Evening star., 1947-08-17
Art
and
Artists
Bolton Bill Gives
No Recognition to
u. S. Talent While
Benefting Europe
By Florence S. Berryman

Wy UStSuSS Ss SSt' I"S" |
Frances p. Bolton of Ohio intro
duced In the House Of Representa-
tives the last week Of July bill to
encourage the purchase abroad OF
works Of art for donation to muse
ums and public art collections in the
United States. The bill would amend
the Tariff Act of 1880 so that works
of art imported for the sole purpose
Of dcnations, as above described, for
display free Of charge, shall be ad-
mitted duty-free. Original works
already enter this country duty-free,
as do also decorative arts more than
a century old-that is, legitimate
antiques)
Mrs. Bolton proposed that when
ever an American citizen buys works
of art abroad for donation to pub
lie institution he shall be permitted
to deduct sums expended for this
purpose from his income tax. She
feels >that this Is one method by
which we can ameliorate the dollar
crisis.
Concern Over Crisis
The inspiration of Mrs. Bottoms
bill, in fact, is her entirely worthy
concern over the dollar crisis, one Of
the major crises of our times. In her
remarks relative to her bill she out
lined its dimensions, acute despite
the fact that since We day the
United States has sent abroad the
stupendous sum of $40, 900, COO 900 in
loans, grants, gifts and other kinds
of aid. The shortage plaques not
only Europe, but also the Western
Hemisphere.
Since we alone can supply most Of
the worlds needs for goods, We now
have the dangerous situation where
most nations must buy heavily from
us, more than they can sell. Former
avenues of exporting dollars, such as
American touring abroad, are largely
closed at present. Consequently she
suggested putting more dollars into
foreign hands by stimulating art
purchases by American citizens.
Mrs. Bolton pointed out that the
loss of revenue to the Treasury by
her tax-deduction proposal would
not be devastating and would, in
deed, be balanced by the return of
the money from abroad to pay for
American goods and services. In
other words, Treasury losses in one
quarter would be recouped in an
other. More important, she pointed
out that it has always been the
policy Of our Government to en-
courage the dissemination of knowl-
edge and extend the Nations cul-
tural boundaries. Consequently, she |
feels that her proposal Is merely an
extension of this policy for special
Incentives to be offered to our citi-
Zens to import art for donations.
Commercial Art Only
Mrs. Bolton does not want to take
advantage of the distress of other
nations, to strip them of their cul-
tural patrimony; hence she would
have nothing to do with purchas-
ing art from hard-pressed govern
rnents which might be tempted to
part with their great nationally
owned masterpieces. She has in
mind merely the international COM
mercial art business as traditionally
conducted. To that end she has in
troduced legislation which in the
regular procedure will be considered
by the Committee on Ways and
Means as it amends the tax laws,
to be given careful study in the
coming months.
It seems to me that this pro-
posal should be considered by the
art world quite apart from its po-
tentialities for putting private
American funds In foreign hands.
Such funds would probably be i'm
material In reducing the now-enor-
nous difference of $1,000, 100000 a
month of our exports over imports.
Criticism Voiced
Persons with special interests and
knowledge will undoubtedly scrutin-
lie the proposal from their respec-
tive angles. The chief criticism I
have is that it does not go far
enough. This was to be expected,
in view of Mrs. Bottoms objective
In introducing 1t.
The proposals major defect, in
my opinion, is that tax deduction
benefits would accrue only to Amer