Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-06-26

sentiment more accurately, has
passed the Trade Agreement Act
The appeal to local and sectional
selfishness failed.
Similar forces are likewise failing
in their fight on the Breton Woods
monetary plan.
And the history making confer
ence of the nations in San Fran
cisco has succeeded in achieving a
world security organization despite
all the cynics and bitter-end isola-
tionists.
But the best evidence that the
tide has turned is not found in the
national scene. 1t is found in the
States. When this year opened II
State Legislatures were on record
with resolutions calling on Congress
to submit to the people a constitu.
tional amendment which would
make Is per cent the maximum in.
come, inheritance and estate tax
that could be levied by the Federal
Government.
1t was an idea born in the brain
of the Committee for Constitutional
Government. an organization which
devotes its time and talents to the
worries of the weu-to-d an organ
tzation that has been remarkably
successful in way. It's operation
has been fairly simple. Starting
with 4 small mailing list of people
likely to be worried about taxes, the
c. for c. G. gave them a lot of new
reasons for worrying-and then COL
lected from them donations to ex-
tend the worrying to more people.
The new funds were then used to
extend the mailing list still further,
as we'll as the list of reasons for
worrying and donating-and so on,
not quite ad infinitum.
You've no idea how many reasons
for worrying a man can conjure UP
while basking on a Florida beach;
no idea how clearly he can see the
dangers besetting the Constitution.
Starting back in the early days of
the New Deal, the self-perpetuating
c. for c. G. had become a hardy,
experienced worry promoting outfit
by 1889. 1t was in that year that
the plan to put a ceiling of Is per
cent on taxes was conceived and
the plan to put it over on the coun-
try. This involved by passing Wash
1ngton. There were too many peo-
pie in Washington who would see
instantly the fix in which the coun-
try would be left if the tax restric-
ton was imposed on Congress. The
managing trio, Messrs. Frank Gam
nett, Samuel Pettengill and Ed
ward A. Rumely, saw that the place
to start was back in the States.
Joining up with them was one
Vance Muse, organizer of something
he called the Christian American
Movement. Muse had discovered
that while 1t may be easier for a
camel to 60 through the eye Of a
needle than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of heaven, there
was no such barrier against the rich
III tlle oIaCe legislatures.
Persuasive Line.
The evangels had a persuasive line
for the Legislatures. If limit were
put on the taxing power of the Fed
eral Government, they said, the
States would be able to collect a lot
more taxes. BY the beginning of
this year, as said above, II State
Legislatures had accepted this argu-
ment and. adopted resolutions call
ing on Congress to submit to the
people IS per cent Limitation
amendment. The States were Ala
bama, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois
Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine
Massachusetts,, Michigan, Mississip-
pi, New Hampshire, New JERSEY
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wis
consin and Wyoming.
Then somebody in WASHINGTON
namely, Representative Wright Pat
man OF Texas, woke up to what was
going on. He started bombardinp
the State legislators with the 9th.
er side OF the argument, indicating
what the States would lose through
the cutting of of Federal assistance
II Congress were 11nah tn r.;.. ~ :.