1 SEEN SEEN- HEARD around the National Capital t. t By CARTER nELD FIELDS FIELD'S Washington COtton Cotton Is admittedly ne of ot the most serious problems In Inthe Inthe Inthe the whole New Deal set High officials will wUl admit It confidentially though their public utterances are very different Indeed The whole question of ot course Is 15 whether the United St States can go on sporting enough cotton to keep the cotton totton acreage now being farmed busy ind nd yet Jet maintain the world price of American cotton at high enough levels to make raising the cotton profitable Enthusiasts about the AAA program talk elk vociferously about the natural advantages ad ad- vantages of ot America with regard to cotton ratton They refuse to see sec any cloud clouden on en the horizon They Thel Insist that there ts W no other locality In the world where cotton as good as that raised In AmerIca America Amer Amer- ica lea can be produced except at cows costs exceeding ex reeding American costs As Jd a general proposition this Is correct cor cor- corI red Most countries that can produce totton cotton at lower costs costa than the United States have a product which compares most unfavorably with that grown In America The few places that can produce equally good cotton have very high costs But But the whole world Is looking for fort fora t a cheaper substitute for tor high grade totton cotton and generally generall where such a persists long enough the goal Is II found The Germans have hAYe been experimenting experimenting experimenting ex ex- ex- ex with wood pulp They do doDot doDot donot Dot not claim to have gotten very far tar At present they are In about the stage t Pt f American production of ot rubber from goldenrod It can be done successfully successful successful- ly 11 but there la Is no particular point In doing It The costs actually exceed the he cost of good Imported rubber The search for a substitute Is by no means over Incidentally the Germans Germans Ger Ger- mans lIans have hue had fair success Recess In the last lew months producing a substitute for tor rubber from rye flour They buy the rye flour from Poland As long as America produced cotton cotton cotton cot cot- ton without restrictions there was not much point to looking for tor a substitute because any given year ear there might be a big cotton crop the price would fall tall off and anyone financially Interested interested Inter inter- ested In the substitute would take a terrible beating boating that year Keep Price Up Now however the definite aim of AAA Is to keep the price of ot cotton up all 11 the time regardless of weather and end other crop conditions by the simple aim sim pie expedient of restricting acreage and governing the carry over each yean Which sets up upa a real prize for forthe forthe forthe the discoverer of ot a g good od substitute So actually the cotton program Is In the same position as a company making a patented article which It Is telling selling at a nice profit Always there Is the fear tear that some Inventor will come cODle along with something either Just Justas as good or better hetter which will destroy the market for the patented article A second and entirely different problem lem rem concerns the people who earn earned ell their living by working In cotton fields fieMs up to the time of ot AAA restrictions but now have no work At the moment the federal government Is taking care of them on relief They are part of the now estimated to be supported supported supported sup sup- ported thus They are arc also of ot course part pInt of ot the explanation of the fact that the number of people on relief Is le not diminishing despite the fact that business business busi busl- I ness neu Is getting better While the same problem applies to other crops than cotton the situation with respect to t the le others Is not nearly nearly near near- ly Iy so serious Cotton Is the big export crop and always has been Moreover there has not been much change in that situation as the country grew bIgger bigger bigger big bIg- ger In population Exports of wheat and other farm products have bave slowly i declined as the population of th the cities In tn America consumed larger and larger percentages of the total crop But nut cotton cotton cot cot- ton maintained about the same ratio as between domestic consumption aud and export export ex lX port right up tip to the time when AAA restrictions began to operate About CO j per lIer cent of ot the total crop was ex cx- ported Which explains some of the gray hairs in the Department of or Agri Agri- culture Tax Increases Seen Not only are there to be no tax reductions reductions re re- re- re by congress even on levies which there Is very good reason for removing removing re reo re- re moving mo or lowering but tax Increases are almost certain before adjournment This will not appear early In the session session ses ses- sion as the administration Is counting on a lot of maneuvering about taxes s In Its Ita fight tight to hold down the soldier r bonus disbursements Pit t before the 6 final taps of ot the gavels of the Vice Ice B President In the senate and the speaker speak speak- er In the house new taxes tans will have been levied or old ones boosted Because Because Be ne- cause the treasury needs the money and needs It badly There has been a vigorous checking E over oyer of told Income tax returns as s many citizens have hue discovered some e to their sorrow But Dut the total amount t of money realized by the treasury In InthIs Inthis inthis a this endeavor has been very pointing Official figures are not yet available but there Is no doubt as to the accuracy of ot this statement For strangely enough nough much as most people would love to dodge and evade Income e taxes tare when It comes to writing down n the figures on the return blanks they y have a wave of or honesty or fear whichever whichever which which- i- i ever you rou prefer to believe So with the pro prospect of larger appropriations appropriations ap ap- than ever eyer there must be new taxes while the fight for tor lower lowert t 4 and liquor taxes tues has b been en lost I i tx before the convening of ot con congress lost congress ess tort In Secretary office The trouble is 15 that even figuring 01 on an extraordinary