Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1931-11-05
THE NEW CONGRESS AND ITS
OPPORTUNITY FOR SERVICE

On December 7th a new Congress
will convene-the I'D in American
history. We are living in troubled
times, unemployment, want, and strin-
gent agricultural conditions. Many
folks throughout the land have ad-
vocated a special session of congress
and this newspaper has been amongst
those asking for such action in order
to more quickly ameliorate the pres
ent state of affairs, but big business
interests were opposed to the special
session, and it did not materialize.
The new Congress will be evenly
divided between Republicans and
Democrats. With some effective ag-
gressive leadership from the North
west much can be done to break up
the autocratic domination which eX-
listed in the last session in the House
of Representatives where the Repub-
lican party had majority of 100 votes,
too often used against the best in
terests of the people at large and the
great agricultural Northwest. The gag
rule whereby a small group of three
men are able to sidetrack legislation
is absolutely wrong and undemocratic.
This gag rule must be done away with
and every man from the Minnesota
Congressional delegation should mill
family oppose it and hold out against
the domination of eastern industrial
control which was largely responsible
for putting over the iniquitous Haw-
ley-Smoot bill, the worst tariff law
for agriculture in the history of tariff
legislation. There should be con-
siderable liberalization of rules in the
lower House. Congressman Paul j.
Kvale from the Seventh Minnesota
district, has expressed himself in
favor of this and will no doubt hold
out for liberalization of the rules.
Congressman Victor Christgau from
the First district, has also made pub
lie statements to this effect and we
hope that the solid Minnesota delega-
tion will follow this course.
A constructive program should be
well organized and no doubt the pro-
pressive group in the Senate COM
posed of men like Senators Norris and
LaFollette, Republicans; Wheeler and
Costigan, Democrats; and our own
Senator Shipstead, Farmer-Labor, of
whom we are proud, will take the
leadership in trying to enact legisla-
ton for the benefit of the masses.
A great public works program
should be financed through raises in.
federal income taxes in the higher
brackets and raises in estate and in
heritance taxes. 1t will necessitate
bond issue but that must be paid
for out of the receipts from the above
taxes. We should get agoing on the
st. Lawrence deep waterway, inland
waterways, the nine foot channel in
the upper Mississippi river, and struc-
lures that have been planned for the
next five to ten years. This will in
crease the buying power of the work
ers and create markets for agricul-
tural products. Wealth is plentiful
in this country but it must be better
distributed and efforts must be made
to get it into circulation.
Since Andrew Mellon, the Santa
secretary of the treasury, he has been
able to influence Congress to decrease
federal income tax rates to a maxi
mum of about 24T from a maximum
of over 500 just following the World
war. With the United States still
owing about 16 billions of dollars the
above drastic cuts were mistake as
|. is going to be more difficult to pay
now with deficit in the national
budget. Capitalization of wealth has
been going on merrily during this
lowering of federal income taxes. In
ten years the number of individuals
having a net income of one million
dollars or more each annually rose
from 33 to 504. And out of the 504
Individuals VINO had net incomes of
one million dollars or more each in
1929 there were 36 whose incomes
were in excess of five million dollars
each. We should also have higher in
heritance taxes, more nearly ap-
preaching the British system.
There should be a lowering of the
rates in the Hawley-Smoot tariff law
which was discussed in the columns
of the Askov American during the
last session of Congress, said bill
being militantly opposed by practical
ly every farm organization in Mime
sofa, including more than 500 Pine