Evening star., 1935-09-30
The Budget Message.

President RoOSeveltS promised mes
sage on the budget, bringing the figures
up to the close of the last fiscal year, is
that the Government deficits have been
less than were estimated, that expendi-
lures did not reach the total of appro-
priations, that revenues have been
larger than were expected, that business
is on the upturn and that new taxes
or increased rates in existing taxes will
not be necessary to meet the expense OF
the Governments necessary annual
operations and to retire its public debt"
The country will be profoundly grateful
If the Presidents estimate of the tax
situation Is correct.
In this CHEEKY statement regarding the
Governments finances the Chief Execu-
tive discounts "the erroneous and gloomy
predictions" made in some quarters that
heavy increases in taxation will be
needed to balance the budget. And yet
1t is clear that the deficits of the Gov
ernment, while not as large as pre-
dicted by the President in his earlier
message, are still in the billions of dol
lars, and that while the public debt will
not reach the proportions originally sug-
gested by the President it will still be
above s30,0O0,000, 900.
1t seems entirely clear, however, that
no additional tax legislation will be pro-
posed in the coming session of Congress
on the eve of the national election
There may be one exception. If the Su-
preme Court rules the A. A. A. and its
processing taxes to be unconstitutional,
then, the President says new taxes will
have to be levied and new revenue OBJ
tained to pay the farmers for comply
ing with the crop programs OF the
A. A. A. The farmers are not to be
denied their checks for curtailing their
wheat, cotton, tobacco, corn and hog
production. And if the processing tax
which really reaches down to every ulti-
mate consumer in the matter of higher
living costs-is turned down by the court,
then some new method will be devised.
In his discussion of the Federal taxes
the President refers to the legislative
acts of Congress in its last session az
fecting taxation. Among them he men
toned the revenue act of 1885," This
Is the law put through Congress in the
wake of the Presidents "share-the-
wealth" tax message to that body last
Spring. The Chief Executive, in his
present discussion of the taxes, does not
20 into the theory that he devised at
that time, q theory that the Federal
taxes should be used to redistrihute
wealth, as well as to meet the necessary
expenditures of the Government. It is
possible that he has reference to this
theory of taxation when he says: "The
underlying tax structure of the Govern
ment is now stronger than ever before in
our history, and as normal business re-
turns, will produce revenues adequate for
all essential purposes"
The budget message OF the President,
taken in connection with his promise to
business that q breathing spell' has
arrived, is calculated to reassure and to
give hope that the country is coming
out Of the slough Of despond under the
guiding hand of the present admins
tration. It's publication, Immediately on
the heels of the reassuring talk of the
President to the American farmers at
Fremont, Nebraska, is well timed to
speed the campaign against New Deal
critics.