The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-03-24
new TARIFF
IS DIFFICULT
TASK AHEAD
Sullivan Says Emergency Tar
iff Cannot Help Farmers
Now-Says Preservation Of
Income Taxes Mistake.
SALES TAX IS COMING
BY MARK SULLIVAN

WASHINGTON, D. c., March "a
The Republican leaders in their sever
al conferences this week were more
confident than a serious understand
ing Of what is ahead of them would
justify. The decision to pass once
more the emergency tariff bill, upon
which valuable weeks were wasted
last winter, is a light minded gesture.
It cannot have, in April, the same just
ification it had in December.
In December the farmers crops
were still on his hands, by the earliest
date in April, when the bill now can
be made law. all of the old crops.
which the law might have been expect
ed to protect, will have left the farms
and will be either consumed or in the
hands of dealers. for the new crops
now being planted six months tariff
Is obviously of no benefit.
However, the passing of the measure
again does have one small justifica-
ton. 1t should have a beneficial ef-
feet on the psychology Of the farmer.
1t should act as sign to him on the
intention of the new administration to
protect, to that extent the farmer may
be lifed out of the intense depression
in which he now is and may be moved
to recede from his present intention to
limit his planting and depend on the
smallness of his crop rather than on
protection for getting a good price.
Unaware Of Trouble.
In two respects the Republican lead
ers are quite unaware Of what Is ahead
of them, they have no notion OF the
difficulty involved in passing the next
tariff law or of the time it will con-
sumo, these are only two Republicans
on the present ways and means COM
mittee who ever before served in the
making of a tariff. They are Long
worth of Ohio, and Fordney of Mich
igan. All the others are new men
quite unfamiliar with the enormous
time consuming complexities OF tariff
making. ... s-......
The new tariff will be more difficult
to make and will consume more time
than any other tariff we have ever
had. The new tariff must be made
from the ground up and must be based
on conditions for which there is no
precedent The pickering and pulling
and hauling of the enormous number
of business interest who will insist on
being heard will be far beyond any
last precedent.
The Republican program is, roughly,
to get the new tariff through the ways
and means committee in three months,
to get it through the house in another
month and to get it through the finance e
committee of the senate and the senate
itself in another four months. Thus 1t
is hoped they being able to finish it
before the first of next December, they
can only succeed in doing this by neg
lecting every other subject of legisla-
tion, and it is not possible to neglect
everything else.
Mistake on Taxes.
The other respect in which the Re
publican leaders have confidence with.
out good ground for it is their ex
pectation to preserve the present in
come taxes substantially as they now
are, anybody who understands the con
dNions knows that present income
taxes can no more be maintained than
any other war time expediency can be
permanently maintained in time OF
peace.
The Republican leaders have no un
derstanding of the extent to which the
present income tax is not an income
tax at all. But as a levy on capita,
the present income tax consumes moi
merely income. but also increase ot
capital Income is like the fruit of g
tree. the government can no more con
tinue to consume the country's annua
increase of capital than it could GU
off and consume each year that part o
the trunk of a tree which constitute
each years growth. 1t can be predict
ed with complete confidence that the
Republican leaders will be compelled
to revise their present ideas about the
income tax They say now that the!
will not adopt the alternative of direc
tax on sales because it is unpopular
but sooner or later some leader viii
arise among them who has the cour
age to distinguish between what il
sound and what is popular.
Copyright 1921 by the New York
Evening Post. Inc.)