The Alto Herald (Alto, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 51, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1939 Page: 3 of 8
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THE ALTO HERA!,D, ALTO. TEXAS
rucAarf's WasAing^on Digeaf
Time Has Come to Pay the Fiddler
New Tax Sources Must Be Found
Supreme Court Decision Opens Way to Tap Salaries of
Federal, State and Local Government Employees;
Never Has Nation Had Such Gigantic Debt.
By WILLIAM BRUCKART
WNU Service, Nations! Press BMg., Washington, D. C.
WASHINGTON—Court decisions
tti-rn \ n a rule are difHeult things for lay-
nen to understand. True, most ev-
tryone who hears or reads an opin-
ion by a teamed justice wiii know
what the resuit is—whether one side
)r the other wins. But, generaiiy
tpeakmg, the public as a whoie fails
;o understand the full importance
if a decision. It is not their fault.
Comparatively few persons are
drained in law, and a good many of
hose only believe themselves to be
lawyers.
For that reason, as well as the
'act that many persons do not have
the time or the opportunity to exam-
ine court decisions, I have been won-
iering whether it is clear exactly
what happened when Mr. Justice
Stone recently read the decision in
the case involving taxation of ted-
eral and state employees. No doubt,
Stone had ruled there can be taxa-
tion of the saiaries of federal employ-
ees by state governments and that
khe federal government may tax the
Salaries of state officials and employ-
ees and employees of lesser govern-
ments like cities and counties. But
I} there is more to the ruling than the
simple statement just made, very
iem;t much more.
p<ej " As a matter of fact, I believe that
those who were privileged to listen
to Justice Stone that day heard an
opinion that is going to go a long
way in changing the course of gov-
ernment from the federal govern-
ment down to the lowliest township.
I think frankly that it will be sev-
eral years before the full force and
effect of that decision wiil be ex-
erted, both nationally and locally,
but I am definitely convinced that it
^ will be felt and that it will have im-
- portant effects upon governmental
' policies.
— And beyond that, the decision told
r mm- another story. It told the story that
tUBSm our national, state and local govern-
or ments are hard up for tax sources,
sm It actually shouted to all who would
' listen: boys and girls, your spending
' dance is over; now, it's time to pay
'' the fiddler.
government should have the right to
tax the income of those who were
held to be exempt from income tax-
ation because they worked for a
state government, or city govern-
ment or a county government, or
some agency of those governments.
Likewise, Mr. Roosevelt has con-
tended that income from federal
bonds and income from bonds issued
by state and local governments and
school districts and drainage dis-
tricts and irrigation districts should
be taxable. He has thus far been
unable to accomplish anything in
this direction, and the matter was
not before the court. It, therefore,
did not figure in Justice Stone's opin-
ion. Sometime, such taxation may
be brought about. I hope so, any-
way, because it is a proper subject
of taxation, it seems to me.
But to get down to another direct
most persons realized that Justice, ^.gg^ ^ ^ stone ruling which, by
TVeuer Refore Mat fAe Mtfion
Wad SucA a Giyawtie Debt
:st:w
It can not be construed otherwise,
t*, ^Never before in our history has the
*2 nation had such a gigantic debt, a
i". j=debt of more than 40 billion dollars.
Never before have the states or the
' cities or the counties had such debts,
where their state constitutions per-
mit creation of debt, as they have
today. I do not know of anyone who
can give accurate figures on the
debts of governments of states, cit-
ies, and counties. It is a tremendous
sum. They have danced, and they,
too, must pay their fiddler.
In the lush days when most folks
were working and there was good
business, the taxes rolled in and
there was little or no thought about
spending money for new roads, new
post offices, new county courthouses,
new city halls, new bridges and so
Money was spent rather lib-
3() eraUy in those days. There were
^J^bonds sold, and the proponents cam-
paigned for bond issues in a big
way. They said, in effect, "Aw
' come on and vote these bonds. We
can pay them off over 20 years and
the little teeny added tax won't
hurt." It probably did not hurt, in
those days. But there came the
^depression and there came 10 mil-
lion men out of work, and there
)t#[came the worst business in a half
century. Then, that teeny little bit
tax did hurt. The taxpayers
weren't paying taxes, because th?y
.A Hlhad no money to pay them.
