Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY JOSEPH W labine little taxpayer not relieved by current revision program higher levies seen next year EDITOR EDITORS S NOTE when opinions are expressed in these columns are those of the news analyst and nol not necessarily of this newspaper 1 released by western newspaper union TAXATION relief in retrenching 1939 many states have cut the r budgets and many a congressman has preached econ omy but john public has yet to stee see his taxes cut indeed the mill run U S investor holding tax exempt securities will be lucky if such exemptions are not outlawed next year reasons for neglecting john public are 1 his taxes can not be cut without adding to big business burden 2 big business busine Ss far from accepting such a burd burden en has good reason to protest its pres ent tax status the only apparent solution federal economy will go by the boards this year as U S expenditures for 1939 40 top the 1938 39 budget by approximately 1000 1 four probable points of the cur rent session sessions s tax revision program are 1 re enactment reenactment of nui sance levies expiring june 30 2 repeal of the undistributed profits tax and substitution of a flat 18 per cent levy on corporations with in comes above 25 a year 3 de of net business losses from A ilk an SENATOR CLARK CAA aas flying too high profits of three future years instead of one year as at present and 4 revaluation of capital stock every year instead of every three years probable net result mere fling of big business burden and maintenance of present federal ex tures a situation which today brings complaints like the following anent taxes to the american petroleum institute standard oil of indiana reported it employed 30 people in 1938 meanwhile paying 97 in taxes this was enough to pay 48 U S em a salary of 2 each standard oil s complaint A busi ness operated by 30 work ers is called upon to support even more persons performing functions of government anent expenditures democratic hopeful bennett champ dark clark mid die dle grounder claims the one year old civil aeronautics authority al ready has a payroll exceeding the 52 year old interstate commerce commission which regulates the na tion s entire railroad system F fur ur thedmore ther more to drive home his plea for retrenchment senator dark clark found CAA has more employees drawing federal pay than are em ern aloyed by all the U S commercial airlines which it regulates RELIEF recommendation I 1 cat L at indianapolis a mr stinger his us wife and nine children live in three rooms of an old butcher shop so rat infested he and a two year old baby have been bitten although ill mr stinger must stay awake nights to shoo off the rats 41 in texas counties rel relievers relie lefers fers et no aid other than federal sur lus commodities and in one state food grants grant are one fifth the mini mum standard food budget pre by the U S department of ign culture 41 ohio s experimenting badly pes legislature has passed 82 re lief bills since january 1931 yel yet still has trouble C monthly food grants for relief vary greatly with the states afulu ency including atlanta ga 6 70 per month new york 30 97 mis sis sippi 2 91 california 30 97 ar kansas 4 82 this startling picture of U S re lief conditions was offered the house appropriations sub committee as it began considering a 1 1477 budgetary request for 1939 40 the report came from the american As of relief workers which reviewed conditions in 35 states and two territories hawaii and puerto rico principal recommendation was that federal grants in aid to states be continued as the only means of achieving a uniform and adequate system in a 4 nation where relievers relie fers would otherwise prosper or starve depending on their state s wealth agriculture cotton conference forgotten fact by most critics of the new deal s agriculture program is that international wheat and cot ton production has raised bremen bously the past 15 years closing the door against export of s surpluses U without expensive government sub sidles though regulated production produces a vicious artificial circle which upsets all natural commod ity price levels the blunt facts are that even with restricted planting in the U S 1938 1933 world wheat pro set a new record of irately 4 bushels while U S cation cotton exports are currently at their lowest level in 60 years one possible solution is a world wide operative cooperative co scheme already underway are negotiations for a formal wheat conference at london to draft an international agreement authorizing export quotas and eliminating price cutting tactics facilitated by government subsidies with 14 bales of old amen amerl can cotton on hand when