Evening star., 1933-03-19

House Of Representatives, his first bil
was an income tax bill. Il failed It's
author perSevered. Six years later he
wrote-and the Congress adopted-and
President Wilson signed-the income tax
law which remains The firm foundation
of our now apparently permanent Amer
ican Federal income tax system.
The scholar from the hilly businesses
of Pickett County was now telling New
York City. He was beginning to be On
his way toward telling the world.
He told at least New York City some
more in 1916 In 1916, three years after
he had taught New Yorkers how to en-
dure an income tax, he made them bend
their backs to endure an inheritance tax.
AS our income tax system is primarily
his, SO our inheritance tax system Is pri-
marily his also.
lHe drew the basic methods of it from
British legislation. He was now begin
ming to study-also- foreign documents.
His secretaries secured more shelves)
But still the dream of his youth was
unfulfilled. For time, indeed-from
1918 to 1921 and 1922-the Underwood
tariff law gave to the United States q
certain measure Of tariff reform" To
its reductions Of duties Mr.. Hull, Is q
colleague of Mr.. Underwoods, both In
committee and On the door of the House,
profoundly contributed. Its operations
in practice, however, were soon inter-
rupted and perverted by the Great War.
They were then even more definitely in
terrupted by the Republican national
victory of 1920 and by ensuing Repub-
ican restoration of the tariff philosophy
of Benjamin Harrison.
A GAIN the philosophy of Grover
Ceveland-as in 1838-was rejected,
and Mr.. Cleveland's pupil, Mr.. Hull-in
the election of 197o-was rejected, too
In 1920, for the first time, for the only
time, Mr.. Hull was defeated for ONCE.
HIS congressional district went over to
Republicanism.
1t was trying time Mr. Hull was In
private life. He was not accustomed to
it. It lasted -painfully-for all Of two
years. In 1922 Mr.. Hulls congressional
district relapsed from Republicanism and
reverted to Mr. Hull.
Yet we cannot entirely truthfully say
that Mr.. Hull was in really private life
even during those two years. He spent
them-as he also spent two additional
succeeding years-as chairman of the
Democratic National Committee He is
manifestly a perfectly practiced profess
sional politician. He evidently adheres
to the bark of Office like limpet.
Let us, thereupon, paint the picture
of an American professional politician,
with Mr.. Hull sitting as model.
He is outwardly wholly unaggressive
and even wholly uninsistent. In his con-
versation there is nothing Of the SUPER
emphatic. Inwardly he has persistence,
a demoniac-r angelic-drive that is alb
solutely undiscourageable.
There is similar contradiction be-
tween his achievements in legislation
and his methods of arriving at those
achievements. The laws to which he
has given either authorship or intimate
collaboration have been-most of them
drastic novelties. His methods and man.
ners, on the other hand, are considerate,
careful, cautious, even tentative and
gropingly exploratory. He goes forward
like an elephant over q wooden bridge,
testing each timber. You are obliged,
at the same time, to be sure of one thing.
He will somehow cross that river.
Another contradiction emerges In the
matter of his physical appearance He
somehow manages to have a dignity rs
if he were sitting on q throne and q
commonplaceness Is If he were sitting
on cracker barrel. Nobody slaps him
on the back. Everybody feels ut ease
with him.
Money does not mesmerize him. He
was of moderate means He xtill is He