Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-05-29
Sales Tax Foes Circulate
Round Robin, Harrison
Predicting Defeat.
Continued From First Page.)

tde.oAe1S LAX mas little substance II
fact.
Harrison Predicts Defeat.
If "a Democratic Senators are com.
mtteo TO vote against the manufac.
turerS' excise tax, IA Republican Sen.
ators plus the one Farmer-Labor Sen.
ator. Shipstead of Minnesota, would b.
sufhcient to give the signers Of thu
round robin majority OF the Upper
House. The so-called progressive grouI
OF Republican Senators are expected t
ilne up sondly against the manufac.
turers' tax.
senator Harrison predicted last night
that when the showdown comes the
tax will be defeated BY
at least margin Of five votes and tina,
the vote against the tax might be still
larger.
Senator Walsh Of massachusetts,, or
the other hand. insisted that the vote
would be extremely close" and other
of the sales tax expressed
a hope it would win.
IN the meantime steps are being
taken by the Republican leaders in ths
senate to sound out the actual situa-
ton IN the House and to learn what
would happen if the Senate tackled
the manufacturers excise tax onto the
revenue bill and sent it to conference
There have been many reports circu-
lated In the cloak rooms Of the Capt.
tol, some to the effect that the House
would accept the manufacturers ia,
IN place OF lot of the special excise
taxes and nuisance taxes, and some t.
tHe eHect that the opposition in the
House was as strong as ever.
Inc urge In the Senate is to take
the Dill as 1t now stands" and send il
10 conference and get through. Il
adoltlonal revenue is needed to balanc,
the budget, then Senator Harrison anc
others are In favor of accepting the
Connally amendment TO the income
TAX which would raise the normal in.
come tax rates TO 4 and 8 per cent anc
increase the surtax brackets to SIS pei
cent. AS the bill now stands, the nor
maj income tax rates are 3. 6 and {
per cent, and the surtaxes run to 4:
per cent. Senator COnnauy of Texa,
Gays MS amendment would bring in ar
aodltlonal Sll3,000,000 or more thar
enough IN connection with the take.
now imposed in the revenue bill to bal.
ance the budget.
Bill to Fall Short, Watson Saws.
Senator Walsh's amendment for q
I.fo per cent general manufa cturers
excise tax would make il possible tc
avoid these increased normal income
TAX rates and at the same time to strike
from the bill many Of the levies of spe-
clal taxes on sales of MANUFACTURED
products and to reduce the increased
postage rates proposed and to eliminate
other nuisance taxes.
When Senator Watson. Republican
leaoer OF the Senate, during The debat.
Yesterday pointed out the. the pendin,
bill would fall short OF balancing tn,
puget by S56 900. 900, even If the econ.
omies contemplated in governmental ex
penoltures were made, and asked where
the needed money was to be found. botI
senator Harrison and Senator Couzen.
declared they would support the Con
nally income tax amendment.
A compromise between the Connall,
amendment and the Walsh amendmen,
was suggested by Senator Pittman O.
Nevada, Democrat. as a way out of tn,
dilemma, and Senator Carter Glass O.
Virginia said perhaps the Government
would md In the end that it needed
both the manufacturers excise tax anc
the special taxes to meet the deficit.
senators Connally and Lewis, Demo
crat, of 1llinoios during the debat,
sharply criticized the Presidents con.
terence with newspaper publishers 6
few days ago.
The White House Is secretly anc
coVertly urging the sales tax" Connally
salo, while it hasn't the courage Il
come out openly in favor of it."
chairman Smoot Of the Finance
Committee protested that Connallv wa.
doing the President IAN Injustice"
Connally said Secretary Mills before
the Finance Committee virtually op.
posed the sales tax.
Protests Against Method.
If the President wants the sales tax.
ne asked, why doesn't he come out ir
a message and say so? Why send the
Secretary up to oppose it and then sur.
reptitiously and covertly seek to force
The tax through a conference with the
press at the White House?
I am protesting against this method
OF double dealing"
Lewis said it was the Presidents
privilege to invite any one he chose to
the White House. But, he added, when
those invited are molders of public
opinion, known to oppose the admins
trations views, I'VE can come to but
one conclusion-that the President has
brought these ENJOYS of public opinion
10 the White House that he might use
the power of his great Office to influ-
ence their thought or to so intimidate
them as to obstruct opposition.
Two Presidents-Theodo Roosevelt
ana Woodrow Wilson-Were solicited to
use this form Of respectable bribery
over the opinion of the press" Lewis
said, land both refused"
Il will not assume these men are SO
weak they can be moved by this form
OF SpeclouS bribery" Lewis added.
When the time comes that the Presi-
dent, to carry his personal opinion
shall call for the press in secret confer
ences and then command silence and
confidential relations, we have lost the
theory OF the independence of citizens u
Lewis stood in the middle of the
Senate aisle and demanded silence from
his colleagues as he delivered his attack
on the President.
Connally Defends Press Rights.
Il demand" said Lewis, that the
President treat us as he will treat any
other man If he be a courageous man
and gentleman-as he is both-and
that he will speak to us openly that
which he says in private conversations. "
Connally, saying that he spoke not in
criticism Of the press, but in defense OF
Its right to freedom, asserted that II
the press Is to ALLOW itself to be muz-
lied, become the agent Of secret propa
yanda and participate In conferences
about which it can't talk" it will be-
come 1.-THE agent Of influences that will
Stifle free government
Both Senator Couzens and Senator
La Toilette assailed the Walsh amend
ment during the debate as tax on the
poor. and Senator Walsh replied briefly
to them. The Massachusetts, Senator
made light Of the criticisms OF his
by Senator Couzens. He
said that the Michigan Senator had
found only four items in his amend
ment to attack. The first was the Ian
guage of the amendment, which ex-
empts food for human or animal con-
sumption"