Evening star., 1936-10-18
BY MARK SULLIVAN.
DI NhNh DULLIN nm
WONDER II all that has been
said about the cost of the New
Deal has really enlightened the

4 average man. ! wonder If he
closes his ears to much that comes
over the radio, thinking it is just
campaign talk. wonder whether he
knows that he-lneSCapably he's
going to pay the bill; that he is al
ready paying. and that he must pay
even more heavily. Is he still under
the illusion, sprayed over him by poll
ticians in this administration and
before, and often in both parties. that
somehow the rich can be made to pay
the whole bill?
II the average man, the little fel-
low" whom the politicians f1atter-
and at the same time fool-if he knew
how certainly he must pay he would,
by his vote, bring the waste and ex-
travagance to an end. The process
by which he is made to pay is not
easy for him to understand I am
going to try to make it clear. And
first let us dispose of the myth that
the rich can be made to pay the whole
bill. This involves little history, but
1t Is history only year old, and it
has a bearing on this campaign.
Mr.. Roosevelt Uneasy.
In the month of June, 1885, Mr..
Roosevelt was uneasy, for more than
one reason. He had just rebuked the
Supreme Court for its unanimous deci-
sion invalidating N. R. A. He had re-
buked the court with the expectation
that the country would rally to him.
But the country had not rallied to
him. On the contrary. the country
had rallied to the court and rebuked
Mr.. Roosevelt. 1t was perhaps the
first really serious setback in popu-
larity that the President had had
The condition called for some gesture
to win back popular favor-or at least
to cause the public to cease thinking
80 much about the attempted rebCke
to the Supreme Court, to give the
public something different to think
about-an art of changing the subject
at which Mr.. Roosevelt is extraordi-
narily skillful.
About the same time, in June, 1885,
Senator Huey Long was making prog
ress with a slogan he had coined,
"Share the Wealth; Long was going
to start third party under that ban
ner. To prevent this, to avoid a third
party of radicals and hold the radicals
to himself, was one of the main lines
of Mr.. Roosevelt's political strategy
throughout his administration.
To kill two birds with one stone
4 Mr.. Roosevelt, during the latter part
y of June, 1885, sent to Congress a mes
sage advocating a new tax measure,
q measure which, he said. would en-
courage "a wider distribution Of
wealth. This phrase, while softer
than Senator Longs Share the
Wealth." was well adapted to take
some of the wind out of Senator Longs
slogan and hold the radicals to Mr.
Roosevelt.
Surprise to Congress.
The message surprised Congress.
They had been told by Mr.. Roosevelt
the previous January that he contem-
plated mo new or additional taxes.
1t was apparent that Mr.. Roosevelt's
own leaders in Congress had not been
consulted, he had sent the message as
o sudden gesture. His leaders, and
Congress as a whole, were embar-
rassed. They had been hurrying to
clean up the business of the session
and they expected to adjourn within
three weeks. think it safe to say,
and it was commonly felt at the time,
that Mr. Roosevelt did not really ex-
pect Congress to act on his message.
1t was merely an opportune recon-
mendation, without suggestion as to
time. When, later, commotion arose
and Mr.. Roosevelt got into hot water,
Mr.. Arthur Krock of the New York
Times used the phrase brutal oppor-
tunism," and said: THE incident is
unpleasant once again deep
strategy has proved too clever; once
again over-subtlety has overwhelmed
its own inventors"
But II Mr.. Roosevelt did not expect
his tax recommendation to be acted
upon, the radicals, in Congress and
out, determined that enacted it must
be. They began agitation for passage.
They had Mr. Roosevelt ION the spot"
Unless Mr.. Roosevelt would unite with
them and help press the measure
through Congress they would accuse
him Of having made the recommended
tion without good faith. In phrase
one Of them used, they turned the
heat" on Mr.. Roosevelt.
Much of what followed I shall not
fecite. In the end Mr.. Roosevelt and
his leaders in Congress-themselves
unwilling under dureSs-held Con-
gress in Washington throughout a hot
Summer and passed the tax bill "en-
couraging a wider distribution of
wealth" 1t came to be called the
"soak-the-rich" tax measure.
Adopted More Drastic Bill.
When Mr.. Roosevelt's proposal was
examined closely with view to
actual passage, 1t was discovered that
the largest amount of revenue it
would raise from the rich would be
somewhere between 100000, 900 and
$500, 100000 a year. The Democrats
in Congress, now under kind Of
compulsion to make good on Mr..
Roosevelt's phrase about "a wider dis
tribution of wealth." drew and passed
q bill even more drastic than Mr..
Roosevelt had suggested.
do not know how much taxes this
bill has raised. I do not know If
there are any figures which would
show. But from the debate that went
on while the bill was in Congress,
from the intricate calculations that
were made, think it is safe to say
that this measure, designed to take as
much as it is practicable to take from
the rich Gin addition to what they
already paid) would hardly meet the
expenses of the Government for a
month, perhaps much less.
No, the rich will not pay. 1t is not
practicable to make them pay. If the
Government should take literally all
they have, it would still be not enough.
The income and inheritance taxes on
the very rich already 60 far toward
confscation-and still there is an