Evening star., 1925-08-15
MELLON PREPARED
TO GIVE DATA ON
/. TAXES TO COOLIDGE
Visit of Secretary and Smoot
Offers Chance to Study Re-
vision Program.
PLANS FOR CUT LINKED
WITH DEBT NEGOTIATIONS
Reduction Proposed Viewed as
G. o. P. Material for Congress
sional Election in 1926.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

PLYMOUTH, Vt, August Is
While Secretary of the Treasury Mel
lon and Senator Smoot are coming 70
talk with President Coolidge, prima-
rally about the Belgian debt negotia-
tions, their visit will afford an oppor-
tunity TO talk over the whole tax revi-
sion program of the administration.
The President has been exchanging
ideas with Secretary Mellon for some
time concerning the recommendations
that should be made to Congress a.
the next session, but he has had no
opportunity TO discuss things in per
son with the Secretary since the end
of the fiscal year.
Mr Mellon now has in his possess
sion detailed figures on tax receipts.
and he has better idea of what the
surplus will be for the coming year
than anybody else.
Mistakes to Be Avoided. a
The mistakes that were made, how
repeated. The Treasury announced
its plan in October and promtly the
same was named the Mellon plan and
It ran the gantlet of much opposi-
ton on the ground that measures of
this kind should really be framed in
the House of Representatives.. Rep
resentative Green of Iowa, Republi
can. chairman of ways and means
committee, will be the real leader
in the House of the administra ton
forces on tax revision this year, and
In the Senate Senator Smoot will be
In command. The law will prOba bly,
be known as the Green Smoot bill.
and while the general principles will
be proclaimed by President Coolidge
through the Secretary of Treasury in
his annual report TO Congress in De-
cember, the chances are Mr.. Green
will have evolved what will be the
| administration plan long before Con-
gress convenes in December.
An early meeting of the ways and
means committee in the Autumn is
scheduled, and 1t is for that reason
the conference here between the
President and the Secretary of the
Trasury and Senator Smoot may be
called preliminary to consultations
that will be held Immediately on Mr..
Cooiidge's return to the White House
next month.
Linked With Debts.
The essentials, however will have
| to be decided by the President, and
they are indirectly related to debt ne
gotiations. IF, for example, there is a
| IdI pIOSpcCI Oh payment pSlIlE G1dQS
! by foreign governments some time In
! the next five years. it may be consid-
cred advisable not to apply so much of
the forthcoming surplus to the retire
! ment of the public debt. but to apply
most of 1t to a reduction in taxes for
! the year 1925 and to revise the rates
I so as not to require the taxpayer 10
| bear as much of the burden in the
| next four or five years.
| There that the ad nj y-a
| ton would like to put through tax
program next session which will hold
good for at least two years more. so
that the voter at the congressional
| elections not only will be urged to re-
ward the administration for benefits
already received in tax reductions. but
to cast his vote for the Congress which
/ has promised by law greater tax re-
ductions. The Democrats were the
last to use this plan when they re-
viSed the taxes for two years preceding
! the 1920 elections, but at that time the
Republicans were as anxious as were
the Democrats to avoid tinkering with
the tax law in the presidential year.
| There Is every reason to believe the
next tax law will be the one on which
the whole Coolidge administration and
! the Republican party will base its
claim to support in the congressional
! elections next year, and the confer
ences here may be said to be the first
step in that program.
.(Copyright. 1920