The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-01-25
BILL TO BUILD
12O WARSH|PS
IS LAID ASIDE
House Group for Passage,
but Votes to Wait on
Geneva Farley.
SPEAKEASY TAX URGED
Retroactive Levy on Short
Sellers of Stock Also
Is Proposed.
BIZ United Press

By UhtteG Press
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25.-The
house naval affairs committee to-
day voted to shelve the Vinson
$616,000,000 warship construction
bill until after the Geneva disarma-
ment conference.
The committee, by a vote of ID
to 0, went on record as favoring
measure of this sort, but decided
not to report the Vinson bill to the
house this session, in view of the
forthcoming conference and the
abnormal economic conditions"
The vinson bill provided for con-
struction of 100 new warships in a
ten-year replacement program.
Retroactive taxes on speakeasy
profits and Short-selling as a means
of meeting the treasury deficit were
proposed before the house ways and
means committee by DR.. Joseph j.
Klein, associate professor of tax
alton, College Of the City of New
York.
Klein argued that both the speak
easy operator and the short-seller
had profited during the depression
and that they should share the
burden.
"OnIy Profitable Trade"
1.-THE only really profitable indus
try left is prohibition evasion" he
said. Then he suggested a flat Is
per cent tax on gross profits from
bootlegging operations to be assessed
on conviction. He admitted such
tax would be difficult to determine.
Those who INDUCED in short-Sell-
ing during 1880 and 1881, Klein said,
"were working for their own pock-
cts all the time He said during
1881, they may have profited in the
aggregate to the extent of one bill
lion dollars"
He recommended a so per cent tax
on short sales during 1881, and for
1882 special excise tax of 81 per
share on short sales, to be payable
monthly.
Klein made these proposals on
his own behalf. AS representative of
the American Society of Certified
Public Accountants, he opposed re-
troactive application of tax in
creases as likely to retard business
recovery and also suggested a two
year limitation of tax increases.
Join in Economy Move
Leaders of the house, Democratic
and Republican alike, have joined
in an effort to block all bills calling
for new expenditures by the federal
government.
To the chairman of every house
committee, Speaker Garner, Demo-
cratic Leader Rainey and Repub-
lican Leader Smell sent letter say
ing:
ut is our ncere hope that no bill
authorizing additional appropria-
tions will be reported at this session,
unless very compelling and urgent
reasons can be shown therefor
President Hoover announced today
his selection of Harvey Couch, Ar
kansas f1nancier, and Jesse H. Jones,
Houston (Tex0 banker, as two of
the three Democratic directors of
the $2,000,0O0 reconstruction
corporation.
The nomination of the third
Democrat on the board will be sent
to the senate soon, according to
Theodore Joslin of the Presidents
Secretariat.
Supply Bill Slashed
An interior department supply bill
slashing more than $1O,0OO,OOO from
public works funds was favorably
reported to the house today by the
appropriations committee.
The bill provides $50, 431 ,432 for
all activities of the department,
which is $18911,174 less than ap-
preparations for the present fiscal
year and 900 less than the
budget estimates.
In addition, several million dol
lars will be available to the de-
partment under appropriations reg
ulated by separate congressional
acts.