budget In addition to tc governmental the regular budget of normal governmental gov ei eitt expenditures will not Justi fy the administration In not raising tt taxes For while It Is an easy bookkeeping bookkeeping book book- keeping method to say uy that this or that item Hem say lilY of ot public works or relief relief re to- lief Is extraordinary and therefore should be financed by the sale of bonds Instead of ot by taxes there are other complications In the rule laid down by President Roosevelt when he sent his first budget budget budget bud bud- get message Interest and sinking fund must be counted In the regular budget though the sum on which they are calculated may be regarded as belongIng belong belong- ing tag In the extraordinary budget Total Is Mounting Although there has been considerable considerable considerable consider consider- able saving In interest charges due to the low rate of Interest the government government government govern govern- ment has had to pay the total Is mounting and It will be recalled that up to now the budgets of this administration administration administration adminis adminis- have eliminated sinking fun fund 1 This was done on the theory that durIn during during dur dur- I In ing an emergency there was no point 1 In saving up to pay ort oil debt But nut It tt Is obvious now that the appropriations appropriations appropriations ap ap- ap- ap for public works to prime the pump of business recovery and of relief to keep people from starving and freezing are not going to decrease decrease de do crease In the coming session In all human probability they must be In creased And while they are still regarded regarded regarded re re- re- re as emergency appropriations and therefore to be financed by bonds Instead of taxes there Is II a growing belief that the relief appropriations are never going to shrink to tp any figure which was thought normal a I few years back even back even two years back For It Is now clear that relief Is to tobe tobe tobe be with the federal government always the effort to make the local political units states counties and cities take takeover takeover takeover over their own problems to the contrary contrary contrary con con- notwithstanding And It IS Ii plain to the experts who have hue been working on budget figures under direction that the present flow of ot receipts from taxes tues Is la lanot not sufficient to carr carry what cannot much longer be re regarded as aa an emergency emergency emer emer- gency load but which must soon be classified as a normal load In addition there Is fast approachIng approach approach- Ing a time when sinking fund requirements requirements require require- ments meats can no longer be deferred Itha It ha hat has been hoped that a sufficient revival revival revival re re- re- re vival of business would result In boost Ing tax receipts to a sufficient extent to take care of this But nut hardly to take care of ot the Increased normal load About Public Lands Landi The old public lands question has ha been completely reversed apparently since the dawn of the New Dea Deal In Informer Informer Informer former administrations senators from the western states complained bitterly and often otten about the fact that the federal federal fed ted eral government owned vast tracts of their land which as a result were undeveloped undeveloped un un- developed produced no taxes and therefore added to the burden of ot the state government The net result they Insisted was that their taxpayers ers era were unjustly assessed Now V It Is a southern state which protests protests not not against federal government government govern govern- m ment nt land now held but against the acquisition of or government land which will thereupon pass out of or the taxing ba base e of ot the state In a recent telegram to Forestry News Digest Governor Talmadge of Georgia says The federal government according to reports Is large areas of land in Georgia for tor purchase the area reaching Into hundreds of thousands thousands thousands thou thou- sands of or acres acress If It any of the agencies of or the state ar are consulted about much of this federal land acquisition program pro pro- program gram It Is not known to me From such information as drifts In it seems that options are being taken on su sub sub- marginal lands largely hugely forest land and abandoned farms arms that are now In condition condition con con- to use only for growing trees If It this land goes to federal government government government govern govern- ment ownership It Is removed from state taxation removed without the thesta sta state te being consulted I NI certainly do not want land owners own own- frs ers of ot Georgia to have hue to compete with the federal government In growing timber or In producing naval stores with the f federal deral government using tax-free tax and subsidized lands land and not obliged to make a profit Georgia has been getting a n lot of wealth from Its Us forests and It looks as If it a lot more coming from our woods Georgians and not the federal government should get gt It It seems to me that the federal government should at least coordinate coordinate co co- co ordinate Its land purchase activities lUes with some consideration for the rights of the state Which Incidentally Is la an entirely new Idea of ordination co to many New Dealers The Real Answer Apparently Governor Talmadge e In whose state lies what has actually been the winter home of Franklin D. D Roosevelt since his Illness has bas some IOme backing for his opposition to this federal fed fed- era eral development The real answer of ot course Is that in Georgia the forest for for- est Is not Just a supply of or wood which can be cut only at something approachIng approach- approach Ing lug maturity but a constant source of of ot resin turpentine revenue re because etc which are tapped from the trees treel very much as maple Is In northern northern north- north ern era states so that the idea of ot putting Into forests for for- ests land which has haa been abandoned so far as agriculture is II concerned or oron oron oron on which farm families have starved In their efforts to eke out a living from froma troma a too Impoverished soil 11 does not ap ap- ap- ap peal C D f