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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 1921)
4, TITE SUXDAY OKEGONIAN. TORTLAXD, BfAECIT C, 1021 . . A would have th benefit of the court's ruling In every other taxpayer's con- test. The bureau would be relieved of an immense amount of detail work. Decision would be rendered more promptly (at present 1918 returns are being checked up) and. It is thought, there would be a ble In- crease in efficiency. Another thing: There would be no more compromises on tax problems. Either a tax is due or it is not riii. Radical Revision of Method .Yv.10- I?fi- c"!: of Interpreting Laws Near, ii ZroTZs ?."yrb. tax court would settle that. FEDERAL TAX COURT IS HARDING'S IDEA GREAT PROBLEMS AWAIT SOLUTION President to Work at Once on Legislation Programme. PRESENT LOSS IS C.TED DEFENSE FUND IS SENT Government Declared to Train Ex perts Only to Have Big Cor. poratlons Grab Them. ATTORNEY FOR WOULD CAPTORS PROVIDED. BE Stars and Stripes Circulates Peil 1 Hons Calling for Extradi tion of Rich Evader. i BY HARDEN' COLFAX. ! fCopyrtrht, by The Oreuonian.) I WASHINGTON. D. C March 6. (Special.) President Harding and ' ! his advisers have under considera- ' tion a radical revision of the method j of interpreting the federal tax laws. ! The proposal involves divorcing the ' 1 entire subject from the bureau of in- i ternal revenue and the creation of a new tribunal to be designated the Lnlted States court of internal rev- enue. appeal. . j To that tribunal would be delegated j the task of deciding the numerous J ' disputes between the taxpayers and J the government. The internal rey enue bureau thus would become, pri- 1 marily. a collecting and administra J tive anency. It would be stripped, in j m large measure, of the vast and com plex duties of interpreting the pro ' visions of existing revenue laws and j of the new tax laws when it Is en 1 acted. ! Tax Court la Possible. J The new revenue law, soon to be framed, probably will include pro vision for the creation of the tax 1 court. As proposed, the court would j consist of seven or nine judges. W. W. Warwick, controller of the treas ury, who suggested the idea to for mer Secretary Houston some time ago, proposed that the judges be paid JtfOOO a year each; Judge Warwick's proposal was sub mitted in memorandum form to Sec- j retary Houston several months ago, j but was not acted upon. Recently j the plan came to the attention of j Chairman Fordney of the ways and f means committee, the body which , will frame the new revenue law. Mr. Kordney obtained a copy of the mem J orandum. He was so impressed with j the soundness of the suggestion that he had it sent to all members of the committee, it is understood, and placed it before Mr. Harding at St, Augustine. K . . Harding Favor Indicated. While Mr. Harding's . attitude to ward the proposal has not been de clared, it was generally believed that he favors it and that its adoption in some form is a strong possibility. The new court would accomplish much the eame results in federal tax ation that the present United States court of customs appeals accom plishes in tariff disputes. The tax court, as proposed by Judge War wick, would be modeled largely after the court of customs appeals. In deed. Judge Warwick has even sug gested that the customs court be enlarged from its present member ship of five to seven to permit It to handle both tariff and tax troubles. That, however, is proposed as an alternative to the creation of an In- uepenaeni iax court, tne latter hav ing the preference. With the crea tion of the tax court there would be lifted from the dockets of the federal courts throughout the country ap proximately 1(H)0 cases, it was esti mated, which now help closing con gested calendars and delay the other items. These taxes would bv trans ferred to the tax court. The tax court would lay down general princi ples on disputed points and its rul ings would govern in similar cases Involving parallel questions. Unreal Now Decide Cases. As it Is now, the bureau of Internal revenue decides each case on its own merits, publishing only general ad ministrative regulations once a year and supplementing them from time to time by rulings called, for want of ' a better name, treasury decisions. It thus happens that frequently a tax- payer in a practically parallel situ ation hears nothing o: the decided case and has to go all over the same t ground and may or may not obtain -the same decision. This method of deciding moot tax problems is a necessary evil under the present law which provides for . secrecy in all tax matters. The men jwho administer the law are called upon io exercise the utmost patience ;and industry, often working long and tedious hours to pass upon cases ' which, because of this secrecy, in volve principles previously laid down nd established. Torn-Over Ia Enormous. Because of that situation and the present law the turn-over among competent administrative employes of the bureau during the last four years ., has been enormous. Men who earn from J3000 to $5000 a year pass upon Claims involving hundreds of thou- , eanas or millions of dollars in single . "C8' xney pecome expert in the noirage or tne administrative reg T iwUua anu meir very expertness . me fumrnmeni or their services. ,. A corporation submitting a case ,: involving, say $100,000, to a bureau feirmpiuye earning $4000 a year, is i. pretty likely to be tempted to em ; ploy that man after the decision is rendered in order to submit correct returns next year and avoid losses and penalties. And 60 the employe ; leaves the bureau to accept a salary ; double or three times what he had received from the government; a new -man takes his place and the whole .