Evening star., 1921-07-27
More Even Distribution of
Burdens One Hope of
Administration.
GOVERNMENT ECONOMY
WILL BE GREATEST AID
Repeal Of Excess Profits Tax Ger
tain-Re'u to 2-Cent Post
age Is Likelihood.
ny DAVID LAWRENCE
ny DAVID LAWRENCE.

Tax programs are like time tables.
certain principles have been agreed
upon by President Harding and ad-
ministration leaders which can be of
some guidance TO taxpayers. Those
principles explained dt tn" Whit.
House do not necessarily commit thu
adm inistra ton to a cut and dried pro-
ccdure which VIII prevent a change
Of mind. In o her wo"d-. nothing -
final until it is actually in the bill
that pass both houses. but 50 far
any one can forsec. indeed the best
iNdcment that eat Il" 'na' shaded
present leads to the following con-
cluS; ions:
FIRST. the excess profits tax must
be rep"a aled. This action viii he taken
not merely because tn" revenue from
excess profits has d minshod to such
an extent that il compares unfavor-
ably with the immense amount of
darlag" done to bus ness AS a who'll
through the restraints placed upon
individual enterprise. initiative and
eXpansi on.
3-tent Postage Seen.
Second. the return to 3-cent postage
for first-class mail. This step is to
be taken reluctantly by the republican
administration. for the shrewd Albert
Sidney Burleson. Postmaster General
under the democratic administration.
took off an extra cent. ami the f.'.
is that democratic campaign orators
will point to the extra postage as a
sign that the poor mans burdens have
not been decreased but increased
Nevertheless the Scent tax is favored
as a great revenue producer and as
the bsRf means of getting better
postal service. Will Hays the new
Postmaster General. is trying to pro-
duce an efficient postal service and is
making good headway. He finds il
necessary to spend money to get
efficiency. He has been told by busi-
ness men 10 go ahead and incur a
deh"it. but deliver the mail on time
So the price of efficiency is an extra
cent on postage. The general opinion
- that the stamp tax Will hardly he
felt.
Surtax Nny Be Gut.
Third. cutting down of the large
SurtaXeS. The hardest thing in tho
world t" explain to the average tax
payer is the why and the wherefore
OF a surtaX. The income tax blanks
give no inkling AS to how the scien-
tific tax experts devised it, and th.
taxpayer doesn't see any particular
scheme of percentages behind il. The
large surtaXes have. however. oper-
ated like the excess profits taxes to
destroy initiative at the very time
when men of capital should he using
il to promote American euterprises
giving employment TO the unem-
pIoyed and starting the wheels OF
business and industry on the road
to sound and uafnaateI prosperity.
That there will be a dimnution of
large surtaXes can be taken for
granted.
Fourth. all the schemes for sales
tax, turnover tax. production tax or
consumers tax will go by the boards
That's the trend a preesnt The ad-
miniStration has listened to all the
various plans proposed and attemn,-
ed to tnd one that wouldn't increase
the burden on the ultimate consumer.
The suspicion exists that the idea
is uneconomic and leads in the end
to double taxation. This is stoutIy
denied. but the truth is that the ad-
ministration hasn't been convinced
and the tendency is to forget these
various salfs and consumers taxes
and try to raise money by other
means.
President for Economy.
President Harding himself has told
callers that he doesn't believe relief
from tax burdens can be accomplished
by new devices or rather by new tax
proposals. but by rigid cutting down
OF government expenditures The big
eest principle underlying the whole
tax program is the battle Az applied
to the expenditure column. BY every
dollar that the expense bill is dimin-
ished the amount that must be raised
ty taxation is reduced. Mr.. Harding
insists that when all is said and done
the best way to reduce taxes is for
the government not to spend so much
money. The drive for economy
makes headway for a little while.
however, only to run up against some
after-the-war snag or emergency sit
uation like that involved in financing
the railroads or agriculture or the
Shipping Board, and the best laid
plans go awry.
In a nutshell. tax revision this year
will mean tax readjustment-a trans
fer of the burdens and more even
distribution. in the hope that business
incentive will he restored. Lower
taxes for the nation as a whole are
still in the reSlm of conjecture. but a
Encouragement of ,aNes may give
business some measure of relief and
permit expansion.
Copyright. l92I.)