Evening star., 1932-04-29
Economy and Taxes.

ceeds with its economy and tax bills.
The House has slashed $65, 100000 in
! round figures from the savings pro-
posed in the omn. bus economy bill and
is still gcing strong. The S-ns.e FL
nance COMMITTEES, rcvi-ing the House
tax bill, has knocked out about $40
000,000 of revenue expected to be
raised by that measure. II inability
to reduce Government expenditures
and at the same time inability to raise
revenue continue, the budget will not
| be balanced. The Senate has under
taken to slash ten per cent from the
annual appropriation bills for the vari-
out Government departments. Such
plan lacks common sense. In some
departments and bureaus such a cut
might be advisable, particularly under
the need of economy which faces the
Federal Government. In other depart
mentS such a cut might be disastrous
to the public welfare. There Is little
this percentage reduction plan.
The Ssnate Finance Committee has
not completed its work on the revenue
bill. 1t may be able to devise other
forms of taxation to substitute for the
taxes contained in the House bill which
it has now eliminated. When the House
in a stampede from Democratic leader
ship in that body cut out the manu-
facturers' sales tax, calculated to bring
in nearly $500, 0,O00, 900 new revenue, 1t
became necessary to find substitutes.
to get away from the criticism heaped
upon it from all parts of the country.
1t levied sales taxes upon specially Sc
lected industries. Obviously these in
dustries have fought the proposed taxes
| with some success, as the action of the
Senate Committee indicates. That COM
mittee has for example stricken out
the taxes on candy, on toilet soap,
tooth paste, mouth washes, etc. 1t has
knocked out, at least temporarily, the
excise taxes to be levied on imported
The Senate Committee and the Sen
ate itself would be entirely justified If
| they threw out the whole hodge -podge of
special and excise taxes imposed in the
to a manufacturers sales tax, which
would deal alike with practically all in
dustries and which would be capable of
raising the needed revenue; certainly
the House opened Pandoras box when
1t tore out the manufacturers sales tax
and gave free rein to individual amend
ments to the bill. There Is doubt, how
ever, whether the Senate Committee or
the Senate will act in so constructive
manner.
President Hoover has sought to i'm
press upon the Congress the need of
| balancing the budget. The country is
convinced of that need as essential to
the re-establishment Of confidence and
TO restoration Of business The credit
OF the Government must be preserved
If the credit of business and private in
dividuals is to remain. The great ma
jority of the members of Congress have
agreed to the need Of balancing the
budget. Here and there a Democrat
has raised his voice in protest. But
the Democratic leadership Of both the
House and Senate has demanded action
by Congress to balance the budget. 1t
is another thing, however, to bring their
followers to agree on the steps neces-
sary. The House has given a return
performance Of its unwillingness to fol-
low its leaders in its consideration of
the omnibus economy bill.
All hope for a balanced budget has
not yet vanished. The Congress may
yet muddle through. The pressure from
the country itself may force action.
There is the need for speed, however
To drag tax and economy bills through
months Of debate would be only to
continue the uncertainty of business
and to delay further revival of pro-
duction and employment. Business
must know where it stands in the mat
ter of taxation. The demand for econ
| omy in Government has spread
through the country. 1t is voiced in
the States and counties and munich
palities, which have been greater Of
tenders in expansion of expenditures
than the Federal Government And
yet the mixed situation in Congress
over the economy proposals brings a
voice from the wilderness:
Where oh, where is economy?
Lost in the deepest obscurity.