-. principle has to be studied and as . similated by a new man before he : is competent to make a decision in other cases. It takes from six months ...to a year for the new man to become - an expert, even if he has special apti- tude. Thus a decision is held up, the j "".' ouiiers ana in the end the ; new man is likely to go the way of ; the old to a better-paying position. One Incident Ia Cited. The writer knows of one cas -where an administrative emplove Jleft a $t00 job to take a $25 000 one after a service of little more than t a year. 4 All that, it is thought, would be X corrected by the creation of the tax court. Every taxpayer, in addition. THE OREGONIAN NEWS BUREAU, Washington, D. C, March 5. Three hundred dollars were forwarded to day to Paris post No. 1, the American Legion, Paris, France, as a first in stallment of he sergeants' defense fund being raised by the Stars and Stripes, veterans' newspapers, among ex-ervice men for the defense of Sergeants Frank Zimmer and Carl Naef, veterans of the American expe ditionary forces, who are held in jail ar Baden, Germany, for the attempted kidnaping of Grover C. Bergdoll, no torious millionaire draft-dodger Commander Francis E. Drake of the American Legion In Paris, cabled the Stars and Stripes, accepting its offer to raise a defense fund and pledging the legion post to administer the money. "The cable said that a lawyer nas Deen engagea to aeiena ine ser geants. Drake asked for 4000 francs at once, which is more than covered by today's remittance. The fund ia being raised by donations of $1 each from ex-service men through the sol dier' paper. The Stars and Stripes also started on March 4 at Washington to circu late petitions to President Harding, asking that the full force of this government be placed back of a de- niand that Germany turn the ser geants over to the American army on the Rhine and return Bergdoll to the custody of this country to serve out his sentence. The American Legion recently adorned resolutions to this end, which were laid before Mr. Hard ing In person by Thomas W; Miller of Delaware, member of the legion executive committee, at St. Augustine ten days a. Th trial of Zimmer and Naef was originally set for this week, and no report of trje success of an attempt to postpone it has been received. Frank Zimmer was born is Denver 27 years ago, his parents having come from the Grand Duchy of Luxem bourg. He enlisted in the national guard at Seattle when the Mexican border trouble started, served on the border and again enlisted - in the regular army at Camp Lewis, Wash. When war was declared with Ger many, he served in France fepm. July, 1918. until the close ot the war as supply sergeant with the 361st in fantry on the Belgian front. He re enlisted to serve with the American army on the Rhine, in the military intelligence. Charles Naef was born in Switzer land and his record is incomplete be cause his service record s with the Rhine forces. He served during the war with the 76th field artillery of 3d (Marne) division, and later re enlisted to remain with the army of occupation. He was discharged last July in Coblenz and remained as civilian connected with the American army intelligence system. Both men speak French and German. WILL CONSULT LEADERS Conciliation at All Times Will Be Watchword at White House; Con gressional Harmony Sought. MONEY TEST IS RAISED Immigrants Into Canada Must Show $2 50 to Pass Border. MONTREAL, The money test of immigrants of the mrtisan. or laborer class into Canada has now been raised to -ou, and this amount the applicant for entry must be possessed of in ad dition to full fare to his destination within the country. When an adult emigrant is ac companied by his family he must have in addition $125 for each member under 18 years of age, a.id $50 for each child between the ages of 6 and 18. The new regulations are now in effect along the international boundary. S. & H. green stamps for Ilolman Fuel Co., coal and wood. 353. 