The Washington times., 1924-03-22

inc COmmIttoO OF senator CoUZono
of Michigan Tor inquiring into the
affairs Of the Internal Revenue
Bureau Of the Treasury Depart.
ment began consideration OF tho
problem Of examining the tax 70.
turns Of certain large and powerful
and influential corporations In order
to compare them with the returns
made and with the taxes raid by
ordinary corporations supposed TO
have less influence or. no influence.
Among the large corporations
charged with having influence and
declared by witnesses to have
profited from this influence are the
following:
The United States Steel Corpora
ton, the Standard Steel Car Com.
pany Of Pittsburgh, the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company. which 10
dominated by Rockefeller interests.
and the Circuit Lake Shi2."AS Com.
pany.
]. F. Adams. formerly an auditor
in the Internal Revenue Bureau Of
that the investigation. committe call
for the returns OF the above.rnention.
ed corporations and compare them
ordinary corporations.
Ford Influence" Limited.
and the Great Lake Shipping Com.
tee room at the expense OF Senator
| Couzens, formerly general manager
of the Ford Motor Car Company, by
referring to the Ford company as
IAN ordinary corporation"
Mr.. Couzens' jocuMrly got the
witness to say that in calling the
Ford company Ordinary" he meant
only to intimate that perhaps the
Ford company had no special power
in Washington politics. ;
The two lines Of testimony which
| so far have been Of most import
ance before the CouZens committee
are as follows:
First-It has been asserted, with
illustrations and proofs, that II q
taxpayer erroneously offers to pay
obliged to pay, the Treasury Depart
ment allows him to go on and pay
these excess taxes without telling
him Of his rights in the circum-
stances and without making any re-
funds to him. The only way in
which he ever gets any refunds of
excess taxes paid by him is by going
and hiring a tax expert" who
makes a large commission on the
refunds for his work.
In other words, although the
| Treasury Department in such cases
could out Of its own knowledge i'm
mediately make q refund to the tax.
| payer. 1t does not make It until the
taxpayers error has been pointed
out to him by some private tax ex.
pert who is. in touch with the In.
ternal Revenue Bureau and who
makes the taxpayer pay him heavily
for his contact and information.
Labels Some Pin-Heads.
Second-It is alleged. and consid-
erably established, that promotions
to places of high power in the In
ternal Revenue Bureau are deter
mined not on records of perform.
ance but on push" and pull" and
that consequently the taxpayer
again gets injured and unfairly
treated through the presence in
the bureau Of too many small.
sized pin.heads" in high and large
positions.
The witness, Albert ]. Bradley, an
auditor now in the employ of the
I NhSNA AA%SA ASCNSIIuC uACdu, tOSbIA4Cu
that recently among the five audi
tors who were at the head of their
class on their efficiency records, not
one was promoted to a higher posi-
ton or to a higher salary, while
other auditors with lower records
received promotions.
Third-It is alleged by witnesses
that in consequence Of this condi-
ton OF bureaucratic rules combined
with political influences there is q
great deal Of favoritism between tax
payer and tax payer in the estimat
ing and demanding Of taxes. For
Instance:
Charges By Engineers.
The witness ]. p. Moore, a former
appraising engineer in the Internal
Revenue Bureau, testified to the
following circumstances in the case
Of the Berwind.White Coal Com
pany of Philadelphia:
He and another appraising engi
neer, named Woolson, examined q
certain property of the Berwind.
White Company and decided that
the tax-claim made by the company
for a deduction Of $500,0 from its
taxes was without merit. They re.
fused the deduction in full.
Their report was approved by the
chief Of their section and by the
chief Of engineers In the Internal
Revenue Bureau.
Nevertheless thereafter a new in
quiry into the matter was ordered
and another engineer, named SweriE
was told to make the inquiry. Mr.
Swerin stated, according to the
testimony of the witness ]. p
Moore, that his superiors had COM
manded him to make a report which
would grant to the Berwind-W
Company a considerable deduction
and that he was commanded to
allow this deduction before he even
had begun to make his inquiry.
Mellon Also Suffers.
At this point in the testimony II
became clear that Secretary of the
Treasury Mellon, exactly like At
torney General Daugherty, may have
suffered from things done by his
subordinates without his knowledge
i The witness j. F. Adams teSti
fled, for instance, that he had seer
letter from an official in the
Internal Revenue Bureau ordering
another official to grant large
favor to a certain corporation On
the ground that 1t was a corporation
controlled by the Mellon interests
This assertion by the witness j
F. Adams, will undoubtedly be cir
culated throughout the United
States to the great disadvantage Of
Mr.. Mellon. It IL to be noted
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