There was, however, a debt. The
, destitute had to be fed and clothed.
First, the local authorities did it;
then the states and then the days of
the real dance began. Billions upon
billions were poured out of the fed-
, eral treasury to be used for feed-
ing and clothing and housing those
^ whom the states and cities had
K; cared for, but could care for no
tonger. And up zoomed the national
^debt. It was about 16 billions to
start with because only 9 billions of
the World war debt had been paid
,gr iotf. Since the taxes were not bring-
ing In enough money, the federal
eC" treasury borrowed and borrowed
some more.
^ rAey*rw StaJMny Money
S^ jro Pay 7*Ae<r FhMfer*
/ Now, the time has come to begin
paying off the debts. The states
&
; <nd the cities and the counties have
jeen looking for money to pay their
fiddlers. The national government
las been looking for money to pay its
Hddlers. Each unit of government
.its had to look around for new
r 'ipots, new things, to tax. Taxes
i ire as high as can be regarded as
productive in many of the usual)
'\]"ys of taxation. So, where shaii j)
turn? was the question.
PM^nt 'Roosevelt has believed ! They bring bet-
"i*it,!r!T-t- --j ter prices than bonds of industrial
the way, was supported by seven of
the nine justices of the highest court.
Pay of FeJeraf Employees
Tax Exempt for 69 years
For the last 69 years, the pay of
any federal official or employee
could not be taxed in any form by
any state or local government. Of
course, there was no income tax
during most of that time, cither na-
tional or state, and during most of
that time, as well, there was not the
press for government revenue that
now obtains. But, to repeat, for 69
years state or local governments
could not touch the pay of a fed-
eral worker, nor could the federal
government touch the pay of a state
or city or county worker, even after
the federal government turned to in-
come taxes as a revenue source.
Some judge, somewhere, sometime,
had said the Constitution prevented
it. It was just taken for granted.
All of that now has been changed,
however, and if the pay of a county
judge is sufficient to fall within the
federal tax brackets, he will pay.
It will be the same with everyone
from the governor on down and from
t)?e mayor on down. It will be the
same with federal officials and other
federal employees stationed or liv-
ing within a state that imposes in-
come taxes on its residents.
No one has yet calculated how
much additional tax will be obtained
by the federal government as a re-
sult of the decision. Nor has any-
one made a real guess as to what
the ruling will mean in additional
dollars and cents to state govern-
ments which may now safety im-
pose the income tax on all federal
employees. In the case of the fed-
eral payroll, the civil service com-
mission figures there are something
like 800 thousand receiving checks
twice each month. There are in
addition, hundreds of employees of
outfits like TVA, RFC and other cor-
porations. The stock of these is
owned by the federal government
and they are, therefore, "instrumen-
talities" of the federal government,
hitherto with payrolls exempt from
state income taxes.
There is one thing, however, of
which we may be sure: the jobs,
the political piums, the 5-thousand
and 10-thousand dollar jobs hrve
suddenly become less juicy. They
are less lucrative by about $560 on
a 10-thousand dollar job.
WAaf E#ect WM AtMMonaf
Taxes ffaue on ./oMoMers?
Very important also, in my opin-
ion, is the effect this additional tax
will have upon the mind of the job-
holder. You know, a jobholder very
frequently is most willing, even anx-
ious. to spend the taxpayers' money.
It is one way by which he can curry
favor, make votes for himself. I
have a feeiing that many of those
jobholders are going to stop and
think a wee bit more. He may pos-
sibly stop to think how much it will
take out of his pocketbook. That
ought to be helpful, because it ought
to reduce the number of flannel-
mouths going about the county or
district, shouting for another bond
issue before the ink on the last one
gets dry. One of the results, there-
fore, possibly may be to cause that
type of public official and advocate
of "improvement" to favor living
within the income of tax receipts.
To make it complete, now, we
ought to have the same kind of re-
ciprocal taxation of income from
federal bonds and bonds issued by
state and local governments and
their agencies. Mr. Roosevelt has
said he believes these can be taxed
—that is, those to be issued in the
future—under present laws. Some
very fine legal minds in congress
believe, on the other hand, that cre-
ation of such a taxing right will re-
quire amendment of the Constitu-
tion. In any event, it ought to be
done for the good of the country.
