The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1933-03-17
SENATE SPLIT
ON TAX issue
Willing To Back Ehring-
haus But Divided On
Form OF Sales Tax
By HENRY LESENE
The Times-News Bureau
Sir Walter Hotel

RALEIGH, March 1T n e
upper branch of the general as
sembly is ready to support Gov
ernor Ehringhaus' program OF
an eight months school term
and sales tax, it is now con-
ceded in informed circles here
Some observers are even willing
to concede that rs percent OF
the senate's membership will
support the governor in every
thing that he laid before the
general assembly in his special
message at the beginning OF the
week.
However, the senate is willing
to support the administrative
program only so far as to agree
that both an eight months
school term and a sales tax OF
some form is necessary to bal
ance the states budget and to
provide more than starvation al
iotments for the agencies and
departments of the state govern
ment. The big fight that is i'm
pending in the upper house is
over the form of sales tax that
shall be adopted. =,
While the opponents of all
forms of a sales tax, including
the North Carolina Merchants
Association, are conceding moth
ing. and still predict that the
general assembly will never en-,
act sales tax, their powerful
lobby here has given up hope OF
trying to organize the senate
against a sales tax legislation,
and is concentrating on the
house of representatives, where
the opposition to a sales tax is
much stronger.
This is exactly the reverse of
the lineup in 1881, when the
merchants lobby concentrated
on the senate, and let the house
members alone. This session
the bulk of anti-sales tax or
ganization has gone on in the
lower branch of the general as
sembly, and little attention is
being paid to the senate.
The comment of various mem"
bers of the senate on the gov
ernor's special message showed
it is overwhelmingly back of his
program.
Among those who expressed
endorsement of virtually every
thing the governor had to say
were such recognized leaders in
the senate as Senators Moore,
MacLean, Bailey, Hill and HinS-
dale. Senator Clement, who will
fight to get his production tax
bill through this general assem-
bly, in lieu of either form of
sales tax, also approved of most
of the governors recommends
lions.
The opposition to the program
of an eight months term and d
sales tax is negligible. The fight
against the program will be
made chiefly, it is now indicat-
ed, by Senator Gwyn. of Rock
ingham, who holds that a sales
tax is not necessary, and by a
few of the senators from the
eastern agricultural counties who
are unalterably against putting
the tax burden on "the little
man" or the "horny-handed son
of toll" which they claim that
a sales tax will do.
This latter group, while they
ere not particularly favorable
to either a general sales tax or
a selected commodity tax, such
as will be pushed by Senator
look less bitterly upon
e selected commodity, if there
are no necessities" included in
the bill. The merchants, too,
while they are fighting both
forms of sales tax, prefer the
latter form if they have to have
a sales tax, since they can pass
this easily on to the consumer.
However, the tobacco inter-
ests are against this sort of tax,
as figures from other states
which have adopted such a
method of taxation show irrifut-
ably that it cuts down tobacco
consumption materially, and the
tobacco people protest til t
North Carolina should be the
last state in the Union to tax
what is its principal industry.
There is a large bloc in the sem
ate which will fight the Hins-
dale bill to the bitter end
Those who favor general
sales tax are conceded to have
a slight majority in the upper
house, but a coalition of those
who oppose both forms of sales
tax and those who are not will
ing to accept anything but the
luxury tax might easily bring the
senate to a deadlock such as
confronted it in 1881. it is now