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Show HOUSE DEBATES WAR HID BILL Will Pass Seven Billion Dollar Dol-lar War Revenue Measure . Unanimously. SPEECHES APPLAUDED Full Adoption of Broad Fea- , tures of the Administration Plan Urged. WASHINGTON, April 14. Passage before night of the seven billion dollar dol-lar war revenue bill by the house by an almost unanimous vote was assured as-sured today. The measure was taken up in the house at 11 o'clock this morning under an agreement to begin discussion of amendments under the five minute rule. General debate closed last night. Voting on the bill itself was to begin early this afternoon. An amendment was added to limit specifically distribution of the proposed pro-posed 33,000,000 foreign loan, which the bill would authorize to countries actually at war with Germany and only during hostilities. An amend-ment amend-ment by Representative Shackleford to levy an. additional Income tax with a view to preventing any net income of over $50,000 annually to any person per-son was ruled out of order on oblec- tion by Democratic Leader Kitchin. A proposal by Representative Towner of Iowa, to eliminate the proposed pro-posed $3,000,000,000 loan to the allies was eliminated also. Speeches Are Applauded. Speeches by Republican Leader Mann and Representatives Ralney of Illinois, Fitzgerald of New York, and Gardner of Massachusetts, urging full adoption of the broad features of the administration's plan were applauded. Towner explained he did not think power should be vested in the secretary secre-tary of the treasury and the president alone to manage the loan without more assistance from congress. Ho declared he was not opposed to the proposejLloan itself. SupportersTof the bill however, saw in the result of the vote on Towners proposal a test of their strength and they attaoked it with fervid and patriotic pa-triotic argument. French Precedent Quoted. "France, 140 years ago, when our credit was gone," declared Representative Repre-sentative Rainey, amid applause, "loaned us millions and millions with- to do Is to pass this bill and pass It quickly and say to the world that we propose to help our friends and to do It quickly." Representative Fitzgerald aroused great enthusiasm by declaring he favored making the loan at once, not because of a desire to help anoth. er nation but to help maintain the rights of the United States. "Whatever we may owe to France is not enough to justify our entering enter-ing this war," he said. "We have been dragged Into this war by another natlon'B violation of our rights. I have no sympathy with the statement that wo may or may not get our money back. We ma)-, or we may not, but that is of no difference." Money Chief Asset. Money being the only aid that this country can now give the allies, Representative Rep-resentative Mann declared, it should not be denied them. "We are not prepared," he said, "to place men In the field. We are not prepared to do much with our navy, not because we have no navy, but because of lack of an opportunity to use it. But there is one way we can engage in the war. That is to help finance those who are fighting our enemies. "This proposed apporprlation 1b for $3,000,000,000. I doubt not that before be-fore a year that amount will be doubled. dou-bled. Let us hope that we can end this war by oxtending our credit. Oil highest duty is to give aid to those who are fighting our enemies. I hope and pray that aid thus given will be effectual enough to end the war before be-fore we send our boys into the trenches." Neutrals Excluded From Loan. Several amendments, including two by Representative Lcnroot, to exclude neutrals from the loan and mako its tenure the duration of the war were accepted by the ways and means committee. com-mittee. Representative Madden of Illinois said he did not care whether the $3,-000,000,000 $3,-000,000,000 loaned the allies was paid back or not, that the United States is not prepared to send men now and tho loan was the only way in which the Unitod StateB could act promptly and effectively at this time. "For God's sake, let's get into action!" ac-tion!" he cried, "either through tho armies now in the field, or in our own army and everybody knows we can't get an adequate army for a year. Time for talk is past and the time for action Is here." Thero was much opposition to a proposal by Representative Moore of Pennsylvania, to limit the maturity of the issue. All tho leaders spoke for leaving that to the discretion of the president or the treasury department. Representative Montague of Virginia, Vir-ginia, Democrat, said he hoped that in the present exigencies the debt of gratitude America owes to Ftance In tho days of America's weakness, should not be forgotten in the days of America's strength. He had hoped, ho said, that when France Bhould reach, as she has reached today, her extremities, ex-tremities, that Amorica would unanimously unani-mously show her gratitude. France, he said, had given America assistance that assured American indppendenoo. |