Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-07-01

:. HSH.Ne ~ -. MS>>~1|lIUlll
to regulations of the bureau Of in.
ternal revenue which prescribed
that a person must count as income
anything taken in payment of serv-
ices, whether that thing be money
or some other thing of value. 1t
cited the fact that the President oc-
cupies the White House without pay
ment of rent and that he has avail
able a large staff of servants who
man that institution; that he is pro-
vided with automobiles and yachts
and various other services and cir
cumstances without cost. Editorial
ly, the newspaper then goes on:
HAS the President of the United
States, unwittingly, failed to include
in his income tax the value to him Of
the residence provided by the gov
eminent which pays him his sal.
airy? Under these regulations it
would appear that even the auto
mobiles and the yachts provided by
the government should be con-
sidered in making out an income tax
return. There is no publication OF
income taxes and therefore the pub
lie is not informed as to whether the
high officials of the government who
are provided with residences, as
some are, or with automobiles, as
many of them are, take these things
into consideration in reporting their
income taxes. 1t would scarcely be
an argument to say that residence
provided for a public official is not
part of his pay. Cabinet officers,
for example, are not provided with
residences by the government. They
must provide residences them
selves, at considerable cost. 1t is
obvious, therefore, that residence
given government official is part
of his pay"
When the President proposed the
tax investigation, he said that he be-
lieved there were
FlcR on good many mil
Big Ones lions of dollars
t h a t. could be
forced into the federal treasury as
a result of such inquiry. His &C
ton followed sweeping orders issued
to internal revenue agents and au-
ditors to review every income tax
return with the utmost care. The
agents and auditors, of course, will
60 over the returns filed by the en-
tire list of income tax payers, little
as we'll as big, but the congressional
investigation will be devoted only to
some of the men called by Mr..
Roosevelt, economic royalists." 1t
is obvious that congress cannot go
into all returns so congress will pick
on the big ones because those men
will have names out of which good
headlines in newspapers can be
written.
The Treasury had a different idea
about the investigation which con-
gress undertook. at the Presidents
request. The Treasury's plan con-
templated a number of secret hear
ings, star chamber sessions, and I
believe everyone knows what can
be had in a star chamber session
with bureaucrats operating with all
of the powers they possess in our
government.
Word of the Treasury's ideas did
not please congressional leaders
and they very quickly put their foot
down on the scheme. OF course,
members of the house and senate
| figured they would not share in the
political benefits unless they did the
investigating. I hear much COM
ment to the effect, however, that
an investigation in the manner con-
gress had decided to make it is
much preferable to the star cham
Der proceedings which the Treasury
proposed.
I mentioned that the congression-
al committee is dealing only with
"big names" The reason for this. is
plain. 1t would do no good at all
in a publicity way for the congress
sional groups to call in some small
taxpayer who, by availing himself
of the privileges of the law, had
been able to reduce his total tax to
a comparatively few dollars. On the
other hand, if big business man,
an economic royalist, claims all of
the exemptions and deductions that
the law specifies and thereby cuts
down his tax, he becomes the sub
ject or the target for much bally-
hoo about tax avoidance. I do moi
see the difference.
Since the President finds himself
in a deadlock with congress on his
M. ,1l proposal to add
Piles Work six justices of his
on Congress own choosing to
the Supreme court
! of the United States, he has turned
to a new approach in dealing with
the legislative situation. He has
suddenly loaded congress down with
work. This is to be distinguished
from the course he has followed ir
his earlier years of his tenure wher
he submitted only one legislative
suggestion at time.
Now, in addition to the court re
organization proposal, there is be-
fore congress the far-reaching gov
ernmental reorganization plan, the
billion dollar slum clearance anc
| 4