The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1943-04-08

encourage belief in the capacity Of
either the Roosevelt administration or
The Democratic majority in Congress
to function intelligently in Il great
national crisis. Yet, if public sentiment
! is to pull us out Of an almost incred-
iblc mess, it seems essential to say
these things again and again.
The spectacle of tax bill, brought
out on the floor by the Ways and
Means Committee, and supported
"onc hundred percent" as Mr. Nor
gcnthau declared, by the Treasury
, (Which means the White House,, be-
ing rejected by House in which there
+ is a clear majority. is without prece-
dent in our history. The Ruml-Carl-
son BILL supported by the Republic
cans, was killed by vote of 2l5 to
/ 1873, but the committee bill, supported
/ by the President, was rejected by
vote of 248 to 1G8-an adverse ma
.jority of 80 in body where the Dem
ocrats have a majority of IA over all.
Any honest effort to explain why
/ this happened must reveal as the bas-
ic reason the utter failure of the Ad-
ministration to evolve or propose at
any time anything resembling a COM
prehensive, adequate and sound tax
program. 1t. of course, is true that
tax measures must originate in the
House. but that does not absolve the
Executive from the duty of supply
ing the leadership in taxation mat
ters which the legislative branch
needs and has always had.
$3.50
Toward the end the Treasury found
itself in a position where, after fav-
oling the principle of putting midi
yidual income taxes on a pay-as-you-
earn basis, it was in opposition to the
only simple, fair and practical meth
cd of doing So It's opposition to the
Ruml bill was inspired by the Presi-
dent, and appeared based on the thor
oughly demagogic and unsound
ground that it favored the rich in
stead of the poor. And the opposition
held to this ground despite the in
conference.-the proof that the argu-
ment was wholly unfounded. Having
cnce taken this position, however, the
/ administration could not abandon it
| without loss of face and ultimately
was forced into support Of the mon
strosity.
What ultimately will come out of
the House will be compromise,
which is bad, but nothing else now
seems possible. One certain thing is
that the committee bill behind which
the Administration had placed itself
lone hundred percent is dead. The
compromise probably will be along
! the lines of the Robertson bill which
! lacks the simplicity and practicability
Of the Ruml-Carlson proposal. The
! hope is in the Senate. There the real
bill will be framed and it is possible
that public sentiment will make it
self felt in such a way as to compel
rewriting Of the House compromise
into a really sound bill.
1t is interesting to note that every
test of popular sentiment, including
two Gallup poles, has shown not only
that the public is behind the pay-as-
you-ean proposal, as laid down in
the Ruml bill, but that it is more
strongly favored by the middle and
! low income groups than by those in
the higher brackets Perhaps some
way will be found before the fight is
over by which this trenchant fact can
be more effectively brought home to
Democratic members of Congress.
Looking at the situation from the po-
litical angle, as things stand the Re-
publicans have a clear advantage.
They succeeded in rejecting an ut
terly indefensible bill and came very
close to passing an exceedingly good
one in a body where they are in a
minority.
If the Republican leadership in the
| Senate makes the same kind of fight
there is reason to feel that sensible
and satisfactory result may yet be
achieved. 1t depends upon how effec-
lively the people who favor the Ruml
plan communicate their views. In any
event. there can be no comfort for
the Administration in either the pres
ent situation or the final outcome. It's
position is a sorry one Not only will
it's ideas not prevail but it hasn't as
yet had any ideas on an issue of over
whelming importance to the winning
of the war and the welfare of the
nation.
m3M
Of course, the Immediately tragic
part of the whole business is the de-
lay. This means that it is now impos-
sible to put into effect by July | the
collections at -the-source system in
volved in the Withholding tax, which
mot only would bring in large reve-