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Show by JameS Preston s congressmen prepare to vote billions in iw tllxes rr defense, many of them are sending n fervent fer-vent if unspoken prayer to the folks hack home. Their constituents, constitu-ents, if they will do it, can help thorn out of a tight spot. The legislators have been translating trans-lating the tax proposals into terms which fit the pocket hooks of their constituents. Their only hope to keep the lax burden from rising entirely out of sight Is that they can cut clown on some of the wasteful non-defense expenditures. Even Secretary Morgenthau suggested sug-gested a billion dollar cut in non-defense non-defense expenditures. But the men on Capitol Hill are between the devil and the deep. The minute they begin to talk about cutting (he expenses of a government bureau bu-reau with peacetime functions, the bureaucrats in that agency buzz around them like flies around a jam pot. On the other hand, the constituents consti-tuents apparently are willing for person. Next year, they will amount to $183 per person. So that despite the fact that taxes will be more than doubled, defense de-fense expenditures alone will be only about half paid. Consequently, if the non-defense expenditures aren't reduced, then the solons will find themselves doubling the taxes and more than doubling the deficit. That, some of them think, isn't a very sound thing to do. Those figures are sound, but some others that are being bruited bruit-ed around are a lot less applicable. Sidney Hillman is the author of some of them. He says, for instance, in-stance, that in 1940, four days of labor were lost by accidents to each one lost by strikes. That much of the truth sounds fine. But there are other things, too. First, 19 40 was a low-strike year. Most of the trouble started after 19 41 began. Even more important is the thing that anyone can under- stand: When one man in a branch of a factory is hurt, that whole branch doesn't shut down. A substitute sub-stitute takes his place, or his coworkers co-workers clbuble up, or something else is done. Production goes on. Yet when a strike shuts down that branch entirely, it may and frequently does keep a whole factory fac-tory from turning out airplanes or bombsights or other defense goods. taxes to be increased to the extent necessary to arm America. But the legislators know that the heavier taxes will fall due next March, in an election year, and they are afraid that the dose will be too heavy for some voters. What the legislators actually want is support from their constituents consti-tuents for a reduction in non-defense non-defense expenditures. For the first time in many months, the congressmen con-gressmen are actually hoping for a letter and postcard demand from back home that non-defense spending be slashed. If they don't get support from home, the Washington bureaucrats will triumph tri-umph and the people simply will have to keep on paying taxes for defense plus taxes for wasteful spending. One thing that stimulated the fervor behind this telepathic plea for constituent support is that some figures have been passed around on Capitol Hill translating translat-ing tax and defense billions into terms that anybody can understand. under-stand. Figures, the solons realize, may be boring to a lot of people but they think they aren't so boring when they are expressed in a size that fits the average man's pocket-book. pocket-book. For instance, before the defense emergency arrived, the government govern-ment in 19 39 collected an average of $43.21 in taxes for every man, woman and child in the nation. In the same year, the government spent $70.65 for each man, woman and child. Next year, in 1942 however, the treasury wants to collect $92 instead in-stead of $43.21 for each man, woman and child. But even that won't pay the defense load. For defense alone, expenditures this year will average $110 per |