The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1920-12-27
DOESN'T KNOW
WHERE TO GET
THE MONEY
If Congress Creates a Law
Covering Any of the
Four Proposals Now Be-
ing Considered the Gov
ernment Will Be "Up
Against a WalP'.

Washington, d. C., Dec 27.-Passage
of the soldiers bonus bill would cost
the government approximately $4,000
100000, Secretary Houston estimated
to-day before the Senate finance com.
mittee, which is considering the bill
The secretary declared enactment OF
the bill meant an added burden in
the way of taxes, reiterating a state
ment made before the committee last
week that the treasury ought not TO
be called upon to assume any addi-
tional burdens
While he said it was impossible to
b compute accurately the exact cost of
each of the four optional aid plans
he believed the estimate submitted was
substantially correct. Land settlement
provisions of the bill contained many
uncertainties, he added, SO that the
cost entailed by them could only be
guessed at.
Assuming that all of the men would
select one of the four optional plans,
he estimated the cost of each of the
plans as follows:
Adjust service pay 81, ,342 100000
Insurance provisions s4,543 100000.
Vocational training aid $l,sS,000,-
600.
Farm and home development 81 $780,
100000.
As the plans were optional, the sec
retary said, the choice of the men
would not be confined to any one of
them. Allowing for the various Sc
1ections he arrived at his total esti-
mated cost of $2,3O0.000,00O
The secretary professed To be
"against wall" as to methods of oh
tanning revenue to meet the outlay
that would be required if the bill were
enacted. He called the committees at
tention to the suggestions for new
taxes contained in his annual report,
hut explained that these were men
tioned for the information of Con
gress and without any sort of recon-
mendations.
He did not attempt to discuss the
various tax suggestions. asking the
committee TO hear DIR. T. S. Adams,
treasury economist and tax expert.
rhe tax situation. referring frequently
10 Secretary Houston's discussion of
The question in his annual report. He
declared the treasury was daily seek
ing new evidence of a further drying
up of revenue sources, and the task of
computing tax receipts was TO that ex
tent becoming more difficult.
In addition TO the difficulties thus
confronting the treasury, Mr.. Adams
! declared, the internal revenue bureau
, faced another problem in keeping ex-
perts on the job. He said the men who
evere capable did not stay long.
Senator Smoot, Republican, Utah,
eaid: "The real hanger is that these
men get training in the revenue bureau
then go out and help big firms evade
tax payments"
Mr. Adams said that might be true
10 some extent. but that he knew of
one man who left the bureau a year
ago, whose resignation cost the govern
snent millions of dollars in uncollected
taxes, for he was an executive with
an expert knowledge of the work.
The witness said this was typical
of the labor turnover and that it di-
rectly affected tax collections and
would continue to have a more direct
affect on such collections unless tax
laws were simplified.
Senator Smoot said all the difficult
ties could be avoided il a revenue law
4 which the average man could under
stand were passed by Congress.
The committee adjourned without
setting a date for further hearings.