The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1943-11-08
Observations
Incentive Sales
Tax Plan Being
Considered
BY He.sn Essary

an 'luGtullNt edlto NdA fldut "a
planned by curtis C. snyder repre-
senting Republic Steel
Briefly. the plan is TO tax all re-
tail articles at the time of sale.
The purchaser is given a receipt la
the form Of a stamp for the amount
Of the tax paid. These stamps are
accumulated in the same manner
as War savings Stamps until a
value OF $50 or $50 is attained.
Then they become eXchangeable
for a Low interest rate, nou.negotia
bic. non.transferable government
bond: this bond to be redeerhable
not less than one year after the end
OF the war
The annual retail business in
this country is so billion dollars
Snyder told the committeeman. BY
placing a 90 per cent sales tax on
all retail items, with few eXcep-
tions like foods. fertilizers ana
feeds. approximately nine billion dol
lars could be raised"
Rep. Knutson tR) MINI, said he
rather liked" the plan-if it could
be made workable. At the least,
Rep. Knutson said, it might elm
mate the setting up Of another
WPA after the war
THE UNITED STATES now has
the greatest navy of all time. But
some more forward-looking junior
officers are worried for fear that
the infleXible tradition Of secrecy
Of their higher-ranking seniors will
result in lack OF public support for
a large fleet after the war.
These younger officers contend
that the Navy should enliven tradi-
ton with a little imagination. and
release as much news as possible
in order 10 give the men OF the fleet
the credit due them, and TO CLAM
orize the part they are playing in
winning the war.
Instead the Navy. which seems
10 cling much more 10 tradition
than the Army. insists on keeping
its mouth shut. while the Army,
and especially the Army Air Corps,
grabs the news spotlight and keeps
hammering home the importance
Of what they are doing 10 win the
war.
Admiral Ernest J. King. comman-
der-in.chief OF the fleet, has been
blamed for the rigid censorship on
Navy news. There is ample evil
dence. however. that much Of the
news is throttled by men on his
staff
Many a good story gathers dust
in a Navy safe because some Off
Ger in high position believes that
the enemy might learn something
Il it were published. Some stories
are kept locked up even after the
essential facts have been broad
cast by the enemy radio.
II the bottleneck on Navy news
is ever broken. the credit should
90 10 few far-sighted officers of
the regular Navy in the public re-
lations office OF the Navy Depart.
ment. a few newspapermen who
cover the Navy regularly. Secre-
tary OF the Navy Knox and Elmer
Davis. chief OF the Office OF War
Information.
THE OCCASIONAL STEAK
which you are able TO find nova
days may soon have TO be broiled
without benefit OF mushrooms.
AS reported earlier in this col.
umn. OPA has been plagued by
mushroom growers demanding
price ceiling on manure. OPAers
finally have decided not TO tackle
this one because OF anticipated pub
lie ridicule.
Mushroom growers thus may be
forced out Of business The price
on the fertilizer has almost doubled
In recent months and they say they
cannot continue to pay these costs
and make any profit.
WPB DOESN'T HAVE AN INK
LING yet as to whether it will still
be around during the postwar peri
cd, but lot OF its top officials are
giving considerable thought to the
problems OF shifting from war 10
peace.
One OF the toughest riddles to be
answered is what TO do with the
tremendous production OF metals
that has been achieved as a result
OF the war. Steel output Is at a
record high OF 90,000,0OO tons an
nually, aluminium, 2,000,000,000
pounds a year. and so on.
At least one WIPE executive Is
bent ON working out some method
Of using all OF this production in
peacetime. His idea is TO put an
electric wire into every home for
electrical appliances. absorbing the
nations metals production raising
the country's standard Of living and
furnishing postwar employment.