Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-15
VETO Of FARM BILL
BELIEVED CERTAIN.
Mellon Letter Said to End All
Doubts President Will Dis
approve Measure.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

If anybody in Congress had doubts
about the intention of President Cooi-
idge to veto the McNary Haugen bill.
| the letter sent by Secretary Mellon
OF the Treasury Department, pointing
out the difficulties Of administering
such a proposal. dispelled all illusions.
Mr.. Melons communication did not
, deal with the economics of the meas
ure at ALL as this will he taken care
Of by the President in his veto mes
sage But the expense and trouble
anticipated in collecting the equaliza-
ton fee has been explained now and
will be referred to briefly by the Presi-
dent
Congress, of course. does not take
too seriously the item of expense or
administrative difficulty, for even
though, as estimated, 1t would require
close to 100000 for expense, this
Is small item with those who are
preparing to risk more than $3.50 900
600 Of government money in revolV-
ing fund.
Heavy Losses Indicated.
The most serious phase of Mr.. Mel
Ions letter Is the argument that 1t
equalization fees, anymore than 1t is
possible to collect income taxes. when
people pra ctice avoidan nee or eva sion
InasmuCh as there are approximately
16, 900 .000, 900 units to he watched as
result of the combined crop yield OF
many commodities, the expense of col
lection not only Is figured by the Blu
reau Of Internal Revenue to he high,
but indications are that the expected
losses will be much larger than in the
case OF income taxes.
With respect to 1000 900 tax returns.
the Government collects annually
about 100000 900. of which all but
$73 900 900 comes from persons with
incomes above IS 900 a year. There
are less than ! 900 900 persons in that
latter group. SO that In reality the
Bureau of Internal Revenue gets 80
per cent of the money from less than
oneseventh of the total number of
taxpayers.
In administering the McNary.Hau
gen bill the total number of persons is
not SO important as the total number
of transa ctions which must be &C
counted for.
Treasury Apprehensive.
The fact that the equaliza ton fee
sources Is making the Treasury appre-
hensive. because there are so many
carriers-railroads,e electric cars. motor
buses and other vehicles-engaged in
interstate commerce that the POSSIBLE
tiles of shipping goods by unregis-
tered vehicles is expected to increase
the difficulties and expense of collec-
ton.
1t is hardly likely. on the other
hand, that any Of the arguments
made about expenses are going to
change many votes In the House OF
Representatives, where it Is expected
that the bill will pass. The question
is what effect will the veto have on
public opinion. The Mellon letter is the
first of a series of broadsides in an
attempt to prove to the farmer that
the McNary-Haugen bin is imprac-
ticable and unsound and that farm re-
lief legislation should be adopted in
the form of the Curtis Crisp bill
The President could delay action on
the McNary-Haugen bill until almost
the end of the present session, but
this course Is unlikely, as he is anx-
ious to give Congress a cha nee to
modify the McNary-Haugen bill to
meet his wishes.
Final Action Unlikely Now.
The sponsors Of the measure indi
cate they will go to the country rather
than change its fundamental princi-
pies, but the administration, on the
other hand, is eager to make its record
In favor of the Curtis-Crisp bill.
The chances of any mea sure becom-
ing law at this session are slight, as
neither side of the controversy Is ap-
parently ready to admit that there
exists a real deadlock between schools
of thought irrespective of partisan po
litical consideration.
tCopyright. 1927