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Show 4 v . A i0m -Aloft Interpreted JJ WMM'.k1 v V ;:r' by William Bruckart rani ment and then the states put their levies on. The result is that In many states the tax on cigarettes amounts to more than the selling price of the package would be If no tax were laid. Twenty-nine states now collect taxes on incomes of individuals or corporations, nnd twenty-six of them collect a tax from both. These taxes, of course, are aside from the high rates imposed by congress under un-der federal income tax laws. These matters naturally constitute consti-tute subjects for serious Investigation. Investiga-tion. It is the only way by which congress can inform itself and determine de-termine a policy. Such, however, unfortunately cannot be said about most of the other Investigations that are running through the summer sum-mer and fall. rossTwk a for-i for-i j """'"ml a few weeks ago, Si J"1"" but I found in roaming about halty tie Gipltol nnd fofflt s01Kte and house s tV other day, that there eleven of its com- miu" in session, and S eleven of them i investigations. It ;:;;"00lyafew members of remain In attend- 4;'oti.ers are 0Ut iml,n,S"-lectlofr-but. even so, It '4 -pre is going to be an ex-1 ex-1 :'; amount of searching J.; of mudsllnBlng. through '."0 ie sumnicr JVe autumn. H'lW infallible In my -J . h conclusions, I must Policies of the last several administrations ad-ministrations In Washington have presented many U. S. Greatest puzzling things, Landlord nnd some of tllGm move one to inquire in-quire where It all will end. For example, the Farm Credit administrationthe adminis-trationthe FCA of the alphabetical alphabet-ical soup released a statement to the press the other day to the effect ef-fect that the twelve federal land banks now own outright 22.07S farms and almost own thousands of others on which the loans are In virtual default. I think it can be said, therefore, that Uncle Sam has become the greatest landlord in the world. While the Information Is more or less startling that the federal government, through one of Its multifarious agencies, now owns so much farm land, the fact gives only an inkling of what has happened in others of the various agencies through which it acts. As I said, one can hardly help Inquiring where it all will end. I make no attempt to controvert the policy of federal loans on farm lands or homes ; I only can pause and wonder what the future holds If the course is continued. The farm loan banks have a total of $82,039,000 tied up In those farms which they hold. The only way that money can be withdrawn is by sale of the lands. If they are sold, the chances are new mortgages mort-gages in varying amounts will have to be placed on them because most buyers are not In a position to pay the whole sum In cash. Some of them again will default, and the government agency again will own the land.- All of which Is by way of saying that the idealist who wails and gnashes his teeth about the terrible brute who forecloses has not yet solved the problem of saving homes that were bought on a margin of cash that was too narrow, nar-row, or a home that was bought by an Individual who ran Into hard luck. The point of It Is that .the federal fed-eral government Is dabbling into everything. It Is going beyond what government ought to do. if. .. i can see a valid rea-one, rea-one, Just a single one, N'vea investigations. The i l Bans committee of the A fs started out to do some rt of the federal t:,xation T 1Dd everywhere I have ':.ivi found approval of the Of .re can be no doubt of a H; t'at survey, provided the k;rs'will accept the results !e" riio examined the facts, M the American, taxation sys- b national and state, surely 1 hit-or-miss type. ...fre is another significance 3 :as Inquiry. I reported to Wly that it was going to Havers a total of almost "fk a year in Interest on B debt of the national gov-!: gov-!: t when that debt reaches r i n(i 1,000,000 which President L i has announced it will j" Since that information was r fill, further inquiries con-itlie con-itlie debt easily may reach -i.Vi,0OO by the winter of v '. and the interest alone will frf-spondingly more. This is Ilia Interest, mind you, and do provision for retirement nj of the debt, which would :,(: take extra tax dollars. (lie national debt Is so i Mil going higher