Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1932-06-22
TELEPHONE NUMBER NINE
SOUND ADVICE FROM WORKERS

Congress has been having a tough time of late. There
can be no doubt on that score. Adding an increased tax
burden and balancing the budget thru decreasing gov
ernmental expenditures is not an easy task. AT the pres
ent time it seems that we are not to have a sales tax with
a broad basis, which might make the tax so light it would
not be felt, but a series of sales taxes which will undoubt-
edly, during the coming campaign, be referred to a mil
lion times or more as nuisance taxes"
To balance the budget governmental expenses will have
to be cut and federal salaries reduced. Nearly every nook
or Granny of American economic activity which might
raise some additional revenue has been searched time and
again and yet the balancing of the budget is difficult.
But there is one source of revenue, which has been passed
up, that might have brought several million dollars into
the treasury and helped the American producer at the
same time. This source could have been tapped by col
lecting custom taxes on the basis of the value of the Am
erican dollar rather than the cheap currency of many
other nations of the globe, deprecated money which has,
in many instances, rendered imperative the protective
features of our present tariff law.
Attic many of our statesmen have overlooked or turn
ed thumbs down. on this source Of revenue, the pro-
ducers themselves are alive to the occasion and are not
being deceived by the p~latitudes of the free traders and
other internationalists. In a recent editorial under the
caption American versus Alien Influences the Amer
lean Labor Banner says, in part:
Congress claims that it is looking for taxes. Why is
it that they have deliberately overlooked the collection
of more than $125O00 900 in custom taxes which Congress
intended should be collected? Why should Aliens be all
lowed to pay custom taxes on the basis of the values of
deprecated currency and expect Americans to pay their
taxes on the gold basis?
Congressional leaders insist that America remain on
the gold standard. With this we have no complaint. Yet,
with eleven and twelve, and perhaps more, foreign ma
tons off the gold standard and shipping their products
into America, securing entry on the payments of customs
duties of some 80 per cent less than Congress intended
should be collected has resulted in the loss of employ
ment of many hundreds of thousands of American work
ers.
''The Treasury will secure yearly an additional $685.
100000 in taxes by the Senate writing into the pending
revenue bill directions to the Treasury Department to
collect custom duties on the basis Of the normal or gold
values of foreign currencies. Hundreds of thousands of
skilled American workers will retain or secure profitable
employment if this action is taken. Such action does not
call for the increasing or decreasing of any tariff rate.
"Surely, the benefits which are to be derived from such
action on the part of the Senate warrant American work
es wondering why this action is not taken.
Foreign nations with goods to sell, international bank
ers with moneys to collect from foreigners who offer
merchandise in payment instead of cash naturally are OPP
posed to the action which labor has asked the members
of the Senate to take.
''Those members of the Senate who are sincerely in
terested in Americanism, who are sincerely interested in
helping American workers find employment, who are in.
terested solely in the success and prosperity of their owl
country should not hesitate to comply with labor's re-
quest"
Here is sound and sensible advice from the American
workers themselves. But will Congress heed it?