the cur rent harvest starts and with the price to growers at 8 50 cents a bale compared with the agriculture de apartment part ment s fair price estimate of 15 6 cents a world wide cotton agreement is also in the offing next september 5 representatives of 10 cotton producing nations will maet in washington for an exploratory conference which may pave the way for export quotas cooperating co operating na eions argentina brazil egypt ind a mexico peru sudan soviet russia france and great britain the latter two for their cotton ex porting colonies significantly ab sent from the list is japan whose new cotton plantations in china are wiping out another big U S ex port market ASIA mongol buffers puppet buffer states are handy weapons for nations which want to fight without going to war other nations use them for shock pur poses to bear the brunt of an at tack which might otherwise hit close to home for 15 years both japan and russia have used the once glorious mongols of geegh s kahn MONGOLIAN mongolians MONGO LIANS REPUBLIC RUSS LAKE BOR CENTER OF INNER MONGOLIA JAP controlled t CHINA RUSSIAN JAP CLASH they II 11 risk other peoples borders as buffers against the ja jap p russ war which has actually been waging in asia for the past seven years un der soviet tutorship has grown the outer ma mongolian republic under japan a puppet ruler leads inner Mong gongolfa Mon golfa olra A sample of how such buffer na eions can work was reported re bently from tokyo in the lake bor region south of manchuk Man chuli jap anese troops reported 1000 1 soviet trained outer mongolian soldiers charged jap positions while russian fighting planes soared overhead always victon victori ous by her own reports japan claimed 42 of the soviet planes were downed still unnoticed as it has been since 1932 the russian japanese war has probably reached an even more se rious stage than last year s chang yufeng hill incident reason ac centers oil the mongolian iron fron tiers both japs and russians dis like to risk direct border incidents of their own but will be less squeamish about locking horns in mongolia ARMY recruits not since the world war has uncle sam gone out of his way to solicit new blood for the army re gional dional recruiting officers took what came their way yet had no trouble maintaining a small peacetime force now underway is a high pressure campaign to recruit or reenlist re enlist men during the next 12 months necessitated by replace ment and expansion needs of the air corps and other branches of the service weapons include 18 recruiting sta fagons on wheels slogans posters notion pictures and the radio big bi g gest problem lern to reach boys in i n the country as well as in cities since better as well as more men are the prime objective largest single expansion is a prospective increase of 25 men in the air corps 17 of whom the army hopes will have a high school education to qualify them for aviation mechanic posts BUSINESS middleman favorite butt of pro chain store and pro co operative movements has been the wholesaler who in kopul popular ar notion is excess baggage in the U S distribution system if the middle man could be eliminated many be lieve a bar of soap or pound of cof cot fee would cost john public bially less to test this theory new york yorks s twentieth century fund broke down the 38 which U S con sumers paid in distribution costs for their merchandise during the peak year of 1929 individual figures and percentages of the distribute distri but on cost wholesalers 18 13 7 retailers 33 12 manufacturers 24 9 transportation 23 8 miscellaneous 2 1000 1 basic conclusions were that whole salers did not earn excessive profits in 1929 groceries 13 1 3 per cent con 2 2 per cent dry ory goods 2 7 per cent and that they remain an essential link in the distribution machine NAVY statistics significant and fearsome is a U S peacetime naval construction pro gram bigger than any in history with a building ampro pria tion on its hands with 74 ves sels already underway and with 23 new contracts about to be let the fleet s current status is something like this type 0 of I 1 in corn under con Ap vessel vesse 1 miss on st ruction abed for battleships 15 or 6 2 heavy cru sers 17 1 0 light cruisers 17 6 2 aircraft carriers 5 2 0 destroyers 35 8 submarines 87 12 8 aux I 1 ary 12 3 primary emphasis in the new pro gram will be on capital ships 15 such battlewagons already being in service ti on the way are two more the 35 ton north carolina and washington about to be started are the south dakota indiana massa chu and alabama two more 45 bonners and larger than any thing afloat will be started under current appropriations none of the eight battleships will be ready be fore 1945 or 1946 |