Evening star., 1932-05-31
The Cost of Delay.


The Senate and the House are finally
learning Wha. their delay in the enact
ment Of the pending revenue bill into
law is costing the people and the coun-
try in additional taxation. Had the new
tax Ievies been in effect a month, two
months or three months ago, money
from these levies would have been COM
ing into the Treasury helping to stem
the deficit. Instead of that, the money
has been going out of the Treasury
with no new revenue coming in, beyond
that derived from the present made
quate tax laws. The revenue bill, which
earlier would have balanced the budget,
no longer will accomplish that end but
is 5000 100000 short of raising sufficient
revenue, Senator David A. Reed OF
PENNSYLVANIA revealed to the Senate at
a dramatic session of that body last
night
With the long delay in action by Con-
gress on this revenue bill, for which the
country has been waiting for months,
the volume of business has decreased.
Obviously estimates of returns from
tax levy under such circumstances must
be revised The business OF the coun-
trv having fallen off during the months
while Congress has wrangled about the
taxes, new estimates are necessary.
Senators. rising in their wrath, COM
plain that the new figures submitted by
the President and the Secretary of the
Treasury are wholly at variance with
the estimates submitted earlier. Yet
it should be clear to grammar school
student that it is impossible to raise
as much revenue from given set OF
taxes, touching on sales Of manufac-
turers as do all the special excise taxes
carried in the pending revenue bill. IN
eight months or a half year as could
be raised in year; that 1t Is lmpcs-
sible to obtain from increases in postal
rates the same amount of money in
eight months or half year as could be
raised in a year 1t is time that Sen
stors and Representatives understood
Just what their delay in passing this
vitality needed legislation to balance the
Governments budget means to the
people themselves, to industry and to
business.
President Hoover has again and
again besought Congress to act. He
did not initiate the proposal that
general manufacturers excise tax be
written into the revenue bill, nor did
his Secretary of the Treasury, although
the Treasury Department came for
ward with complete program for tax
alton when the present session of Con-
gress was under way. When the Demo-
cratic controlled Ways and Means Com
mittee of the House. acting in a nom
partisan manner, did agree that the gen.
eral manufacturers excise tax was the
fairest and most effective way of bal
ancing the budget the administration
accepted the plan. The President to-
day is urging the Senate leaders, DEM
ocratic and Republican alike, to get
together on program that will actual
ly balance the budget without further
delay, when each week that passes
means an actual loss of revenue to the
Government on business transacted.
He has summoned to the White House
the Democratic members of the Senate
Finance Committee and the Democratic
leader of the Senate. Senator Robinson
OF Arkansas. in an effort to iron out the
differences over the tax bill
Without waiting to ascertain whether
1t will be necessary to use the general
manufacturers excise tax to obtain the
money needed to balance the budget
fifty-fve Senators, a majority of the
upper House, have signed round
robin. asserting that they will not vote
for such a tax. They took this action
also before the debate of the manufac-
turers' tax had begun and before the
Walsh amendment proposing that tax
was actually before the Senate for con-
sideration.
If the country should become con-
vinced that the Congress, despite pro-
testations BY its leaders, is not going
to balance the budget. or that it is in
capable finally of effective action. the
depression in this country will only be
enhanced.