AMERICAN REVENUE BILL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21599, 21 March 1932, Page 7

AMERICAN REVENUE BILL

THE PROPOSED SALES TAX . ADDITIONAL EXEMPTIONS. WASHINGTON, March 19. (Received March 20, at 9 p.m.) After the House had adjourned in wild disorder on Saturday the Ways and Means Committee agreed to exempt a group of additional foodstuffs from the sales tax provisions in an effort to gather new support for the Revenue Bill. ’ The House adjourned after the opponents to the sales tax had again “bowled over” the party leaders on the major issue of the Bill. The acting chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, the sponsor of the Bill, told the House that it was in no proper frame of mind to legislate, and needed time to cool off.

Representative Rainey, the Democratic leader, went into the well of the House and urged members to keep order and support the Bill in the interest of the country. He concluded with the assertion, however, that it would be necessary to' adjourn the House to bring it to a realisation of what it was doing. “This House, I realise, is a runaway House,” ho added. It had made a long step towards Communism in levying high surtaxes on Friday. “ Fail to balance the Budget and you will make all those expenditures for reconstruction absolutely useless. There is only one worse step you can take than to impose excessive income taxes and that is the step they took in Russia to eliminate wealth.”