The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1941-11-27
Economic
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National and International Problems
Inseparable from Local Welfare

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causing many a congressional head
ache these days. Few Senators or
Representatives seem to have yet de-
cided what can be done to help solve
them.
Prices are now going up with ex-
treme rapidity. President Roosevelt
recently said that initiation has set in,
and other major figures in the gov
ernment have said the same thing be-
fore. A legion of economists have
urged that Congress take steps to
control prices. But so far the law
makers have shown amazing agility
in dodging the issue. Price-fixing is
an extremely ticklish proposition. It
would directly affect millions of vot-
ers. If it is to be successful, in the
opinion of most authorities, it must
be accompanied by wage-fxing. So,
from the point of view of men who
must depend on votes to hold their
jobs, it is dangerous medicine. On top
of that, there are a thousand and one
different proposed schemes for price
control, and no one knows which
might be workable.
We have only just begun to suffer
the burdens of taxation that war and
defense spending will make inevitable.
The new tax bill is the heaviest in
our history. Yet it is designed to pro-
duce less than 100000 year
in additional revenue, and defense and
aid-to-democracies appropriations now
total close to $7O,O0O,O00,00O. The
President has said that the govern
ment's cash income must be increased,
and Secretary of the Treasury Nor
genthau has urged bill which would
impose on both individuals and busi-
nesses a tax load infinitely greater
than that they are now carrying. The
feeling grows in official circles that
some form of payroll tax may have
to be levied, and that this may be ac-
companied by law to compel forced
savings. Heavy taxation is urged as
a weapon against imitation on the
ground that it reduces purchasing
power and lessons the ability to buy.
The bill which Mr.. Morgenthau rec
commended involves a straight Is per
cent tax on all salaries and wages.
The cost-of- government issue is
coming into the limelight now. The
hard fact is that the war spending
has been piled on top of record break
ing non-war spending in which no i'm
portant cost reduction has been made
anywhere. For instance, appropria-
tions to aid farmers, youth, reliefers,
and others are still at the depression
peaks. Leading Congressional fighter
for non-defense economy has been
Senator Byrd of Virginia. Mr.. Byrd
is a 100 per cent supporter of the
antiHitler program, and at the same
time he believes that the regular cost
of government should be pared to the
limit. He is head of Senate COM
mittee which is now trying to find
ways and means to reduce the non
defense budget. Secretary Morgen-
thau recently appeared before this
committee and testified that, in his
opinion, very large cuts could be made
in practically all non-defense depart
ments. He did not estimate the total
that could thus be saved. However,
sometime ago he forecast that a re-
duction of at least $1,OO0,OOO,00O a
year was possible Other authorities
have estimated that cut of $2,OOO,-
100000 or more is within reason, il
non-defense spending.
Congress has been almost entirely
occupied with foreign policy during
the past year, at the expense of do
mestc policy. In a time such as the
present, with public attention focused
on a war which extends over three
quarters of the world, it is easy for
Congress to take the line of least re-
sistance and do little or nothing. But
the heat is being turned on now, and
some of the turner's are men high in
administration circles. This country
has not yet adopted a fiscal policy, a
wage policy, or a price policy suitable
to the times. We are far behind Eng
land in that respect. 1t looks as If
Congress must really get down to
cases and grapple with economic
problems which are of direct concern
to every citizen of these United
States.
X X X
The tone of the German press has
undergone a curious change. For in
stance, in recent article Propaganda
Director Goebbels seemed actually
pessimistc as to Germany's chances.
He didn't say that in clear words, Of
course, but the intmation was that
the Reich had mighty tough job on
her hands and that victory was far
away.
II is generally believed in military
quarters that the blitz technique has
finally failed. 1t worked with France,
Poland, the Low Countries and else
where. But it didn't work with Eng
land. And it isn't working with Russia.
The war is becoming more or less