The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-11-19
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

4 BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
! Especial Despatch to The Heformerl |
! Copyright 1920. |
4 WASHINGTON, Nov l9.-It's far
/ cry from Geneva, where the league of
/ nations is meeting, to the income tax di-
I vision of the American treasury or thel
/ poeketbooks of the American people but
! entirely aside from the international pol
\ tiles OF the occasion the United States
government is taking deep interest I'M
the effect OF the leagues meeting on the
finances OF Europe.
H The pressure from all parts of the
II United States for Il reduction of taxes,
is 50 overwhelming that the Republican
congress which meets next month will
u find it necessary to make a start upon
the problem even before the next Repub-
II lican president takes office. Yet the OF
6cials most familiar with the taxation
question seem to be almost unit IN their
| belief that taxes cannot be reduced UNI
less the American government can sooner
or later begin to expect money from it's
various creditors III Europe. And the
/ ability Of European governments to pay
| America either the interest on the war
debt-which alone amounts to S4I5,OOOoO0
q vear-OT payments ON the principal
loaned during the war, approximately
ten billion dollars, depends entirely upon
the credit situation inside Europe.
Disarmament Is the single remedy
which one hears in official Washington.
If European countries would cease THINK
ing about future wars and agree to dis
armament urooram they would have avail
able not only money to pay America her
interest but money on the big war deDI
Itself Similarly If the United states
| ,guId feel free to reduce her own aTma-
Il fneut because of agreement with other ma
I tious. including Japan. the estimated To-
tails four. billions needed by our govern
4 ment i'm taxes from the American people
n could be materially reduced
4 The general feeling here is that ON the
Il political stability of Eur0pe depends her
! ability to nav external debts. as vel as
to nroduce goods tor export around the
q world. so that her own revenue from
h taxes will increase and - that lnterna-
y tional eNchanre viii tend to become equal
ii i2ed Great Britain and France who owe
| America large sums OF money and who
Il | have not been able to pay interest to the
VI | United States are laying aside huge sums
Il | Of money, for military and naval defense.
" | Although there is faith IN the ultimate
H ability of the league OF nations TO pre-
n | sent war. European countries VIII not
81 | INIT their ornaments until all nations
VI | including the United States enters INTO
Y the agreement. The lmwlllmgness OF the
r United States to enter the league OF ma
tons and the controversy abauts it in the
| United States has for the moment pre-
| vented an understanding about dlsarma-
mcnt fut irrespective of whether the
oresident-elcct decides that he wants
America to ioin league Of nations, lie
has pledged himself TO work for dIsarma-
ment. The league of nations has special
commission at work on the question OF
disarmament but it Is doubtful whether
She movement viii get much momentum
| until Presdent-elect Harding throws the
moral force Of America behind It.
Practically. every tax expert IN Wash
N 'ngton can work out formula whereby
/ axes would be reduced and Liberty bonds
restored TO mar If the entire world agreed
| not TO build any extensive ornaments
| 5ut Smniv 10 maintain sufficient Tor ma
! tIonal defense. Secretary Houston csti-
mates, for instance, that the American
government would need four billions of
dollars in revenue during the coming wear.
II There's good deal of talk about eNtrav
4 agance in government but when that four
billion estimate is analysed his figures are
likely to he considered conservative. or
the four billion. al least billion must be
set aside TO nay the American neoptc the
interest i'm Liberty bonds thew hold. An
other billion will have to be spent on
guarantees to the railroads and other
assistance nrovided for by the Republican
CONGRESS- during the last session in order
to helm the railroads out OF the plight
they were in when taken over nv the gov
eminent DURING the war. This leaves two
billion for other purposes. Pensions,
war risk insurance, maintenance ot mil
tary and naval establishments and other
expenditures growing ont of the war, also
II the billion it used to cost To run the
Il American government before 1914 con-
ii sumes the remaining two billions. More
over the high cost Of commodities which
the government itself must buy would
ordinarily have increased the government
budget beyond the single billion even if
+hcrc we're no expenses incident to the
war. The IMPRESSION is that there will
be much pruning of expenditures during
the coming year. but that it can't affect
the main items like the sums guaranteed
TO the railroads the amounts to be spent
for the soldiers and sailors and the hu-
lion that must be paid in interest to Lib
ertv bond holders. 1t is the general feel
ing too that the government viii be do
ing well if it can cut it's expenditures to
four billion and raise that amount Of rev
| erue. Nobody knows Just what the loss
viii be on the revenue from excess pro
fits taxes. Tho SLUMP in business will
mean considerable reduction IN revenue.
The nrosnect is that there viii be an il
; sister-o on cut in army and navy an
| rronriatiore and things incident to war
| making. Should Europe be. able to do
| the same thing. the outlook for lower
i