NEW DEAL TAX FIGHT BASED ON SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY
ALTMAN, IRVING B.
NEW DEAL TAX FIGHT BASED ON SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY By IRVING B. ALTMAN Editor, Dynamic America BY and large the Roosevelt Ad** ministration has been guided by the progressive principles of...
...To make this point clearer, take the conditions of 1928, a prosper-lars...
...You will get the impression that this money—12 billion dollars—was just extracted every year from business men to support a standing army of crooked politicians...
...It has chosen a policy of borrowing and spending for recovery rather than the policy of a balanced budget and governmental economy...
...We have said all along that the only way to fight fascism is for all progressive forces to form a united front against fascism...
...Punitive taxation could ho son to hasten the elimination of or slum areas by imposing a supplementary or obsolescence tax want would make it unprofitable for slum-owners to maintain properbe) which are a menace to the heehs of our people and a hindrance Is progress...
...Another measure proposes to make it possible to arrest officials and directors for unpaid wages...
...There are two main lines of attack open to those who sincerely believe governmental expenses are too high...
...The lackeys of the money barons...
...Half a dozen Jew-baiting, liberty hating fascist rags are on sale in Montreal...
...The government's attitude regarding expenditures for recovery and relief, reveal certain outstanding policies...
...And it is equally clear that the sudden curtailment of federal spending, reflecting itself in decreased purchasing power on the part of those dependent upon such spending, is one of the underlying causes of the present unfortunate set-back in business activity...
...As representatives of the Labor Party, our importance derieos from the fact that our group comes from the very heart of th* trade unions, and that in the short time that we have been than the Assembly has heard and learned more trade unionism then in the last fifteen years...
...If we hold to the notion that taxes should be imposed merely to raise revenue for limited governmental purposes, we would tend to go back to the condition of 1929...
...Neither of them cares to see the C.C.F...
...Honey's Worth for Taxes ALL the taxing is not done by the federal government...
...nearly all the roads in Quebec lead to Rome...
...There is room for.more...
...This is the average amount we would have to pay if the total government cost for the year 1937 were divided among all of us...
...The higher up you go, the larger are the savings and the less is spent on goods and services...
...Iff THIS ARTICLE IRVING B. ALTMAN...
...Then, by the fact that on every important question which is considers...
...outlawed in Quebec, then they would be able to come forward and say, "We told you so...
...This is not a bad record in the short space of five years...
...We ought to be fair about this at the start...
...The C.I.O...
...This $90 is...
...payment of interest on the national debt, and all the endless activities of the government to protect us from the ravages of a great depression...
...i * * * , CLERICAL FASCISM AT WORK IN QUEBEC -.'.-political picture is no more reassuring * * than the industrial...
...One of those proposes that workers on W.P.A...
...With this in mind, a representative of The New Leader questioned Nathaniel Minkoff, old-time Socialist worker sol secretary of the Dressmaksts* Union—now the leader of the labor Assemblymen...
...ticket and did not seek the endorsement o? the L.R.A...
...His padlock law is in full swing...
...Tim Buck, Canadian C.P...
...expand...
...The next time it would be something else—and before long the eight-hour law would be completely torn to shreds...
...Taxes in the upper brackets do not necessarily reduce the purchasing power of the persons involved so far as consumption goods are concerned...
...GIVES C.C.F...
...This argument is fallacious, for it assumes that we have an equitable distribution of the national income...
...This expansion of governmental services may, of course, be carried on more rapidly than warranted by the economic statuts of the people...
...Maurice Duplessis, premier of Quebec, has' become the II Dose of the province...
...It is interesting to know what they have<i>een able to accompuish...
...Yes, taxation is a mighty wseats, to be used to bring about more effective control over the influent* which determine the standard...
...The government should not repeal the surplus-profits tax nor the capital gains tax...
...It will cover a moderate electric light bill for a year...
...ECONOMISTS studying the causes of the 1929 break-down find that this maldistribution of income led to over-saving and overinvestment in capital goods which resulted in overproduction of goods in terms of available purchasing power...
...All these taxing agencies take about 16% of our income...
...projects receive 10 per eaot less than the regular wages in similar industries...
...the nine provinces united Under the British North America Act might just as well be separate provinces recognizing no central "authority other than their own...
...A bill for an eight-hour day was being considered...
...In the recent provincial and municipal elections, candidates from various working class parties ran as every kind of independent...
