The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1921-08-25
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL
BY J. f. Jones.


but Secretary Of the Treasury Mellon
knows better. AS the principal book.
keeper Of the United States government
Mr.. Mellon has insisted that figures
don't lie. and his figures show that
nearer five billion than four billion
dollars are necessary to carry On this
years expenses of the government.
President Harding has effected a com.
promise measure by which congress
will reduce the government tax bill
to $4,034,0 OO, 900, and this lops off $780,
0OO, 900 from the estimates furnished
by the treasury. Last year the appro-
p%riatlons made by congress aggregated
s4,S50, 000, 900.
Counting the floating debt there are
about seven and a quarter billions OF
treasury certificates, Victory bonds,
war savings stamps, and other secu-
rites falling due within the next two
years. 1t does not take much of a
mathematician to figure out that the
United States government will have tC
raise more than SIT, 600, 900 900 within
two years. The war was the biggest
merrlest dance in all history. and now
We are paying the fiddler.
1t is becoming out Of date to blame
the democrats for high taxes, and the
popular political recreation is to shift
the great burden of taxes; and in do.
ing this the politicians keep constantly
in mind the need of tactics that will
affect the least number of votes. The
situation is the same today as it was
when Ben Franklin wrote: Our con-
stitution is in actual operation; every
thing appears to promise that it will
last; but in this world nothing is Ger.
tain but death and taxes President
Harding is determined to save the last
dollar possible from current expenses
and apply it to the maturing debts,
and in carrying out this policy he took
his political future in his hands in de-
ferring the soldiers bonus bill. No
one well informed now expects to see
this legislation enacted. The budget
system, under the direction of General
Dawes, is a further effort to make more
effective the national pruning knife.
Three hundred and fifty million dollars
has been chopped from the estimates
for running the agriculture, war and
navy departments, the shipping board,
railroads, and from the general ac-
counts of the government. This all
looks like constructive work, and it
will help to lower the burden a little.
But a few million dollars saved can
not alter the fact that taxes must be
imposed to pay for the wastages of
the war. Billions are a condition,
and it takes something more than a
political platform of promised econ.
omy, or a subsequent resolution" to
get away from obligations such as our
national government must meet. OF
curse We have ten billions due us
from Europe, but Europe seems per.
fectly able to owe US, and not to be
worried about returning either the in
terest or the principal.
The tax On the net incomes of cor.
porations Is increased from ten to
twelve and a half per cent by the new
tax bill. Soft drinks and so-called
nuisance taxes" which have been dis.
tributed over numerous articles, and
have been a tax burden among people
who otherwise would not pay a dollar
to the direct support Of the public
treasury, are to be abolished by the
new tax scheme. The bill will repeal
the excess profits taxes as of January
l, 1921; reduce the income surfaces
to 40 per cent as of January /, 1921,
and to 33 per cent to take effect Janu-
airy l, 1922. There will be no new
taxes except the additional load that
will be put on the corporations and an
adjustment of several miscellaneous
items. Owing to the business shrink.
age 1t is hardly probable that the ag.
gregate amount of taxes from corpora.
tons will be as much as last year.
During the first three months Of this
year there were 4,870 business failures
with liabilities Of sits, 5S9, 9S9 in the
country. For the subsequent three
months ending June 80 there was an
improvement, and the number of fail.
ures was Abb, with liabilities Of 1927,
621,533.
One authority comments regarding
the business depression that "the i'm,
provement in the last three months
indicates that the heaviest part of the
unpleasant task of killing OF the con.
Germs too weak to survive has been
done; but these figures do not tell the
whole story. for the number and i'm,
portance of the failures would have
been greater II a new method had not
been developed for taking care oil
many strained business situations
Leading business men and bankers are
agreed that the country has been 60
ing through every stage of q panic. less
the actual panic. because Of the fed
er~l reserve banking system. which has
been able to produce elastic currency.