The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1921-08-24
A PLAGUE OF POLITICS

There are approximately 100000 unemploy-
ed in the country today.
For these men and women and to their de-
pendents there is one paramount issue. It is
work.
But Mr.. Samuel Gompers Mr.. William Jen-
nings Bryan, and other Democatic politicians in
house and senate have begun beating of the
tom toms, and the tune is an old one The COM
mon people are being betrayed again, and the
obvious inference it that they must turn to Mr.
Bryan, Mr.. Gompers, Mr.. Kitchin, and the Demo-
cratic leaders to save them.
If it is good sense to trust the same guides
who got you into bog to get you out, the Demo
Gratis, including, Of course Mr.. Bryan, Mr.. Com
pers, and Mr.. Kitchin, should be called back at
once
Mr. Gompers' organization prejudges the pro-
posed tax revision, which is characteristic of Mr.
Gompers' Democratic partisansm. It depends on
behalf of the idle workers something real, some
thing constructive, something that will not add
to their burden while allowing the rich to escape"
which seems to mean the retention of the excess
profits tax and the present scale of higher income
surtaXes. The federation views the raising of
exemptions affecting the small taxpayer as ga
sop thrown to the people,"
Mr.. Gompers wants the retention of the excess
profits tax He pretends that to repeal it is to re-
lieve the "war milionaires and great corpora
TONS" We think Mr.. Gompers knows better If
he does not, he ought to make an honest inquiry
into the facts. If he will do that not as mem
Der of the Democratic party machine but as a
real friend of the idle workers. he will find that
the excess profits tax does not work as he thinks
or pretends to think it does Fair students of
taxation, who are as sincerely anxious for a just
distribution of taxes as Mr.. Gompers or Mr.
Bryan, and we think a good deal sincerer, hold
that the tax is worse than Ineffective since it
resulted in the pyramiding of prices as well as
in the encouragement of extravagant expendi-
lures.
! We think Mr.. Gompers knows it has been 9
failure, and perhaps Mr.. Kitchin does, too. But
the temptation to make political capital of the fall
/ lacy on which the tax was built is too great tx
| be resisted. There is no respect for the facts
shown in the A. F. of L. announcement nor il
most of the attacks made on the tax revision pro
gram in congress. The Democrats are responsible,
for the present taxation. It is human that they
should try to ignore its faults, but they ought t.
have enough concern for the country, now in +;
serious condition of business stagnation and un
employment to drop demagogy and try to worl
out revision which will relieve constructiv
business and stimulate it to go forward
Mr.. Gompers is talking nobly about the
100000 idle workers, but he is acting like
small bore INSCRIPTIONS politician. His appeal i
: not to facts or to reason but to class prelude
and ignorance. The country in the present stu
alton deserves better from him and from the othe
Democratic leaders who, while pretending to b
defenders of the oppressed poor, are trying t
block the measures which by stimulating bus
ness confidence and enterprise should present.
e bring relief
Six million Americans want jobs They al
e not going to get them under the guidance {
r Messers Bryan, Gompers and Kitchin,-Chi
: Tribune.