Evening star., 1932-03-31
Confusion in Tax Arguments
Receives Sharp Criticism

Public condemnation is expressed
over the confusion apparent in the
House of Representatives preceding the
defeat of the manufacturers sales tax
This form of revenue raising is declared
by many to serve the purpose better
than any other tax that could be levied
IN the present emergency, but other
methods of taxation and governmental
economy receive support from the press.
The method by which the tax was
defeated comments upon political order
and honesty" declares the Detroit
News, with the statement that votes
by tellers are evasionS through which
COngrcssmen may avoid going upon
record. and so many afterward obscure
Ct misrcpresent their votes" The
Buffalo Evening News holds that 80
tal from the vote being a victory for
| the common people, 1t is one of the
most vicious blows which self-seeking
Geme9o9ism could strike at the interests
OF the common people" The Columbia
State concludes that political bunk is
one Of the most costly of all products
consumed by the American people"
The ghost dancers may trust to luck
to carry things along until after Novem-
ber," says the San Francisco Chronicle,
adding: DO they agree on the desir-
ati'ity-the necessity of balancing the
budget? Secretary Mills assumes that
they do. PERHAPS he is giving them too
much credit" The Chicago Daily New
feels that there is little doubt that
selfish politics, as well as deliberate
sophistry played a part in bringing
about the rejection Of a tax which in
is nature is so simple, easily collectible
and far from burdensome" The Mil
Waukee Journal declares: The sales tax
IL unCalGtable, but the men who vote il
down without having any othe- way
out of the Treasury deficit are politically
dishonest. They pretend to their con-
stitutents that taxes from higher in
come rates will balance the budget
They know better
Asserting that THE House displayed
itself as a dSJrd,rly, lelderleSS, mind
less, planless, incompetent mob the
Duluth II raid suspects that they hive
grossly underes, ,imated the intelligence
If the folks back home" The New
York H2rald Tribune thinks that
soaking the rich however popular
the gesture, cannot bring in the re-
quired revenues" and the New York
Times warns that failure in est t1bhsh-
ing an adequate tax would mean that
our whole structure of Federal credit
and stable currency will be apt to be
undermined" The Boston Transcript
advises that lin the end, whatever the
means adopted. the cost will fall upon
men and women in all walks of life"
The sales tax, defeated, is an ex-
cellent background on which to make
contrasts" AYERS the Columbus Ohio
State Journal, with the explanation:
There is one saving grace in its defeat
and it is purely psychological. The pro-
posal OF Q sales tax raised a furor,
and now 90 its opponents have beaten
it there Uh be tendency in the public
mind to accept the alternative-what-
ever it iS-as less Of an evil.
What is the urge behind the Stam-
pede?", asks the Fort Worth Start le-
gram. and that paper continues: Are
the members of Congress who are Ie-
calcitlant on the subject of the pro-
posed sales tx representative of demo-
cratic taxation. or are they advocating
system of confiscation? Taxes that
are not applied in blanket form all too
easily can cross the line of demarcation.
Whenever a proposal is made to levy a
45 per cent tax on big estates with
specific limitation set arbitrarily st
10000 coo. there can be but one defini-
ton for the activity. 1t is confiscation
un er class leIislation."
Those who have defeated the sales
tax may find that they will have to
take something worse" suggests the
Charleston, S. C.. Evening Post, Will
inn of az ic IN Gland hu Paod aS Yo,,o