Show weekly I 1 news ann lysis wage earners mily may carry loa load d lit in new Us 7 S taxation Pr program joseph W la ila kisae bille EDITORS NOTE when opinions are columns they are those in these and not necessarily analyst ol 01 the news of the newspaper taxation recent federal taxation policies have been based on the theory that eess business should bear the brunt for this or some other reason business has operated at a loss laid off workers and ad precipitated economic economy depression this year as the U S treasury charts its course for the fiscal year there are signs agns that business will breathe easier kny 91 ak 14 4 41 EDSEL FORD he be offered an incentive incent ne ite that government will look instead to the small wage earner for its new monetary requirements even as auto manufacturer edsel ford was telling a senate sub com cittee that a general tax reduction would be as good a bu business in incentive as any three outstanding forecasts could be sifted from the financial gymnastics of budget mak ing treasury experts economy although federal reserve chairman marriner S eccles has plumped publicly against premature reduction in federal expenditures treasury secretary henry i is essentially economy minded in this policy he has the support of his new tax adviser undersecretary der john W hanes a recent recruit treet street who believes budget balancing would stimulate the confidence of business while not expecting a balance between income and outgo next year because of the proposed national defense program mr can I 1 take a k e heart from president roose latest pronouncement pay As you yon go the billion dollar rearmament plan which is due for strenuous congressional opposition will not be allowed to IQ increase the federal deficit though the president has not indicated what new taxation method he will use to finance the project there is guarded admission that a 10 per cent tax will be placed on present income taxes if you now pay 25 a year pay extra but this special revenue measure would only pay for armaments and would no not t eliminate increased deficits caused by relief expenses to fill this need many congressmen favor lower bracket income taxes married men are now allowed 2500 exemption which might be decreased to 2000 or even 1800 exemptions empt ions for single persons now 1000 would be dropped to or while this would boost revenue by bi only it would place bigger wage earners in higher surtax brackets and bring the treasury an additional since large incomes are already subjected to huge taxes the proposal ca can n expect justified opposition outside of rel relief cef costs the biggest need for new tax money will be to finance the proposed federal state health program for insurance fils urance hospitalization clinics clinic S and expansion of the U S health service europe europe is drilling drifting into war a 4 war star which no nation wants hut but against again which every nation is preparing ng unless anle there the re is a complete change in the outlook within the next month nth or two inte international tens tension ion wilt uil t reach the bre breading ahing point next tpring spring 7 this summation is the detached viewpoint of oswald pirow defense minister of the union of south africa after a two month european tour in in which he sought means of appeasing adolf hillers Hit lers colonial appetite it came the same day german rna n foreign minister joachim von visited paris to si sign 91 a 1 pathetic pathetically ally insincere pact with france as fuehr fuehrer er hitler consequently prepared to delete french attacks from the next edition of mein kampf as italy germanas germanys Germ anys closest ally continued cont aued clamoring for the th e french t territories errit ories of tuni tunisia sia corsica and nice with great britain shoved sho ed temporarily into the european background france finds find herself h holding a gilded bombshell in the G german erman treaty her government is now forced lorcey to accept fascist activity on two iwo european fronts or risk complete overthrow germany france must give hitler a tree free hand in eastern europe i refusing to intervene even if germany threatens frances ally russia within 48 hours after the fran co german pact was signed berlin opened a noisy propaganda campaign against Ru manias king carol who has been actively purging nazi partisans from his government at the same time in memel under lithuanian sovereignty german residents began an autonomy campaign 11 that undoubtedly had inspiration in berlin satisfied so long as hitler keeps himself busy in eastern europe france will not protest these activities italy france must permit fulfillment fill ment of italis vital aspirations in the mediterranean or incur the wrath of adolf hitler italis friend though foreign minister von declined to answer immediately the french question of what germany would do in a mediterranean crisis provoked by italian demands germanys germanas Germ anys course hardly needs clarification the franco german pact specifically reserves particular relations with third powers for both signatories signa tories most observers expect french capitulation to italian demands next month when british prime minister neville chamberlain makes his well weli adver tided appeal appeasement ement visit to rome labor both the american federation of labor and the congress of industrial organizations insist the national labor relations reat ions act must not be charged changed but A F of L hurls constant criticism at the board president roosevelt has appointed to interpret that act one bit of criticism centered around the labor boards order to new yorks consolidated edison company forcing abrogation of a bargaining contract with A F of L the boards reasoning that the contract resulted from unfair labor practices and was intended to discourage membership in a rival C 1 I 0 organization when A F of L president william green heard the U S supreme court had voided this NLRB order his joy was unbounded this knocks the props out from under the boards arbitrary