The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-07-02
FISCAL YEAR STARTS
WITH MUCH DOUBT
Republican Congress Gives
No Clue to Revenue
p Legislation
SAME TAX SYSTEM
FOR ANOTHER YEAR

Prevent Progress-House VIII Pass
Tariff Bill Without Amendments and
Senate VIII Rewrite It.
{ BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
| Especial Dispatch to The Reformer.)
ISIS. Copyright 1921.
| WASHINGTON, July 1.-The first of
| July is here and congress has failed to
live up to the predictions made during the
last campaign that the business men of
| the country would know how much taxes
| they would have to pay for the fiscal year
which in so many business concerns began
yesterday. Similarly, the first of July
marks the beginning of the government ;
| fiscal year and is always regarded as a
turning point. Therefore. it is not sur
| prising to find discussion today of the
! progress the new administration has
made to date and to note certain muir
murings inside and outside % congress
and tendency to pass the blame from the
executive end of the avenue to congress
and back again.
! The truth is that anyone who believed
the Republicans would be able to get a
tax bill out of the way by July LIST mis-
calculated the speed of congress. The
Republican majority is so big that it is
somewhat unwieldy and the old-fash-
! Toned method of having the two houses
/ steCred by leaders in whom the rank and
file would have confidence has given way
to the groups and factions which have
! their own leaders.
President Harding has never abated his
desire for the prompt passage of a tax
bill, but it is one thing to hope for speed
| from congress and quite another thing to-
/ get it especially at the start of an admin
! istratiOn when senators and representa-
tives spend so much of their time either
! getting new jobs for their friends or saw
ing their old friends from losing said
jobs.
! Congress Slides Along.
Congress has literally slid along from
day to day without program and without
aim. Nobody sits over congress and
cracks the whip. The same lcisurely
methods that have prevailed for Years
are still in vogue and SO many measures
are proposed by individual members that
the main things. like the tariff and tax
bills, are not pushed forward with the
combined energies of the members
/ The real trouble Is that pride of party
lis disappearing. Time was when a
/ leader might rally the elements in the
/ Republican party by calling upon its
members to uphold the reputation of the
G. q. u. for efficiency and smooth dis
patch of public business. Only the Dem
locrats used to be held up to scorn and
able to pass legislation efficiently. So
many groups have arisen i'm the senate
and house that instead Of pride of party
there is in its place n pride of individual
lopinion. There is little regard for party
harmony.
Congress Embarrasses Harding.
4
has just embarrassed a Republican prcsi-
dent and secretary of war by ordering that
the standing army be cut down to 1904 900
/ men by October |, instead of next May, as
Originally planned. As consequence
the government is placed in the position
iot having to discharge men who enlisted
for year. The government. in other
words, is obliged to break it's contract.
The secretary of war thinks it would be
Il stain on the honor of the government to
do so. vet he is required by law to bring
the army down to the size for which mon
ey was appropriated. He can't keen faith
with the enlisted men without violating
a statute. II a trooper desires and
breaks his contract with the government
he is punished but the army men now
wonder how the government can Justify
4 breaking of its own contract President
/ Harding has appealed to congress TO
| strengthen out the matter by new legiSla-
4 tiSh' Ait originally asked tilat congress
/ prevent the situation from arising. but
congress paid no attention to the request
/ It's only one of a number of instances OF
iack OF teamwork and Of a disposition
IN congress to go its own way regardless
| of the Republican executive.
Mr.. Harding has been told that sooner
Tor latcr this situation will react against
him and that the error of omission and
/ commission of an inefficient congress will
react against him a. much as against any
! individual member. He is being urged
to take hand and drive congress largely
! because of fear that the entire Rppub-
lican administration will be Judged by
what congress does or fails to do.
Talk of n Recess
Already there is talk of a recess in
congress. The tariff bill has Just been in
troduced in the house. which will jam it
through quickly refusing to permit amend
| mentS. which is only another way of in
yltlng the senate to rewrite the measure
While 1t is true that a powerful element
IN the Republican party wanted the
| tariff revised, the truth is a bigger ele-
ment wanted the taxes reduced The Re
| publicans have yielded to the agricul-
tural group and other factions which
nave managed to threaten them most and
have sidetracked the revenue bills.
| There is beginning to be recognition
/ of the fact that a mistake was made in
the first instance in refusing to put tax
revision ahead of the tariff In fact.
President Harding's failure to decide that
dispute early in his administration Ieav-
ling it to the congressional leaders to
work out has simply resulted in moth
ing being accomplished on tax matters at
all. The prospect now is that the coun-
try will have to pay the same taxes it
paid last year and will be lucky to escape
without an increase. The excess profits
tax has been automatically repealed by