There can be no doubt in the mind
of anybody that "tax free" bonds
lly that officers and emptoyces of!
^ jtie federal government shouid not
taxed by their home states. He
! 4a< believed, too, that the federal
corpotalions and the like, because
the interest from those bonds must
bear its fair share of tax.
"tMPROVED
UN!FORM tNTERNAHONAL
QUNDAY [
OcHooL Lesson
* By HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST. D. D.
Dean of The Moody Bible Institute
of Chicago.
C Western Newspaper Union.
Lesson for April 30
Lesson subjects and Scripture texts se-
iected and copyrighted by International
Council^of Religious Education: used by
PAUL CROSSES INTO EUROrE
LESSON TEXT—Acts tS:36; !9:4-t5
GOLDEN TEXT—And after he had seen
the vision. Immediately we endeavored to
go into Macedonia.—Acts t6:t0.
Guidance is the moment by mo-
ment need of every man and wom-
an, boy and girl. The whole of
life calls for decisions, many of
which look quite innocent and un-
important, but upon which the des-
tiny of an entire life may turn. Who
does not recall the poet's lament
over the want of an ordinary horse-
shoe nail which resulted in the loss
of the shoe, which disabled the
horse, whose rider was lost, with
the result that the battle went
against his people.
Since the great issues of life may
turn on the simplest of choices, we
need guidance at every point in life.
This need has been recognized by
those who would make merchandise
of their neighbors. Quacks and
charlatans offer guidance by every
method, from reading the palm,
looking at the stars, or consulting
the spirits, to those smug enter-
prises which pose as spiritual and
talk much of prayer, but which do
not honor the name of Christ nor
recognize Him as Redeemer and
Lord.
One of the glories of the Christian
faith is that the believer is indwelt
by the third person of the Trinity,
the Holy Spirit Himseif, who is
ready and willing to give divine
guidance in every detail of life from
the smallest to the greatest.
We study today the coming of the
gospel into Europe, and that means
through our forefathers to America.
We consider what from our view-
point was a crucial point in the his-
tory of the Church. Thanks be to
God that His servant Paul was in
that hour obedient to the guidance
of the Holy Spirit. Observe that
the gospel came to Europe
I. By Providential Hindrance (15:
36; 16:4-8).
Not oniy the steps, but also the
stops of a good man are ordered of
the Lord. That is not an easy les-
son to learn. We may be as much
in the will of the Lord when all of
our efforts seem to be thwarted as
when they prosper. Let us not for-
get it.
Paul had set out on a second jour-
ney to carry out a follow-up cam-
paign in the cities where he had al-
ready preached. This was a good
plan and had God's blessing (see
v. 5). But soon we find that word
"forbidden" (v. 6) and then "suf-
fered not" (v. 7). The Holy Spirit
began to close doors to the gospel
preacher. Now what? Shall he go
on in determined self-will? Or shall
he become discouraged and embit-
tered in his soul? No, let him wait,
for God is guiding him by provi-
dential hindrance, which is soon to
be followed
I!. By Divine Guidance (16:9, 10).
The Spirit spoke to Paul in a
vision revealing the divine purpose
that the gospel should go over into
Macedonia. The Spirit leads in our
day, possibly not by visions, but by
impelling inward prompting com-
plemented and checked by the
teaching of Scripture and by provi-
dential circumstances, and a man
may know what is the will of God.
A word of caution is needed at
this point. Some earnest Christian
people go astray by projecting their
own desires and purposes into the
place where they come to regard
them as the will of God. and thus
do themselves and others, and
Christianity itself much harm. The
three things already mentioned
should agree—(1) the inner prompt-
ing of the Spirit, (2) the teaching of
God's Word, and (3) God's hand in
our outward circumstances.
I!!. Through a Faithful Witness
(vv. 11-14).
The gospel came to Europe be-
cause Paul and his fellow workers
were faithful to their calling. When
God led, they went to Macedonia
(vv. 11, 12), where they sought out
those who were in the place of
prayer (v. 13). Paul spoke to them
about Christ (v. 14). It is one thing
to have a vision, it is another thing
to be obedient to that vision (Acts
26:19). There are some who talk
much of their consecration to God,
but who give little evidence of it.
