Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1937-04-01

Rising prices of goods
and the labor situation are the main
worries of the Administration. and
are regarded by many as constitute
ing the ''crisis" which President
Roosevelt spoke of when he asked
Congress to authorize him TO make
changes in the Supreme Court so
tina temergency legislation would be
held to be Constitutional.
That prices are rising faster than
the incomes of most Americans are
rising is disclosed by official Stats
tics of the Government. and that
this process will continue so long as
the Government continues to oper-
ate on borrowed money, is the gist
of the warning sounded by Governor
Mariner S. Eccles. of the Federal
Reserve Board. Mr.. Eccles' pro-
posed remedy is to cut down FEEDER
al expenditures and impose new tax
es. in order to balance the budget as
soon as possible. This is not in ac-
corde with the ideas of some other
members of the Cabinet, who do not
want to have the expenditures of
their departments curtailed.
On the other rand, Secretary
Wallace of Agriculture has Endorsed
Mr.. Eccles' views. and Secretary
Roper OF Commerce agrees. while
Treasury Secretary Morgenthau is
resisting as strongly as he can the
demands of the s%penders to be al
lowed TO keep on spending.
Initiation Warninp
The force of Mr.. Eccles' warning
has not been lost on the leaders in
Congress, woh have been warned
many times from other sources that
unless there is a firm check upon the
present infiationary trend there is
great danger of another collapse
which might be as serious as that OF
1929 and which. If it should occur
before the election of 1910, would
seriously affect the chances of the
Democratic party continuing in
power. But offsetting that in the
minds of many leaders are consider
ations of immediate political con-
Germ. Spending money, particularly
for relief. makes votes; to stop
spending it might lose enough votes
in many districts to unseat Con-
gressmen who will come up for re-
election next year. Also, taxes are
unpopular. unless they can be i'm
posed only on wealthy individuals
and corporations. That those who
are now paying taxes in the upper
brackets can pay enough more tC
bring the Federal outgo and income
into balance is considered doubtful
That means that any new income
taxes must be spread downward, tC
reach the lower incomes, which
would be politically risky, or must
be in the form of excise taxes or
commodities. which might bt
equally unpopular. However, Con
gressional economists and tax ad
visers are diligently studying tht
possibilities in both of those fields
There is talk of new excise taxes OF
coffee, tea, sugar-which seem:
quite certain-salt, steel and cleo
trical appliances. Just at presen
both Senate and House spokesmel
are saying that no new taxes will b,
necessary. That car be dismissed a
the usual line of political talk heart
every year at this period in the Con
gressional session. The practice ha
been, and doubtless will be thi
year, to "hush-hush" on taxation
until along in July or August, an
then rush through a new tax bill.
Labor Policy Needed
Out of the labor situation precipi
tated by the ~"sit-down" strikes il
the automobile industry has arise
a strong demand for the clariicatioi
of the Governments labor policy
There is. indeed, no definite labo
policy on which all elements in tn
Administration are agreed. TIL
major item of labor legislation, tn