Evening star., 1942-10-30

CCutAVe VA00A DeVs4 ASWKe1ee.
which reduces the salaries Of the
management group.
It would be understandable. too,
II the reduction affected war-made
compensation, but It goes back TO-
pre-war salaries and provides an
unnecessary, II not wholly unfair.
attack on the management group
who, are expected to work long
hours and stretch their energies
MANIFOLD to supervise the biggest
production job handed by any ma
tion TN al history.
The scars of war wear of, Is do
the hardships, but unfairness Is
never forgotten. There Is manifest
unfairness. in what the President
has ordered done. It hardly seems
possible that he could have realized
the damage he was doing to the
morale Of the very men the Nation
depends on for management of the
entire war program.
Congress Against Move.
For Congress didn't order the re-
duction In pre-war salaries, nor did
Congress fix any limits on what a
man might be paid. Congress very
properly passed q tax bill to raise
revenue and, If the limitation of in
comes had been accomplished in:
the lawful manner that . revenue
measure provides there would not be
such . feeling Of encouragement.
But when Congress refused to leg
islate any such limitation on salaries
and the executive order undertakes
to use war powers to accomplish
what Congress declines to enact, the
whole episode becomes more than q
mere segment Of . so-called anti
imitation program. It becomes .
matter Of vital principle and makes
q mockery Of the cry that America
is fighting to preserve her Consti-
tuition. In this instance q blunder
has been made in usurptng power
that Congress did not delegate, and
1t now becomes necessary for Con-
gress to assert its rights and in the
next tax bill, If not sooner, prohibit
the Internal Revenue Bureau from
using any Of its so-called powers for
the purpose Of reducing salaries or
incomes except as provided in the
revenue laws on the statute books.
If the President wishes q nmita-
ton on salaries, he should ask Con-
gress to provide one for investment
income as well. II Congress de-
clines, he should certainly tn sports
manlike fashion abide by the result.
Magnanimity Called For.
There Is one lesson that American
politics has taught, namely, that
people who lose fight must be
n1agnanimo,,s and not punitive. The
administration lost It's fight for limi-
tation Of top salaries through the
income tax laws, and now endeavors
to do under the guise Of anti-infia-
tion what it could not obtain by ac-
tual legislation.
There Is no persuasive way to
prevent imitation by reducing pre-
war salaries. This is really defation
and nothing in the statute says any
thing about de6ation.
Many inequities are produced by
the very executive order which seeks
to remove so-called inequities. Thus
out Of the 48 States there are IA
where no State income tax laws pre-
vail. In the II the citizen can re-
tain 5000 while in the other "a
States and the District Of Columbia
q citizen cannot retain $4,000 no
matter what his salary above that
figure happens to be. Why should \
so-called Federal order be applied
without uniformity? What possible
objection was there to allowing the
citizens Of the IS areas to deduct
their State taxes, SO they could be on
parity with the citizens OF the IA
States?
No Limit on Investors.
This is but one Of many inequali-
ties, the worst Of which Is that the
president Of a company making war
supplies can receive only a net in
come of $25. 900 while the stockhold-
ers who clip coupons or get dividends
from that same company can receive
unlimited amounts. Also, though the
revenue laws provide for q review OF
income tax rulings and decisions by
the courts, the new executive order
seeks to deprive the citizen OF any
court review This means that labor
unions, Is well as employers, must
accept the findings Of fact and the
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