The Washington herald., 1921-03-23
sullivan Finds G. o. P.
Heads Underestimate
: Rocks in Path.
SAYS PRECEDENTS
DUE FOR BREAKING
'oretells Difficult Task i'm
Framing Bill to Meet
Favor.
BY MARK SULLIVAN.


The Republican leaders in their
several conferences this week were
more confident than serious un-
derstanding 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
. Iight-minded gesture. 1t cannot
have. in April. the same justifica-
tion il had in December. In De-
cember the farmers crops wre
still in his hands. BY the earliest
date in April. when the bill can
can be made a, law. all of the old
crops. which the law might have
been expected to protect, will have
left the farms and will be either
consumed or in the hands of deal
ers.
No Help to Crops.
For the new crops now being
planted a six months tariff is OBJ
viously of no benefit. However, the
passing OF the measure again does
have one small justification. 1t
should have a beneficial effect on
the psychology of the farmer. II
should act as a SIGH to him of the
intention of the new administra-
tion to protect him. To that extent
the farmer may be lifted 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 q
good price
In two respects the Republican
leaders 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 il will consume There
are only two Republicans on the
present Ways and Means Commit
tee who ever before served in the
making of a tariff law. They are
l.ongworth. of Ohio. and Fordney.
of Michigan. All the others are
new men, quite unfamiliar with
the enormously time-consdming
complexities of tariff making.
Greater Difficulty.
The new tariff will be more
difficult to make and will consume
more time than any other tarin
we have ever had. The new tarin
must be made from the ground
up. and must be based on condi-
tions for which there.is no prece-
dent. The pickering and pulling
and hauling of the enormous num-
Der of business interests who will
insist on being heard. will be far
beyond any past precedent.
The Republican program Is.
roughly, to get the new tarin
through the Ways and Means
Committee in three months; to get
it, through the House in another
month, and to get 1t through the
T'inance Committee of the Senate
.nd the Senate itself in another
four months: thus. 1t is hoped, be-
ing able to finish 1t before the
f,rst of next December. They can
onIy succeed in doing this by neg
Iecting every other subject OF Iegis-
Istion. and it is not possible to
neglect everything else.
income Taxes
The other respect in which the
penubIican leaders have confidence
,,i,bout ground for 1t is their ex-
,octation to preserve the present
income taxes Substantially as my
now are. Anybody who understanos
the conditions knows that the pres
ent income taxes can no more oe
maintained than any other war
time expediency can be permanent
IV maintained in time OF peace
The Republican leaders have no
understanding of the extent 10
which the present income tax Is
moi an income tax at all. but Is
l.vv on capital. The present IN
80. tax consumes not merely in
come but also increase OF capital
fncone is like the fruit of a tree.
Tbi. annual crop the government
-, take. 1t causes hardship. but
rot necessarily disaster. But in
leasing capital is like the annual
srovth of the trunk Of a tree. the
saysrnment can no more continue
20 consume the country's annual
sncrease of capital than II could
Ut of and consume each year
that part of the trunk OF tree
uhich constitutes each years
growth.
onsdence that the Republican
Icsders will be compelled to revise
their present ideas about the In
cnn,s tax. They say now that they
LII not adopt the alternative OF
S,rect tax on sales because 1t Is
,,nnonuIar. But sooner or later
.or,s leader will arise among them
~ho ha, the courage to distinguish
h.tween what Is sound and what
Is popular.
(cepyrisht. ls2i)