prejudicial and grossly unfair position but keen observers who read further into the courts decision found cause for speculation about something more important although consolidated edison operates chiefly in new deiv york the court ruled its labor relations were still subject to NLRB regulation thus was the scope of federal regulation under the interstate commerce clause given broad ext extension ision paving the way for legislation which could make the potent wagner act seem mere childs play predicted as a subject for congressional debate is extension of the highly satisfactory railway labor act to include all industry if such lega av 1 A S IF OF L IS S WILLIAM WILLIA 31 GREEN GHEEN uis his victory brought a prediction isolation could be so successful as the railway act neither labor nor capital would have much cause for complaint the record since 1926 there has been only one minor four day da y railroad strike the reason either carrier or labor can carry its grievances to the national mediation board and if this group tails fails to bring at peace ce the president nt appoints a tact fact t finding commission no strike may take place until 30 days after this group reports that some ome such regulation galation gu lation will eventually ev ent bally guide au all capital cap j tal labor re ire iti actions on is quite likely though Us this will not emerge from the next congress 1939 will positively bring bre wagner ct amendments in the gen eral e direction miscellany motorists bound for Pasa denas d enas 8 rose bowl football will wat be guided by game ial next I 1 baffic month policemen whose broadcasts can be picked UP by any car radio 0 three acres added to beddoes Bed loes islando home of the statue of liberty have created a problem for congress under an fn a 8 treaty treat Y 14 1834 the island was give n to new york but all land around it went to me I 1 jersey mya the extra three acres ap p pa patently parent lY belong to new jersey pan P fin america before they left to attend the eighth pan american conference at lima U S dele delegates ates spoke optimistically misti cally of efforts to unite the western hemisphere into a solid bloc opposing european aggress aggressors rs but the picture looked vastly different from below the equator at lima they found representatives of 20 other american nations who exhibited justified coolness toward the colossus of the north whose president has taken the lead in what might be another attempt at yankee imperialism 10 they discovered that south american nations have their cultural centers in rome paris and madrid that despite any U S ambitions to the contrary pan america will insist on maintaining its trade relations with europe with the conference still expected to run several weeks it becomes clear that what support secretary of state cordell hull gains tor for president Roosevel ts hemispheric defense plan will be in principle only merely a resolution of endorsement counting Coun tins noses mr hull found his strongest friend in brazil his most powerful enemy was argentina disgruntled over U S attempts to invade her export wheat market not invited but nevertheless present were envoys from nazi germany who sought to smash mr hulls hopes for concrete measures against political and cultural invasion from europe business last spring the new york legislature passed a bill which potentially effects every citizen in the U S reducing from 6 to 5 per cent the interest which life insurance companies may charge on policy loans the piper obrien bill has necessitated nationwide nation wide revision of interest rates because insurance companies cannot charge different rates in different states upshot is that most companies are boosting their premium charges from 10 to 20 per cent on policies written after january 1 although many firms made the change december 1 policies in effect before the readjustment will wil I 1 not be affected but in addition to lower interest rate and higher premiums the following additional revisions will be made on most new policies 1 reduction of guaranteed interest rates to beneficiaries 2 lower 1 ower interest in rates on dividends left with companies 3 increased premiums on endowment annuity policies 4 withdrawal or substantial change in certain types of contracts by reducing policy loan interest charges from 6 to 5 per cent insurance firms will lose annual revenue totaling other factors necessitating higher premiums pre include the difficulty of finding satisfactory is capital markets and the small amount of new financing now being done politics itis it is plausible that november election gains by the liberalized republican party should give strength to old lin line e republicans who have taken a back seat in party affairs since the disastrous defeat of 1936 this very thing happened at the recent national committee conference in washington where confident liberals found themselves confronted with an unexpectedly strong faction of hoover dupont and liber liberty ty league republicans A still more important shift is that liberal G 0 P strength which originated in the rural areas has moved to metropolitan cities and has been supplanted in the small towns by a stronger conservative element having appointed a conservative ex sen daniel 0 hastings of delaware and a liberal harvey jewett of south dakota to fill two executive committee vacancies the party now finds itself deadlock deadlocked ked on a future e course though much talk is heard of potential 1940 ca candidates it is believed the party m must first decide which way its course shall be set to liberalism as evidenced since 1936 or to conservatism people the name of masaryk famous in czechoslovakian history since thomas G masaryk founded the nation 20 years ars ago will leave that nations officialdom forever on january 1 jan masaryk son of the czech ta fa ther and minister to great britain n for 14 years has announced his r retirement e ti fi rement in protest over his co coun un arys capitulation to germany after visiting the U S he win will 1 live ve in england |