Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-11-26
TAX CUT WRANGLE
ST|RS QUERIES HERE
President and c. of c. Failed
to Keep Each Other Inform
ed, Observers Believe.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.


President Coolidge doesn't often dis.
play impatiencc over disagreements
with his point of view, but those who
learned at the White House on Fri
day OF his vehement disapproval Of
the latest statement of the Chamber
Of Commerce on tax reduction, came
away puzzled as TO whether the EX-
ecutive and the Chamber of Commerce
had really kept each other fully in
formed.
For tho inside story If what has
happened indicates that the Chamber
of Commerce actually began it's refer
eudum vote in October, and that sub
seQuent TO that time the Secretary of
the Treasury fined his maximum at
S225. goo, 900 To take a vote among
500 organizations. representing St3,-
000 business men. is no small task,
and Il took 45 days for the refcrcn
dun TO hc completed. When the Nol"
closed last Monday night. the cham
Der knew, of course that the President
bad disapproVed Il tax reduction of
anything like $500, 000 coo. but was in
duty bound, nevertheless, TO make
public the results of the poll.
There was no effort, Il is explained,
10 start "A controversy With the Pres
dent or to insist on Q point Of view
contradictory TO that Of the President.
The chamber had begun its rcferen-
dunn and III good faith had to
announce the members viewpoint
Government Cuts Urged.
AS TO the criticism that the Cham.
her Of Commerce was seeking increased
appropriations for Government depart
ments while at the same time adVO'
eating tax reduction. the explanation
given at national headquarters was
that everything the chamber was
asking for had been made public in
its legislative program laid before
President Coolidge last month. and
that the chamber had advocated a
cutting down rather than an extern
sion of Government activities. Econ
omy and efficiency in government"
and the consolidating of overlapping
bureaus was the Chambers principal
recommendation, together with a plea
that the Government stay out of
private business.
Lewis E Person president Of the
Chamber of Commerce, in his recent
speech at the convention at West
Baden, Ind, of chamber executives,
pointed out that the chamber does
not believe in direct Government serv-
ice for individual business, that in
dividual business can take care Of
itself" He added that 'many govern
ment agencies and bureaus, and COM
missions now in existence, were Great
ed for the sole and single purpose
of benefiting certain specific inter-
ests, localities or activities. Some Of
the work may properly be done by
the Government. but some undoubted-
ly properly falls within the realm of
private enterprise"
Fails to Get Viewpoint.
Having this viewpoint in mind,
chamber officials are at a loss to un-
derstand what the President meant in
referring to runners at the Govern
ment bureaus asking for special serv.
ices that cost money. Mr.. Coolidge
now has called on the Chamber of
Commerce TO point out economies that
can be effected. He thinks it absurd
that any national orga niZation would
favor a temporary deficit, though the
chamber contends that a deficit is re-
mote. because if receipts fall below
expenditures the Federal Government
need not pay off anything beyond the
usual sinking fund requirement on the
public debt and that elasticity really
is possible.
The opportunity for difference of
opinion as to what the Government
can or cannot do in the way of tax
reduction is by no means exhausted.
as Congress will scrutinize carefully
the Chamber of Commerce referen-
dunn. The chamber. on the other
hand, probably will advise it's mem.
bership Of any new data that the
Treasury may develop on what can or
cannot be done. The present difficulty
is due largely to the fact that q
referendum vote was begun before
the Treasury data was made public.