The littie girl was right (though her
grammar was wrong) when she
said, "It's better to waik your tatk
than to talk your walk."
!V. Through a Receptive Heart
(vv. 14, 15).
God sent an obedient messenger
to the place where He had a pre-
pared heart (v. 14). Space forbids
much reference to this godly, suc-
cessful business woman and house-
mother. but we do note that she
not only received the Word of God
into her own heart, but at once
gave herself to the task of passing
it on. The first thing she could do
was to give aid and comfort to the
messenger of the truth, and she did
that at once. Be assured that from
that day on she did ail she could
to prosper the gospel on its way
through Europe and to the ends of
the earth. Have we done likewise?
AROUND
THE HOUSE
Left-Over Batter.—Griddie cake
batter is excellent for dipping
chops, cutlets and other foods to
be "breaded."
Better Bread.—Yeast and bak-
ing powder breads will be softer
and more tender if the dough is
allowed to stand 10 minutes just
before kneading.
Darn When New.—If new socks
are reinforced by darns worked
on the wrong sides of heels and
toes before they are worn, they
give double wear.
* * *
Knitting Hint.—When binding off
knitting use a larger size needle
than you used for the main work.
This keeps the edge from being
pulled too tightly.
* * *
Removing Fish Smell.—One ta-
blespoon of vinegar added to the
washing-up water for dishes that
have been used for serving fish
will help to remove traces of
smell.
Cotton Strengthens the Socks.—
If you knit socks for the menfolk
try knitting in a strand of ordi-
nary cotton, together with the
wool when turning the heels and
shaping the toes.
For Stained Tables.—Dressing
tables often get stained with cos-
metics and scents. To remove
such stains, rub well with paraffin,
leave for a few hours, then rub
with furniture cream and polish
with a soft cloth.
(
SAFETY TALKS
)
Defecftue Cars in Accttfenfs
(COMPILATION by the National
Safety council of state motor
vehicle accident reports shows
that 9 per cent of the motor ve-
hicles in fatal accidents were re-
ported as defective.
In non-fatal accidents defective
vehicles numbered 4 per cent.
The council commented that "it
seems certain that mass statistics
understate the true importance of
this problem. A careful study
made several years ago indicated
that vehicular defects were at
least a contributing cause in 15
per cent of the accidents.
HCWSEW
4^ RuthWyeth Spears
3 BLACK AND 2
PEACOCK BLUE
OVALS -
BORDER RUST RE9
BLACK AND PEA-
COCK BLUE
KE
THE FtR5T RO\yOF
EACH OM4Lt4%LON6
Grandmother Surprised Everyone.
yES, a certain grandmother sur-
prised everybody—even her-
self. She had always enjoyed
making hit and miss rag rugs in
cheery colors. Then one day her
favorite grandson brought home
the girl he was going to marry.
She was a bright young thing, and
chattered away about color
schemes for her new home.
The living room and hall were to
be peacock blue and rust with
touches of black. "Well, peacock
is just a greenish blue," thought
Grandmother, "and rust is a
brownish red." So she got out her
dye pot and her best wool rags,
and she mixed and she dipped and
dipped again. Then, instead of
sewing her braided rags into one
big oval, she made five ovals of
the size shown here—3 black and
2 blue. She sewed these together,
then around them came 4 rows of
rust; 2 rows of black next; then 4
of rust; 1 of black; 4 blue; 2
black; then 8 rows of blue around
the outside.
When the wedding day arrived
this gift was a great surprise;
even Grandmother was amazed at
how handsome it looked at the
foot of the stairs in the new house.
ASK ME
ANOTHER
?
A Qu/z IVifh Answers
OZ/ermgr /n/ormah'on
on Var/ous ^uA/ecfs
The Questions
1. What is the speed of light-
ning?
2. What two European contem-
porary kings are brothers?
3. How did Wall street, New
York, get its name?
4. Are American vessels per-
mitted to enter the Colorado river
at its mouth in Mexican territory?
5. What is the source of the quo-
tation, "Patriotism is the last ref-
uge of a scoundrel"?
6. Why is a certain plant called
Job's tears?