560-21 Adv. Read The Oregonian classified BY ROBERT T. SMALL. (Copyright, 1021, by The Oresonian.) WASHINGTON, D. C, March 5. (Special.) Free at last from the formalities of the Inauguration Presi dent Harding purposes during the coming week to arrange the con structive legislative programme by which the early months of his admin istration will be judged. The new president hesitated to express his own wisnts in his inaugural address. In his own language he thought It more becoming that he should postpone any announcements in this respect until he had opportunity to consult with the leaders of congress and could work out with them the Droblem what should and what should not be done. Mr. Harding does not intend at any ime during his administration to coerce congress or to snrine anv sud den recommendation upon the legls- atlve branch with the idea of ar raying pubLic opinion on his side. Conciliation will at all times be th watchword at the White House, and when Mr. Harding desires anvthine of congress he will send for the con gressmen most concerned in the mat ter and reach a working agreement with them before taking the public into his confidence. The new chief executive expects this policy to bring aoout a Detter feeling between the capitol and the White House than has existed for many fears past. In other words. Mr. Harding is passionately desirous of working in complete har mony with congress, and, if there Is any failure in this respect if there can be any failure in the circum stances the fault will rest entirely at the capitol. Appropriation Bills First Winn. A considerable part of Mr. Hard ing's immediate legislative pro gramme was dependent upon the condition- in which the congress Friday ieii me puonc Dusiness. Naturally He ni pe concerned in clearing up, first or all, the two appropriation bills which failed the . navy bill through lack of agreement and the army bill through the veto of Wood row Wilson. The new session of con gress, according to indications, will be called April 4. During the inter vening four weeks the president be lieves he can adjust matters so that these two bills will be disposed of easily when congress resumes. It is not the .present purpose of Mr. Harding to burden the extra session of congress with a heavy programme. If all goes well, it is the general as sumption that the extra session will have adjourned by the loth of July. With machinery working smoothly, it is expected that three months and a half of the extra session should suffice. Legislative Programme Outlined. This is the legislative programme the president will suggest to the congressional directors: First The passage of the amplified Knox resolution declaring peace with Germany and Austria, carrying with it the resumption of friendly and dip lomatic relations with the peoples, of th former central empire. Second The passage of an emer gency tariff mil, oasea largely upon the . Fordney bill, which congress failed to pass over Mr. Wilson's veto. The emergency bill may be the only tariff measure passed at the special session, the general tanrf revision waiting for the regular session be ginning next December. Third A general tax revision, look- ng to the lightening of the present tax burdens. Mr. Harding has given much thought to the subject of tax ation during the last three months, but has reached no conclusions in his own mind as to just what should be done. He expects to formulate a policy within three or four weeks, fter his own cabinet shall have be ads, gun to function and after the needs of the government have been can vassed. T. . " " apparent now that the new tariff law will do but little to lighten me tax burden of the people at large. Mr. Harding' has promised that gov. eminent expenditures will be cut to tne Done, nut the best efforts of con gress in this direction thus far, have not brought about the possibility of .n....8 me ouraen or taxation to the exieni tne people have expected. i-ourtn it will rest largely with the congressional direction as to wnetner or not there shall be a re enactment of the immigration bill, which Mr. Wilson allowed to die without approval. This measure, de signed to restrict the entry of aliens into the country for a period of vears. was passed by an overwhelming vote in congress, but Mr. Wilson did not approve of jt and was enabled to give it a death blow in the last moments oi tne session. Mr. Harding would approve the measure if enacted dur ing his administration. President Harding is committed to many more undertakings, but he does not intend to burden the extra session with all of the policies promised by his adminstration. His plans for an association of na tions, for Instance, will not be ready for the extra session. The president is waiting to learn what the reaction has been throughout Europe, includ ing Germany, before a definite cast mg aside of the existing league of nations. It will be his purpose dur Ing the next few months to discover through diplomatic channels whether o. not the nations of Europe desire to abandon the "alliances" of the exist ing league In favor of an association 'for conference and counsel " in which the United States would be a member. The nations of the world would be invited further to a confer ence initiated by the United States, looking to an approximate disarma ment of the avorld and to the estab lishment of an international court vhich might be permitted to decide disputes of a justiciable character, but which have nothing to do with matter of national honor or vital im port. ' Mr. Harding will endeavor, as time and conditions permit, to carry out the other definite promises of his ad ministration, which Include: The repeal of the pan-American canal tolls bill and the granting of free use of the isthmian waterway to American vessels, despite the claim that such action would violate a treaty with Great Britain. The upbuilding of the American merchant marine so as to enhance the foreign trade of the United States. 