Evening star., 1942-07-29

would be money David Lawrence.
enough to pay for the war.
Senator Vandenberg of Michigan,
after a study of official Treasury
Department estimates and data,
announces that If every cent of in
come above $25,o0o year earned
by each and every taxpayer were
to be confiscated and If out of the
5000 incomes there were taken
the new taxes according to the rates
passed by the House of Representa-
tives last week, the total amount
collected by the Treasury would be
about $500 100000 or just enough to
finance the American war effort for
four days and 10 hours.
This means that there has been
q good deal of misleading Senator
Vandenberg is particularly indig-
nant that there has been such wide
spread misunderstanding among the
people. judging by the letters re-
ceived, and he thinks President
Roosevelt is to a large extent re-
sponsible for this piece Of mislead-
ing because in a recent radio ad-
dress the President gave the i'm
preston that $25,000 a year would
be the top income and that this
would be a sizable cut in American
incomes.
Two Possible Methods.
The truth, of course. is that the
House failed and the Treasury has
failed and probably the Senate will
fail to raise the needed revenue in
the only ways it can be raised
either by taxing the lower incomes
or by sales tax.
The CIO recently has been pass
ing resolutions denouncing all efforts
to tax low incomes and arguing that
enough revenue can be provided by
taxing the incomes of $25 900 year
or over. Other organizations have
been fostering such a clear distor-
tion Of the facts concerning possible
incomes to the Treasury.
Some day the people will find out
that their friends were not the
demagogues who thwarted proper
tax measures and price controls by
arguing that some small class of
taxpayers should be more heavily
taxed, but the persons who advo-
Gated rigid price control, wage con-
troll and the elimination of waste
In governmental expenditures.
The talk of imitation increases.
The public doesn't really know what
the word means or 1t would be thor
oughly aroused. Imitation has few
synonyms IN single word, but its
broad meaning is to cheat the people.
Imitation is a method whereby the
masses are exploited by the mistakes
of the ruling class who by the use OF
unsound economic doctrines, waste
of public funds or abuse OF public
credit, plunge a nation into an eco
nomic disaster from which the usual
escape offered is devaluation of the
purchasing power of the monetary
unit.
To prevent imitation certain con-
trolls are needed. In totalitarlan
countries such controls are imposed
bv force. In democracies these con-
trolls are applied by voluntary CO.
operation. But the prerequisite to
any successful system Of voluntary
cooperation is that sacrifices should
be borne equally or in proportion to
ones capacity to bear the hardship.
Political Fears Block Action.
The administration in power
knows all too we'll what has to be
done to prevent inf1ationary dis
asters. 1t knows the theory and the
means of executing such theory.
But the political fears which pres
sure groups can engender in the
national legislative body and In the
presidency are sufficient apparently
to prevent such remedial or pre-
yentive measures from being applied.
The best example Is wage control.
The administration has coddled labor
union politicians and is afraid to
make a clear-cut issue between these
politicians and the rank and file OF
American labor, who would readily
accept restraints If the facts were
presented persuasively to them
Profits should be taxed to the sur
vival point. Prices should be hele
down. Wage controls should not be
applied in response to pressure group
tactics, but on a scientific basis.
When leadership is sufflciently
courageous to overcome political ex-
pediency of the moment and to take
the long-range view, the people will
accept almost any hardships, If the
present course of demagoguery ano
surrender to political pressure con-
tinues the result will be to cheat
the people by making it impossible
for their dollars to buy the necessi-
ties of life except at fantastic prices
that will truly hurt persons In the
lowest income groups.
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