7. What is a pourparler?
8. What is the origin of the
word etiquette? .
9. What is an archer fish?
10. Is steam sold to various build-
ings in New York?
The Answer*
1. The speed of lightning was
measured at the Empire State
building in New York at 10,000
miles a second.
2. King Christian X of Denmark
and King Haakon VII of Norway
are brothers.
3. From the fact that it follows
the line of the palisaded wall or
stockade which was built in 1652
across the southern end of Man-
hattan island.
4. Yes. En route they merely
report to the captain of the port
of Guaymas, Sonora.
5. It is from Boswell's "Life of
Johnson.'.'
6. Its name is derived from the
hard, shining tearlike seeds which
resemble bluish white porcelain
and are used in making bracelets,
necklaces and rosaries.
7. It is an informal, preliminary
conference of representatives of
different groups, factions, or coun-
tries, looking to a formal agree-
ment settling disputed questions
among the parties.
8. It is derived from Louis XIV's
custom of asking his guests to ob-
serve and keep within the eti-
quettes (tickets or signs) which
marked the garden beds and paths
at Fontainebleau.
9. The archer fish inhabits the
fresh waters of Siam and the East
Indies. It is so called because of
the way in which it secures its
food, by shooting insects with a
pellet of water.
10. The New York Steam com-
pany sells live steam in certain
areas of the city. It is sold by
the cubic foot.
Women everywhere are using
their leisure to make their homes
more attractive, with slipcovers;
curtains; bespreads and lamp-
shades. They are again taking up
embroidery and handwork so that
they may beautify their homes
and there is a revival of interest
in old time hand crafts.
Mrs. Spears' Book 1, SEWING
for the Home Decorator, and No.
2, Gifts, Novelties and Embroid-
ery, ciearly chart the way for you.
If the old craft of rag rug making
is your new hobby, you may have
free Mrs. Spears' leaflet on rag
books at 25 cents each. Address,
Mrs. Spears, 210 S. Desplaines St.,
Chicago, 111.
F!re Watkers
Fire walkers claim faith pro-
tects them from injury as they
walk barefooted across a bed of
hot stones or smoldering ashes,
says Collier's. Others claim fire
walking is a trick the fanatics are
able to stage because they use a
fuel that is a bad conductor of
heat, because they walk so rapidly
that the contact is too brief to
cause a burn and lastly, because
they are able to induce some kind
of anesthesia.
Pu!! the Trigger on
Lazy Bowets, and A!so
Pepsin-ize Stomach!
When constipation brings on acid indi-
gestion, bloating, dizzy spcHs, gas, coated
tongue, sour taste, and bad breath, your
stomach is probabiy loaded up with cer-
tain undigested food and your bowets don't
move. So you need both Pepsin to hetp
b. 2ak up fast that rich undigested food in
your stomach, and Laxative Senna to putt
the trigger on those tazy bowets. So be
sure your inxative atso contains Pepsin.
Take Dr. Caidweit's Laxative, because its
Syrup Pepsin hetps you gain that won-
derful stomach-reiief, while the Laxative
Senna moves your bowets. Tests prove the
power of Pepsin to dissoive those iumps of
undigested protein food which may linger
in your stomach, to cause beiching, gastric
acidity and nausea. This is how pepsin-
izing your stomach hetps retieve it of such
distress. At the same time this medicine
wakes up tazy nerves and muscles in your
bowets to reiieve your constipation. So see
how much better you feel by taking the
taxative that aiso puts Pepsin to work on
that stomach discomfort, too. Even fin-
icky chitdren love to taste this pteasant
famiiy taxative. Buy Dr. Catdwelt's Lax-
ative—Senna with Syrup Pepsin at your
druggist today) (Adv.)
mOBEMHE
Whether you're planning a party
or remodeting a room you ahouta
/cMm* ... to !earn
what'* new... and cheaper... and
better. And the place to find out
about new thinga ia right here ia
thia newspaper, ita coiumna are
fitted with important messagea
which you shoutd read regutariy^
FOR SMOKtNG PLEASURE AT US BEST-CAMELS
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Weimar, F. L. The Alto Herald (Alto, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 51, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1939, newspaper, April 28, 1939; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth214944/m1/3/: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Stella Hill Memorial Library.