Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1927-09-09
Is Filled With Misstatements.

The recent bulletin PVT out by Chair
man Butler. Of the Republican National
Committee. entitled Lifting the Burden Of
the Taxpayer, is filled with misststements.
TO use no harsher term" according to
Chairman Vim. A. 0ldfeld. Of the Demo-
cratic National Congressional Committee.
For instance. Mr.. Butler makes the
statement that when the Republican party
regained conttol Of the government after
the election of 1929. there was no budget
Law due to the antaeonistic attitude Of
the Democratic administration Mr.. But
Ter knows that President Wilson strongly
urged the adoption Of a budget. but that
the Republican Congress, elected in the fall
Of 1918. wrote an unconstitutional provis-
ion into the law which compelled President
Wilson TO withhold his approval. He sent
the bill back to Congress and urged that
this constitutional defect be remedied, but
the Republican Congress refused to do so
in order to postpone adoption Of the budget
system until after it reeained control
Of both the executive and Legislatures
branches OF the government Congress
then passed, by vote of both parties, the
budget bill after emitting the unconstitu-
tional provision to which President Wilson
had objected. Republican partisanship pre-
vented the budget system becoming opera
tive two or three years before it did.
''Mr. Buffers pamphlet says that Demo-
cratic executives bitterly opposed lower
expenses for the government following
the war. Mr.. Butler knows that the par
tisan Republican Congress elected in the
fall Of 1918 utterly ignored every plea Of
President Wilson. the Democratic Secre-
tary Of the Treasury and Democrats in
Congress to revise the tax laws to peace
basis during 1918 and thus kept the coun-
try on a war-tax basis more than two
years longer than was necessary, solely in
order to later put forward the partisan
claim that il was the Republican party
which reduced taxes. Instead Of con-
tributine to the effort for lower taxes. the
Republican leaders forced the taxpayers
to pay into the Treasury for two years
unnecessary and unneeded money amount
ing to hundreds Of millions Of dollars.
"Mr. Buffers pamphlet also makes the
statement that Democratic tax increase was
not due to the world war. referring of course
TO the heavy increases from 1917 through
1918. This is such elarine and silly
untruth that il is hardly necessary to
comment on il. Il simply illustrates the
methods to which a partisan will some
times SO in an effort TO make out case
when he has no case. Mr.. Butler init
mates that much Of the money raised in
war taxes was wasted through extrava-
gance and graft. Mr. Butler is. of course,
familiar with the fact that after Repub-
licans came into control. Congressional
smelling committees investigated nearly
every war activity. and the Department OF
Justice, under a Republican Attorney
General. with millions Of dollars appro-
priated for the purpose. spent years tryine
TO fasten some crookedness or wrong doing
upon some official associated with the
Wilson administration, but failed to as
semble evidence to get even one convic-
ton. This was net only 10 most gratifying
contrast with the record OF Republican con-
duct Of the Spanish War, with its rotten
beef and other scandals. but is in even
greater contrast with the record OF cor
ruption. graft and criminality of the Re.
publican administration Of affairs since
1921. One would think that, in the light
Of what the country knows about the oil
scandals. the conduct Of the Veterans
Bureau and the Office Of Alien Propert,
Custodian, the rottenness in the Depart.
ment Of Justice. and the record Of Fall
Dougherty. Forbes, Miller. Doheny. Sinclair
and the lesser feeders at the Republican
administration trough. the Chairman o.
the Republican National Committee woulC
be the last man to mention scandal anC
corruption. But maybe Mr.. Butler is q
fatuous as to believe that the people gen
orally are as blind. or Of as short memory
as he chooses to be. Some Of the bali
statements he makes in his circular ar,
an insult to public intelligence. for it is al
insult to the public to hold that II is as ie
nOrant Of what has been going on as h,
evidently thinks il is. In his discussion
of tax reduction and debt curtailment MI
Butler is just as far from the truth as h
is in the other respects already referre,
to. In fact, it requires a past master il
the art Of dealing out misinformation 4
get as many misstatements into as few
pages as Mr.. Buffers circular covers''