The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1945-03-09

IA AHE4D
u BY GEORGE S. BENSON
y presideHt--Harding College
Scarry. 4rkaksas
Styrnie Law

On V-Day, when hghtlng endS ana
the peoples of a plundered world
begin shouting their Joy and graft
tude in a thousand tongues, aerial
bombs and floating mines are going
to seem pretty cheap All treacher-
GUS and destructive machines will
appear in their right light again
Their values will show as minus
quantities. Then slow, cautious men
will set to work getting rid of them.
But there are instruments of war
more treacherous than floating
mines, more ruinous than any block
buster ever devised. Uncle Sam will
have one of these on his hands when
war ends unless Congress does
something about it. It is trained on
American factories and farms now,
ready to start a bombardment on
Armistice Day and nothing can elm
mate the serious menace but new
legislation.
Congress Can Save.
The United States has a law
against progress. 1t was not enact
ed to stop scientific and industrial
development but, if it stays on the
statute books in peace time, even for
a short while, it will be a govern
ment freeze of creative work. 1t
was passed five years ago to raise
money for national defense and keep
war-mongers from profiteering on
the misfortunes of other people.
I am not criticiing the purposes
of the act. America had to raise
revenue quickly for defense, and
right thinking people did not want
to see a new crop of war-lords en-
riched with blood-money. Just the
same, there ought to be a new act,
worded to take effect on the day of
victory, repeating certain provisions
in the 1910 tax law which are war
measures, ruinous to any people at
peace.
Kills New Business.
The sense of the law is this: Add
up all the profit firm made in four
pre-war years, 1936-1939 inclusive;
figure $50 of the total and call it
sample pre-war years profit. If
corporation earns more than that in
any year of war, it must pay the
government $50 of the difference in
a special tax.
Small business concerns can't
grow if the law stands. Really big
corporations can escape being dew
astated. Some will want to expand
further and can't, but they can stay
big. Here is why: by percentage,
not much of giant corporations
business is ever new business; its
profits (however big) grow slowly.
Small firms, not so. What will be
the net result?
Service to Humanity.
Thrifty little enterprises like you
and might form will be paralyed.
TheYscan't expand because their dol
lars of increased profit will be split
two ways, 15c to keep, and 85c for
the government. Many will die, as
losses on development of new prod
ucts wipe out their meager capital.
Huge firms, which have no need for
substantial growth, can develop new
products with no risk to their strong
financial position.
A big company's losses on new
developments can be used to reduce
taxes on profits from old business.
In this way, government pays more
than four-fifths of such losses for big
concerns. It must be remembered,
however, that big corporations are
too few to solve the nations post
war employment problem.
Small companies employ more
than 800 of the nations workers.
They handle the lions share of our
national income. What their en-
ployees eat makes farm prosperity.
If these little firms see chance to
earn profit, they will get ready for
peace /. . new business and new
jobs in large numbers. But if until
V-Day they remain scared to ex-
pand, America is stymied and so is
the world.