and the nys and means committee " king such an Intensive study las system, one can not fail ill Ike two together. The obvl- f?f ion Is: is the administra-' oming concerned over the m of funds to pay the huge fafebt Incurred in spending our lit of the depression? I'Wrrently with the house cornel corn-el study, Secretary Morgen-t Morgen-t jf the treasury, announced the i'itaent of another brain-trust i ! to study tax questions for ':iMr. Morgenthau holds that ''ji system Is full of holes, undoubtedly It Is, and he feels le general method should be jjjped so that the flow of rev-not rev-not be so dependent upon :-ius economic conditions. To tni, the secretary sent part ,.ID'jmber of professors and tax ' It ielccted by him over to Eng-ir Eng-ir a study of British taxation pis. British taxes apparently higher than ours, and Mr. Atlmu Is desirous of finding "I the British government gets ;ith it. Me hears around Washington " deal of discussion of what ""re holds in the way of tax I'M the rank and file. Mr. plt said in his latest radio J to the country, it will be re-that re-that relief was his first .iteration, that vast sums had tailed for relief and that vnst sums will bo expend-F expend-F of" which leads back to the "'"a I made above, namely, ; J cannot help linking these ; 1 studies together with an ' of fear that, perhaps, J spending too much money. discussing the tax investi-pK-over, it would be unfair ,, to omit reference 7lH t0 "e feature of 'OnEvil tlle house com-li com-li . mittee investiga- 1 ' m told by real tax au-'lL au-'lL "Q be ot much value. ! muiittee "'as instruct- 1 Into the double taxation to P? the C0llnt'-y- Is r! 7'VOne' of cone, that Jthj ccs and things upon :lhhv eovernme.it lev-i lev-i ?Ud Ulat these taxes '.'C - "es by the states. ; tn ,v i,Vt co""ittee in-, in-, St"liKht how often, A l' son of thing is imp. 'S'6 f double taxation, e t70,'m,'On '"rations rJ "Jicate how severely Mi V ;U,,S' the tax .t lun ' ' Tl18 fcderal ;'t;irs 8 tax on gasoline II, "0' nd that tax nl- levj,,s , , adllitin to the .fate Vilch n,n ns high in Jlth i7,0r Scents a gallon, borne that com- a IT "s m,ldl as 10 or onct '"nf 'n Some p,:lc(ls-:- hut T tM 13 nnotl,er ex-Bfst ex-Bfst h, .1 eomiodity was 0y the federal govern- When one examines the whole picture respecting government and its scope thes-e Astounding days, It is rather Picture ustounding. For riciure lnstance, the Reconstruction Re-construction Finance corporation announced the other day that it was willing to help the Baltimore & Ohio railroad refinance its maturing ma-turing bonds. I do not know what the outcome will be, but it seems to me that refinancing of a railroad by use of government credit is hardly a function of government. The Reconstruction Finance corporation cor-poration is making loans continually. continual-ly. It has loaned money to, or has bought stock in nearly 4,500 banks. Proponents of this policy contend soundly enough that unless those loans had been made, the banks which obtained them would have gone on the rooks nnd tho depositors depos-itors would have suffered. Rut I am still wondering if it is the proper prop-er function of government to protect pro-tect private activities to the extent of guaranteeing out of the public funds that I shall get my money back on any old Investment or what not Into which I have put It. Some way, I am Inclined to fool that government, gov-ernment, ns such, ought not be dabbling dab-bling into tilings where It is required re-quired to insure that people will not be foolish or crooked. And there are going to be more loans made. The last congress cn-ncted cn-ncted a law providing for loans to industry, the so called small Industries Indus-tries loan legislation, It was called. Business leaders and bankers tell me that the government Is going to find Itself owning a lot of business wrecks through (hose loans. Tho bankers say that If a business has a chance to survive, which means it can pay expenses, It can get money at ordinary banking bouses. If the government is going to make loans only to those unable to get bank loans, the conviction I hear most often expressed is that the government had better set up another an-other agency from which it can send supervisors or genera! managers man-agers nil over tho country to run the property it eventually will own. by Western Newspaper Union. |