1 The reorganization of the govern ment departments, Including the amalgamation of the naval, military and air services under a single head to be known as the secretary of na tional defense. The establishment of Liberty and Victory bonds on a new basis which would make them worth "all that pa triotic citizens paid in purchasing them." The stamping out of lynching by the federal government so as "to re move this stain from the fair name of America." The enforcement of the 18th. or prohibition, amendment to the full xtent of the law. The clearing out of the federal de partments in Washington "so that they may be made more businesslike and may send back to productive effort thousands of federal employes who arc either duplicating work or are not essential at all." The enactment of legislation which will guarantee to the negro citizen of America the enjoyment of all their rights. "I believe." said Mr. Harding In this connection, "that they have earned the full measure of citizen ship bestowed; that their sacrifices in blood on the battlefields of the republic have entitled them to all of freedom and opportunity, all of sym pathy and aid that the American spirit of fairness and Justice de mands." Mexico nnd Japan Are Worries.' Mr. Harding faces also the task of recognizing or repudiating the pres ent government of Mexico. He Is surrounded by several public officials who believe In a strong policy toward Mexico, and his decisions in Mexican matters are awaited with unusual Interest. Mr. Harding must deal sooner or later with the vexatious Japanese question. He believes it far more pressing than any entrance of Amer ica into an association of nat'on.i, and undoubtedly will ask Secretary of State Hughes to give his moat earnest consideration to the matter. Mr. Harding, it may be stated in conclusion, w'll not rush to any hasty decisions. He believes in making haste, slowly and establishing his po sition firmly as he goes along. As he goes further and further into the pres'dency he will find the tasks which confront him almost over, whelming. Lodge Honors Harding. WATERBURV. Conn., March 5. President Harding was elected to membership in the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, an order to which Masons alone are eligible, last nignt. Colony Cables Greetings. CONSTANTINOPLE. March 4. Sev eral hundred members of the Ameri can colony today cabled a message of felicitation to President Harding. There are few, if any, who do not regard this photoplay as the best they have seen since the com mencement of motion pictures, therefore' it is hut natural that cash. Main 1 ANNOUNCEMENT. we taKe pleasure in an- j nouncing a beautiful display I of Grand pianos this month. ! We have every 6ize from j the miniature to the Concert I Grand. Prices range from ?S45 and up. I Convenient payments ar- f ranged. IjllllllllllllllllllllllllllllliMllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllL' The Diamond You Buy at ARONSON'S . Is Worth What You Pay ,We sell diamonds for less simply because we have the facilities and the resources for buying them for less. When you own a diamond bought here, you own a safe and sensible investment. CALL IN AND LET US SHOW YOU SOME OF THE FINE STONES IN OUR COLLECTION ARONSON'S Washington at Broadway 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 m 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 m 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 n m u 1 1 n 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 n"i r I t,T-,,.-,,-;-r,,i . r: i. i i... -i r - 1 t ---i P PUhl C KnW' H G0d ShWS Li - a iW mlmSM tvSrsi. H First National SlvPf II Attraction WMC V i n il inKAJrL. I human 71 I MFTHTf TT TT7S! TT7T7 I I . 1 ml I I O 1 J i 1 and his big six-act comedy that reaches the heart Avdth its appeal TH99 mil have to he held over a few more days! Come in early, as the stay is limited ! liji 1 1 im 1 1 1 in i im ii ; ii i ii 1 1 iimii 1 1 1 im in m lim nl ii ni III 1 1 1 ! tli III illti t inTTTTrrrrr- Overstuffed Living Room Pieces FROM OUR OWN WORKROOMS Handsome Single Pieces in Brown Mahogany A All at Moderate Prices ' J. G. Mack & Co. 150 Park St., Bet. Alder and Morrison n MATES' CONCERT On Our Mighty Voiced Wurlitzer March, "Washington Post" Sousa , "Cavatina" Raff "Serenata" Moskowski Selected Songs -"The Princess Pat," Selec tion . . : Victor Herbert TODAY AT 12:30 ALSO SCE1VTC "THE ISLE OF DESIRE" COJTEDV "THE SKBPPER'S SCHEME It's a Teonervllle LIBERTY NEWS EVENTS TOLD IN MOTION MONTE AUSTIN Popular Sons. v;. C J1rchiWi sf PTsril Oby iitiiiiiiiiiiiiiilliiiihlli;.iilliili!llMllllihllilillillllllllMlilllliiimilllllilinl I .1 IMksl ssbM 1 L 3 C