Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1922-02-03

passed in haste. There will be
plenty Of leisure in which to re-
pent. How shall the billions so
airily to be tossed away be rails
ed? They must be raised by
new taxes. However they may
affect publicly to scorn Secretary
Melons warning Of the danger
of increasing the public debt by
new borrowing for the bonus,
Congressman must know that
taxation is the only means of
raising the wind.
Yet Representative Garner Of
Texas, a Democratic member of
the Ways and Means Committee,
proposes to tie up the bonus with
the interest, of uncertain amount,
from the foreign debt yet to be
refunded. Mr.. Harding has ex-
pressed his opposition to any
such linking of the Bonus bill to
the Foreign Debt Refunding bill
yet to be passed.
If that interest isn't sufficient
to meet the direct appropriation
for a bonus which Mr.. Garner
favors, he would authorize the
Secretary of the Treasury to is
SHE certificates of Indebtedness
to be redeemed as far as practi-
cable" out of interest received
on the foreign bonds. The
Secretary has 81, 200, 100000 to
refund within year. Naturally
he would welcome any project to
interfere with that and other re-
funding operations and to stiffen
interest rates. Mr.. Garner is
nearly playing the old game of
whipping the devil around the
stump. Whatever interest is
paid on foreign Indebtedness dis
charges so much interest on
Liberty bonds. The taxpayer
pays; there is no way of relieving
him from paying for this political
gratuity and bribe; and there is
no way of quilting him into the
belief that he doesn't.
The same thing is true of Mr..
Gamers alternative proposal
that with the consent and
approval of the President
which wouldn't be given the
Secretary would be authorized to
sell, endorsed or unendorsed by
the United States, the foreign
Government bonds it holds, "as
he may deem necessary, and
apply the payment, so far as
required, to the payment of the
deficiency" All this sort of stuff
belongs to magical political
economy or Alice-in- Cumberland.
No tax, no bonds. What taxes
shall be laid? The Republican
members of the Ways and Means
Committee must be having dole
full days and weary nights,
bordering on that.
Mr.. Mellon unfeelingly says
that 1T is exceedingly difficult
to discover new taxes that could
be properly levied to yield as
much as $3.50, OOO,O 600 within two
years" There have been dis
Greet whispers that soon died out
about slapping a tax of 5 cents a
gallon on gasoline, that necessary
of life, especially to the farmer,
a sacred, dreaded, and at present I
iracund, though triumphant,
Then there is a sales
tax, understood at one time
to be reserved for this special
holy purpose of a bonus. Mr..
Frear of Wisconsin, Republi-
ian member of the Ways and
Means Committee, warns the
House that the Republicans will
ose the whole country" if they
impose a sales tax for the
bonus. There is no necessity
n his judgment for placing this
sort of burden upon the
people" Yet he bankers for a
bonus. How is there to be one
placing a burden, a new,
burden, on the
people?
While most of the Democrats
n Congress are just as jelly
lacked as most of the Republic
ans, each side is merely trying
o prove to the soldier VOTE"