Evening star., 1921-03-20
U. s. WILL REQUIRE
ABOUT Il BILLIONS
IN THIRTY MONTHS
Secretary Weeks Tells Pitts
burgh Business Men Big
Task Confronts America.
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press
PITTSBURGH. Pa. March 1s.-
Something like seventeen billions of
dollars must be provided by the fed
erai government within the next
thirty months to meet it's running
expenses and refunding operations.
Secretary Weeks of the War Depart
ment declared tonight in an address
before the Pittsburgh Chamber Of
Commerce.
This" the Secretary said. "is an
infinitely greater task than was ever
undertaken by any nation in the
world in time of peace. and there is
no one. skilled in financial opera
tions though he may be. who does not
view the prospect with more or less
alarm. With this situation facing us.
it is the height of folly to undertake
new commitments il they can be
avoided, and 1 assume that no one
will dissent from that proposition"
Discusses Economics.
The War Secretary discussed econ
omy in government operations, re-
organization Of federal activities in
Washington, taxation and the tariff
He urged repeal Of the excess profits
tax. declaring that in a period of
falling prices it was not an effective
tax, as probably would be shown
when the returns for this year were
published. He said there were in
Vulnerable instances where concerns
which made large profits in 1919,
paying tax on these profits, lost SO
much during 1920 that on the 1st of
January, 1921. their resources were
less than they were on the 1st Of
January, 1919.
Turning to the tariff. Mr.. Weeks,
said the country had reached a point
where it must make a radical change
in it's tariff system. New problems
associated with rates of exchange,
growing out of the war, made the
tariff a more complicated question
than usual, he said, adding that it
would seem to him that the amount
of revenue which should be produced
from Importation would be between
five and six hundred millions of dol
lars a year.
"Whatever may be finally deter
mined" the Secretary continued, "it
would seem to me the duties i'm
posd should be based on the normal
rate of exchange and that the Secre-
tary Of the Treasury should have the
power to change the rate of duty
to correspond to any material change
in the rate of exchange. Otherwise,
under conditions like the present, no
tariff rate could be imposed which
would protect this country against
some nations without placing an un-
bearable burden on those countries
where the rates of exchange are
nearly normal.
Must Consider Markets.
"Our first purpose in the past and
now has been to provide for our
own needs in revenue and protection,
but in framing a new tariff law we
must give some consideration, if for
no other than the most selfish rea-
sons, to our markets. To impose a
greater duty than the ordinary diff
ference in the cost of production
would mean desroying the possibility
of European markets, especially
where the rate of exchange is such
that they cannot purchase from us
except under the greatest stress"
Taking up reorganization of gov
ernment departments. the Secretary
asserted that during the recent enor-
nous expansion of government acti-
vities no attention had been paid to
xhe proper distribution of those
activities among the departments,
with the result that there was an
expensive and inefficient hodge,
podge