The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1936-10-15


side that Colonel Knex is present
ing SO vigorously.
One is the charge that Roosevelt
spending, with the constantly in
creasing national debt due to the
fact that the government every year
spends more than it takes in, will
inevitably lead to initiation. Inf1a-
ton, once started, cannot well be
stopped. Few governments in the
history of the world, once they en-
barked on printing-press money,
have been able to do anything about
it. The latest spectacular case, OF
course, is Germany. On the other
hand, the United States government
financed the Civil war with print
impress money, and eventually
made good, redeeming all the
greenbacks with gold.
The story of that recovery, how
ever, is so dreary, extending
through the Grant administration
scandals, and with repercussions
leading up to the Mckinley Bryan
sound money versus free silver
campaigns. In fact, that story is
so unhappy that few of the active
innationists in public life, such for
instance as Senator Elmer Thomas
of Oklahoma, have manifested any
desire to mention it.
They Talk Figures
To this phase the answer OF the
Democrats of course is that Presi-
dent Roosevelt is just as strongly
opposed to printing-press money as
is Governor ALT M. Landon himself.
They talk about balancing the budg-
ct after the emergency is passed,
and then slowly paying off some OF
the debt. They do not talk very
much about this for an obvious rea-
son. If they start talking figures,
naturally it looms inevitably that
there must be higher taxes. Dur
ing the campaign the Democrats do
not want to talk about highe4 taxes.
In fact, the White House went to
some pains to make it clear to the
country that there would be no new
taxes next year.
| There is another reason why the
| Democrats do not want to talk SO
| much about higher taxes just at
present. Every one knows that Pres
ident Roosevelt's own idea about
these higher taxes is very definite.
He expects to make the big corpora
tons and the big incomes pay more.
| When he proposed the original slid
ing scale tax on corporation IN
comes, nearly eighteen months ago,
he wanted the scale to run up much
| higher.
When last spring he urged the
present tax law, he wanted a much
bigger slice of undistributeG earn
| ings assessed, the idea being to
force distribution of bigger divi-
dends, and then to get at the big
incomes by high bracket individual
income taxes.
But discussion of that point right
now is not the Democratic strategy.
/ That particular issue is two-edged
| sword for them, as much as the
Knox scare on life insurance poll
cies and savings bank deposits is
for the Republicans.
Another Issue
Loss of interest on savings bank
accounts, and diminished dividends
on life insurance policies, is another
| phase of the issue Col. Frank Knox
has injected into the campaign
which is causing such concern both
among Republicans and Democrats,
no one being sure which way the
net advantage of this issue is going
to fall on election day.
! This phase OF the issue has MOTH
ing TO do with the possibility of
printing-press money-of an infa-
ton which might leau to gradual
i fall in value of the dollar SO that
the purchasing power of savings and
insurance payments might be cut.
1t is concerned with the immedi-
ate present, and has to do almost
entirely with the present very low
rate of interest. In the first place,
all the banks are stuffed with gov
eminent bonds. These bonds pay SO
little interest that from the point of
view of income to the banks it is al
most as bad as not loaning the
money out at all
This cheap interest rate has nat
urally affected other borrowers.
Corporations making new bond is
sues have taken advantage of it.
Everybody who has to borrow mon
ely has taken advantage of it. So
that the income of banks and in
surance companies which must in
vest money in order to live has fall
en- sharply
In the case of banks, this has re-
suited in sharp curtailment Of inter-
est payment on savings accounts
and almost universal discontinuance
of any interest on checking ac-
counts.
Cuts Dividends
In the case of insurance compa-
MES, it has resulted in sharp reduc-
ton of the amount of dividends al
lowed policy holders. To some pol