1021 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



News from the National Capital 



Officials of the I)i')j;irtiMfiil ol' Ccimiiicrce :nicl of the Depart Tiirnt 

 of Justice liave licld a confereiico on tlie question of the regiilatioii 

 of trade associations, looking to the formulation of a policy which 

 will harmonize the desire of the Department of Commerce to j)ro- 

 mote trade on the one hand and the desire of the Department of 

 Justice to suppress monoiiolies. It is stated that |)rogrcss was made 

 at the discussion and that some policy is likely to lie announced 

 within a w-eek or two. 



* ^^ * * * » 



Furtlier lu'arings on the wood and metals schedules will lie held 

 by the Ways and Means Committee during the week of August 22, 

 has been announced. The Finance Committee will require exa.ct cal- 

 culations on the amount to be paid under each of the ad valorem 

 rates of the Pordney tariff bill, on the basis of American valua- 

 tion, before passing upon any of the rates. Senator Penrose an- 

 nounce<i. This statement was taken to mean that practically all 

 the rates carried in the bill will be changed by the Finance Com- 

 mittee before it is reported to the Senate. Senator Penrose is re- 

 ported to have told members of the Ways and Means Committee 

 that many of the rates have been fixed "about 75 per cent too 

 high," if applied on the basis of American valuation. Senator 

 Smoot is known to share the same view. 



The committee will continue the hearings on the woods and 

 metals schedules while treasury experts work on the calculations 

 desired. The committee will then deciile whether the delay entailed 

 in completing the calculations will make it advisable to droji the 

 tariff bill for the time being and work on the revenue bill instead. 

 For his part, Senator Penrose said, the revenue bill could wait. 

 There was no hurry about revenue revision. On the other hand, 

 there was every reason for getting the tariff bill into law as soon 

 as possible. ,»»»♦, 



Never in the history of the country has there been such marked 

 interest in forest preservation by State legislators as at the present 

 time, according to reports received by the Forest Service, Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. No less than 33 states have now provided for 

 some sort of forestry activities and 25 of these share in the Federal 

 co-operative forest protection fund, allotted to the states maintain- 

 ing an effective fire detection and suppression service. 



^f w s * * * 



Business men throughout the country are overwlielmingly in favor 

 of a sales tax, according to the Chember of Commerce of the United 

 States, which has sent a detailed analysis of the vote cast on its 

 recent tax referendum to members of Congress. 



There was an overwhelming vote in favor of the general principle 

 of the sales tax. The vote on the particular kind of sales tax showed 

 a large ma.jority of sentiment in favor of making it a general tax 

 on turnovers of all kinds, rather than on retail sales, or only on 

 goods, wares and merchandise. 



Geograjihically, the North Atlantic States expressed the strongest 

 sentiment for a turnover tax, as against a retail sales tax, while the 

 lowest favorable vote on this particular question was cast by the 

 Soutliern states. The next highest vote was cast by the Middle 

 Western group and the next lowest was by the Far Western states. 



On the further question as to whether the turnover tax should 

 apply to all turnovei-s, rather than to goods, wares and merchandise 

 alone, the distribution of sentiment is somewhat reversed. The 

 total vote was for a sales tax on all turnovers, but the strongest 

 support for the proposition came from the Far Western States, 

 while the group least favorable was the North Atlantic States group. 



In other words, the North Atlantic section, the great industrial 

 and financial center, voted enthusiastically for a sales tax on turn- 

 overs, but was not so willing to have it apply to all turnovers which 

 would include sales of real estate, plants and securities, rents, 

 royalties and receipts of public utilities! 



On the other h.-ind, the Soul hern and Western States, which may 

 111' termed the agrarian sections, were not overwhelmingly for the 

 turnover tax, but were most decided in their vote that if there is 

 to be a turnover tax, it must apply to all turnovers. 



The general question of a gales tax, in place of the tax on trans- 

 portation and communication, was carried by a favorable vote of 

 94 per cent of all the votes cast on the subject. A study of the 

 ballots, however, shows that the sales tax found it.s most ardent 

 supporters in the national trade associations and the chambers of 

 commerce of the large cities. The vote recorded by these two 

 groups were 99 per cent in favor of the general ]irineijile of substi- 

 tuting a sales tax for those to be repealed. 



On the same question, five agricultural states, Kansas, South 

 Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, and Montana, being selected as 

 typical, voted only 86 per cent in favor, which is the lowest vote 

 cast by any group studied. 



In comparison with the vote of the agricultural states, the vote 

 from four of the most important manufacturing states, Massachu- 

 setts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New .Jersey, was 94 per cent 

 favorable to the sales tax. 



Dividing the whole United States into four geographical griuips, 

 the vote in favor of the sales tax, instead of the excise tax on 

 transportation and communication, was as follows: The Far West- 

 ern States, 97 per cent; the North Atlantic States, 96 per cent; 

 the Middle Western States, 94 per cent, and the Soutliern States, 

 92 per cent. 



The vote favoring a sales tax to take the place of the excise ta.t 

 on particular businesses was 91 per cent of all votes registered on 

 the question, and the distribution of the vote was very similar to 

 the vote on substituting a sales tax for transportation and communi- 

 cation taxes. »»,»,, 



No change in the general level of wholesale prices from June to 

 July is shown by the information gathered by the Bureau of Labor 

 Statistics. The Bureau's weighed index number, which includes a 

 larger number of commodities than any other currently publisheil 

 scries, and which gives to each commodity an influence equal to 

 its importance in the country's markets, again registered 148 in 

 July, as compared with 1(1(1, re]iresenting the level of prices in the 

 year 191:!. 



Farm products and foodstuff's were slightly higher in June, the 

 former group advancing l-!4 per cent and the latter ll.j per cent 

 over the level of the previous month. In all other groups decreases 

 took place, varying from one-half of 1 per cent in the case of cloths 

 and clothing to 6 per cent in the case of house-furnishing gooils. 

 Building materials were 1 per cent cheaper than in June, fuel and 

 lighting materials were IV-; per cent cheaper, and chemicals and 

 drugs, ]% per cent cheaper. 



Metals and metal products declined oVl per cent in average 

 price from June to July. In the grouj) of miscellaneous commodi- 

 ties, including such important .-irticles as cotton-seed meal and oil, 

 lubricating oils, jute, rubber, nevvs]irint and wrapping paper, soap, 

 tobacco and wood pulp, the ilediiie was less than three-fourths of 

 1 per cent. 



Comparing prices in July with those of a year ago, it is seen 

 that farm jiroducts and foodstuffs have declined 50 per cent, and 

 clothing materials 431^ per cent. Building materials, measured 

 by changes in their index number, show a decrease of 40 per cent, 

 and miscellaneous commodities a decrease of SSVi per cent. House- 

 furnishing goods were 35 per cent cheaper in July than in the 

 same month last year, and metals and metal products were 34ii 

 per cent cheaper. Fuel and lighting materials decreased 27 per 

 cent and chemicals and drugs approximately 25 per cent iu the 12- 

 month period. All conimoilities, considered in the aggregate, de- 

 creased 43Vj per cent. 



