Show a rw washington president roosevelt addressed a letter to chairman stuart rice of the too many central statistical reports board the other day in which he asked in effect why there is need for so many official reports from individuals divi duals and corporations engaged in business the presidents letter indicated a feeling that if there are so many reports as complaints have disclosed something ought to be done about abou tit it it is now mr rices job to find out when and where and why concerning these floods of reports which government demands but how about me finding out too I 1 thought though tl I 1 started on the job like a bird dog through the bush it did not take long for me to realize that I 1 had set myself to a task that is likely to occupy mr rice and his staff of several hundred perhaps a year to assemble an answer I 1 learned a lot of things however and that is the reason I 1 am writing about official reports at this time speaking generally at first I 1 can say that never in all history has there existed a condition such as business men and women now face and of course within the last few years farmers have had to make out reports too the reason for the statement that the condition is worse now is that the situation represents a growth year after year generation after generation succeeding presidents and succeeding congresses have added to the functions of the national government government has gone into new fields taken on new obligations new commitments increased its scope of regulation of this and that and the other As these functions have increased more and more reports have been ordered and required more facts have been needed and in addition bureaucrats have relegated to themselves additional and unanticipated powers no now w what we have is a tangled mess a slimy octopus whose tentacles reach into every corner and nook and cranny cd the nation before considering some of the horrible details which are horrible only because they are so general in application it seems to me we can well consider who is responsible I 1 mentioned above how succeeding presidents and congresses have expanded the functions of government those presidents and members of the congresses were elected by the voters the campaigns in nearly every instance included har ran guing for establishment of some new agency passage of some law to drive money changers out of the temple to prevent grinding the little fellow the poor into the earth to regulate monopolistic business to care for the aged after their lives of useful work had been spent to collect new taxes here and there to assure the agricultural community a parity price for its products a thousand and one things were campaigned for or against so the people voted and elected a president or a senator or a representative they also elected a governor and the various officials of their state wherein a legislature operated as does congress for the country it has not mattered therefore whether there has been a democrat or a republican in the white houses house except in the matter of degree to which the new laws have been enacted the growth has gone on just the same every time a politician conceived an idea to get votes he campaigned on it and a new law resulted with the new law came another deluge of official reports in a general way therefore the voters must accept some responsibility but the chief responsibility must rest with members of the house and senate and the various presidents who have served in their turn why because no one can be expected to understand fully this gigantic machine called government unless that person has had an opportunity port unity to study the machine the layman has not had that chance presidents and congresses have had the chance a a a to get down to the details that is to relate some of the incidents which had become the consumer known to the pres pays pay ident and which resulted in his letter to mr rice we might begin with taxes the head of a dairy company which operates in three states reported to his stockholders lately that in one year his firm had been compelled to make and file a total of separate tax reports that company maintained a staff tor for the sole purpose of handling the various reports that had to go to the federal government the governments of the states in which the company operated and the cities where n milk alk and dairy products were sold having such a staff the company knew exactly what i it t cost a year it should be added that the cost of these reports necessarily be became ame a part of the compa nys overhead and the overhead ex pense enters directly into the cost of the dairy products for which the consumer pays it could easily result in an increase of one cent per bottle for the milk served to its customers it takes no stretch of the imagination to conceive what the cost is for a large corporation to handle its official reports to various agencies of the national state and local governments if that corporation operates say over half of the united states the expense runs into millions upon millions of dollars annually who pays you and I 1 the consumers I 1 have not had access to all of the records required by the department of agriculture because many of them are confidential but I 1 believe it is safe to say that some fifty odd reports have to be made respecting every farmer who has signed up in compliance with the crop control laws and the land conservation program I 1 think the farmer directly involved has from eight to ten of these reports and official documents the county committee which inspects and reports on him has others the county agent has still more reports to make all still involving this one farmer but including others as welland well r and these are followed by regional and national reports until all totals are entered here in washington or at the risk of being too personal in dealing with a national problem I 1 might cite my own experiences perien ces mine is what is ii called a one man office that is to say with the aid of a secretary I 1 must run my own little business but even as inconsequential as that office is consider this situation I 1 must file an income tax return annually that return must include an extra statement which covers a general out outline laine of my meager income and the expenses of my office I 1 must pay ten dollars a year for a license which gives me the privilege of writing to earn my living but I 1 must file a report before I 1 get that license in the district of columbia twice a year I 1 must file a L report of my gross return from my work in the district of columbia and pay a tax on that income each month I 1 have to file a report to the district of columbia employment board showing how much I 1 pay my secretary how many hours a week she works and pay a tax which theoretically is saved up and paid to her in case she is unemployed each month also I 1 am required to file a report with the united states social security board giving the same information and pay another unemployment tax and each three months I 1 am required to file another report with the social security board which seems to bea report showing that the monthly reports are correct 0 a 4 it has been my good fortune to have gained a legal education by virtue of four long years of night the use school so I 1 have not had to hire a lawyer to help me with my reports they have been comparatively sim simple generally gener aUy but that is not the case with a larger business lawyers however would be no help in the circumstance that I 1 am now about to relate A young lady who had served as my secretary several years left my service when I 1 filed the last monthly report for her name and paid the tax I 1 attached a letter explaining that she was leaving and that there would be no further reports in her name as far as I 1 was concerned the letter was written in the hope that the file would be complete this incident happened last october in march 1938 1 I received a notice from the board advising me that I 1 had not paid the tax on the salary of the lady in question for the month of february 1938 not a word about the other months from october to february and if I 1 pay said the notice there were penalties court proceedings etc yes you guessed itt it I 1 threw thai that notice into the waste basket two months later I 1 had the honor to be visited by an inspector he was courteous and gentlemanly but firm I 1 must pay the tax not tor for february but for december you can let your own imagination run high wide vide and handsome about the results of that visit well I 1 merely bring out those facts because they show the need for the voters of the country to take some action on their own and quit following blindly the demagoguery of the politicians previously in this column I 1 have written about several corporations which after filing several thousand reports have had inspectors visit them to see whether they were complying with the law since that time one of the business men about who whom m I 1 wrote originally has told me that other inspectors have come to see whether the first crew had complied with the law in making investigations 0 western newspaper union |