Show Bonus Bill Blocked By a vote of 47 to 29 the senate sent the soldiers' soldiers bonus bill back to the finance committee In accordance with the wish of President Harding who has done no more courageous thing than to come out in the open open and ask postponement says the Salt tt Lake Tribune Those who hav have a. a at was as intended to oppose the bonus bonus- be j be-j Jle e the the- president would havo hayo strengthened himself and bj bb t post 1 I tion if he had flatly opposed the bill bUl billon billon on grounds of policy rather than I merely to have asked for postponement postpone- postpone I went ment but in any event U tl has bean bean I Ithe the request of the president which which I resulted in preventing the passage passage t J of the bill through congress at this I I time and the president has announced l ed t that at he stands ready to take full fall responsibility for blocking this legis legis- lation laUon He displayed more nerve legiS-I legiS than the majority of senators and mem- mem members mem mem-j bers In d doing what he did and in- in incidentally he to took k from their t shoulders the responsibility of doing doing I what they ther lacked the nerve to do I The manner in which the president and the secretary of the treasury treasury I held held up up the soldier bonus bill whether I er en so intended dad or not is bound lore lore- tore tore-I. suit sul t in a careful consideration of oC this tills measure by bythe the country at large large The president and Secretary Mellon I have drawn attention to the trem 1 n-I n dous does cost which lies back of this bill i and they ther have emphasized the fact fact I I that no one at this time can give even evena a reasonable estimate te of ho hov v much much the bonus would cost The lowest estimate es- es I es-I ever made was l the American Legion legislative legislative I committee made an estimate i I higher than this but the the i I secretary of the treasury showed that this bill bUl if enacted would entail an expenditure In the inthe the end of probably not less than and that it might cost In excess of 5 5 j jAny Any legislation which Is going to impose Impose-a a charge of to j I on 01 the federal treas treas- 1 ur ury ulY a k a tb tim when the cost of gov- gov i is higher than ever before in it icy history and when taxes are hi b r- r bau ever before necessarily must musA be e followed by the Q additional 1 taxes or else the Issuance Issuance- Oj Q new government bonds wh h could only be floated in arge large arge volume vol ume utne at a rate of interest high higher than flag that carried by Liberty bonds tested during the war As the sQ secretary of the treasury showed th the issuance of new bonds to meet the coat of the soldier bonus would further e depreciate depre elate cinte the price of Liberty bonds and such a depreciation would be felt felt according to treasury treasury t department statistics by more mare than II I I American citizens several cItIzens several times the number who would be through the payment payment-of of a n cash bonus The postponement of the bonus legislation now gives congress an ant to enact a new tariff lawand law lawand I and to revise the tax laws and to get those revisions in operation before I It again gives consideration to the I 1 bonus Until the new tariff and the new tax laws become operative the the I American citizen will not know whether the burden burden I upon him Is going to be Increased or diminished He cannot tell from fromI I 1 the debates now going on In congress congress congress' I for contentions are made both ways During the last campaign the R Republicans pub promised to reduce taxation Now that the they are in charge of the the government and find the heavy financial fi- fi j fi-j burdens which must be met there there- are many an among them fair fair- i minded enough to say at this early day da ay that they ther do not see how taxes can an be reduced at least at this time It Is possible that through the rewriting re rewriting rewriting re- re writing of the tax laws the burden may Ilia be readjusted so as to fall tall more lightly upon the average citizen but no tax program whatever has been shaped as yet and until It is there will be no wa way of telling how burdensome burdensome burdensome bur bur- the taxes of the future are areto areto areto to be |