The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-12-29

The bane of humanity-consid
 cred as inevitable by all-death and taxes. We cannot overcome | (physicaD death but there is way
 to reduce, if not overcome, taxes.
 The largest factor in taxes is 'in- terest.' By eliminating interest
 we could cut our tax bill in half if not more.
 There is one class of debts which for the purposes of reducing
 taxes can be segregated into a group viz-state, municipal, rail- road and public utility. These four types of debts have essentials in common. State and municipal ities are tax-levying bodies: while railroads and public utilities, oper- ating under the supervision and authority of state or federal com- missions. are taxing bodies in fact, if not in name.
 Under the present system our schools, highways. state and mu- nicipal buildings, and other perma- nent public improvements-as also our public utilities and railroads are financed largely through in- vestment bankers. They underwrite bond issues which bear commits sions besides interest charges, usually at AZ percent. For exam ple-a state contemplates the building of a new highway system to cost say ten million dollars. Un- der the present, financing methods the highway system would cost up- wards of twenty million dollars by the time the transaction was liqui- dated. The taxpayers get a ten million dollar highway for twenty million dollars-half of the taxes evaporate in interest
 During the last thirty years there has been a very great increase in these four varieties of debts. The Chicago Northwestern put out . refCnding bond issue in 1891 to mature in the year 2037-likewise the Louisville and Nashville re- funded bonds to mature in the year 200S. Refunding is a polite word used to cover up previous bond issues on which the princi- pal and some of the interest re- mains unpaid. At the same time, the investment bankers were saddling the roads with hundred year bonds, they were campaign ing to have all railroads east of the Mississippi merged into four great trunk line systems. When this was accomplished-agr and industry would be in an eco- homie straightjacket. A hundred years from now passengers and freight shippers would still be pay ing the tribute of interest on dol lars that no one knows when the original dollars were spent. <The principal Is paid four or five times over-in interest-yet the debt continues on and is never paid.
 The interest on these four types of bonds now amount to over two- billion dollars a year. If you add to this the interest on all other classes of indebtedness (mortgages on private property, bank loans. and bonds of the federal govern ment) you get picture of our enormous interest bearing debt load. It has been said that the American Aborigines (Indians) wouldn't take the country back as a gift--it is so plastered with debt.
 A plan has been preached. both to Congress and the American Federation of Labor, but so far has not had much publicity. The gold standard "Die Hards"-the investment bankers-don't like the plan. They don't like any plan that will tighten our burdens or that will deprive them of their usual rakeoff. Yet they cannot suc- cessfully refute by sound argument that the country would immensely benefit by the plan.
 The plan is that Congress would, create a National Credit Corpora ton authorizing the issuance of currency against all new approved bond issues of states, municipal ities, railroads, and public utilities. The bonds would carry no interest coupons. Take the example, again of the ten million dollar highway