900. In adj
dition, the army wants $35,0OO,O0O for
new Notifications and almost $780,
600 for running the military academy
at West Point, and the army and navy
unite in demanding additional hundreds
of millions for the construction of
buildings, dry docks, and the purchase
of supplies of all kinds.
The fact cannot be emphasized too
much, that it is the veriest nonsense
to talk about economy in national eX-
penditures until some one develops
nerve enough to cut down our military
and naval machine.
In the meantime the republican lead
ers are worrying about the redemption
of their pledge to reduce taxation. Big
Business is taking keen interest IN
this question, and unless the people
wake up, Big Business" is very likely
to put across what it wants.
Here is the scheme as the hnanclers
plan it: The excess profits tax is to
be repealed, and surtaxes on big IN
comes are to be modified.
All of this is to be done ito relieve
the people from the burdens of taxa
ton" All the newspapers controlled
by special privilege will tell you that,
but the scheme is not intended to relieve
the people 1t is intended to relieve the
men who have big incomes, and who
are earning constituencies profits.
AS a substitute for the excess profits
tax and the surtaxes on large incomes
it is suggested that tax of three per
cent. on sales be enacted. This would
mean that every time an ultimate con-
sumner purchased anything, he would
pay three per cent on the purchase price
to the government.
This, it is estimated, would provide
as much money as the excess profits
tax, and it would have the virtue OF
being paid by all the people, rich and
poor alike, instead of by the men who
are enjoying unreasonable profits:
The loss caused by the modification
of the income tax rate is to be made
up by tariff on imports. This, like
the sales tax, will add to the cost of lv-
ing, and will be paid in large part by
those least able to pay it.