...the feudal background is less pronounced in Ontario than in Quebec The differences in language and religion are of less importance: hence, unionization is not so difficult to accomplish...
...This is due to the fact that the other Assemblymen do not look upon us as five, but as OsO,0»l...
...However, it wools' to advisable to make some meessen-tions in these tax laws for the benefit of the small business man...
...You ought to see how they listen to our speeches whs great respect...
...Premier Aberhart and his promises remain, but the payments hare failed to appear after two year* of wartipj...
...They could show, on the other hand, how administrative reforms might be effected which would make possible the performance of the same services at greater efficiency and lower cost...
...and themselves...
...An Assemblyman from up-stst* submitted an amendment to permit grape-pickers to work longer hours during their season...
...The Labor Party group has proposed a great number of vital /economic and social reforms which will affect everyone in the stats...
...Another quite appropriate outcome was that, after the elections, the Toronto Trade and Labor Council decided by a vote of 5,360 to 3,337 to discontinue the Labor Representation Association...
...THHE political scene in Ontario is also one of * confusion...
...democratic force* will be achieved in time t« sSaveWff fasetsifckof «e* Dojlfhss-type remains to be—on...
...The communists found it a ready made weapon to use against the C.C.F...
...Premier Duplessis of Quebec and Premier Hepburn ef Ontario, have waged ruthless war against it...
...But it is promptly paid out by the governments and is all right back in business as soon as it is paid out, circulating among the grocery stores, drugstores, movie houses, department stores, etc * * » "Economy"—-"Recession" 'T'HERE is general agreement on * the part of most economists that the federal pump-priming served to cushion the economic system when it was in a state of collapse...
...However, blanket indictments against government spending are not very convincing...
...the vote of the Labor Party in the preceding elections...
...C.P...
...Communist Party, whose chief aim...
...The Administration has tended to ignore the opposition to a large increase in the public debt...
...To silence tins . criticism...
...of living and the social security <f our people...
...TRADE AND LABOR COUNCIL KILLS ITS OWN L.R.A...
...INDIVIDUAL AND CORPORATE PAYERS OF BIG INCOME TAXES SUFFER LITTLE...
...The Communist Party ha* found that AberhsTt is "progressive" in spite cf "seme confusion" end consequently Mia cuddled up to Aberhart and supported Mm tn many of his reactionary measures...
...Ih Quebec there are the Catholic syndicates which are the rivals of all other genuine trade unions, and which are concerned more with the Aorsil and spiritual welfare of the French Canadians than with their economic conditions...
...The C.C.F., however, has managed to secure the election of twenty-flve members to the prions municipal councils in Ontario...
...And why not...
...leader, has said that the Communist Party of Canada would eventually form a united front with the C.C.F...
...Bosh measures are similar in that they want to establish publichr-owned "yardstick" power and milk plants, to sell electricity sad milk cheaply...
...This small group obviously neither could nor would buy up the surplus 17 billion dollars' worth of manufactured goods out of the reach of those with incomes under $5,000...
...Endorsement of a candidate by the L.R.A...
...They could show, on the one hand, just exactly which governmental services should be eliminated or reduced and the amount of saving which could be effected thereby...
...Royal arena, Montreal...
...Whether unity cf sll the...
...we are afforded the opportunity, as a party, to present our point of view...
...graciously endorsed a few C.C.F...
...If you listen to the Chamber of Commerce orator groaning on the subject, you will conclude that all this money collected as taxes is money thrown away...
...Workers are too often swindhsl by bosses who are protected by "hiding behind" corporations...
...Bow the- CP...
...It is really not withdrawn from business, as it so often claimed...
...In the meantime, fascism is on the march in Quebec and is making progress with giant strides...
...But the public should be* educated by facts and not stirred by fallacies...
...In spite of the fact that Canada is highly industrialized, less than 20 per cent of the Workers are in unions, and these are organized in rival bodies, not all of which are, strictly speaking, bona fide trade unions...
...The amendment seemed to be quite harmless, and were It set for the Labor Party members it would have passed...
...He leans heavily towards she former clerical fascism of Austria...
...Enthusiasm for Aberhart...
...whether the leaders wanted one or not...
...There remained about 1,000,000 persons with incomes over $5,000...
...Besides the nation, we have the states, cities, towns and villages, counties, school districts, drainage districts, highway districts and various other taxing bodies...
...It can be definitely stated 'that three ' of the provinces—Alberta, Ontario, -and Quebec—have taken a definite turn towards reaction, with Quebec in the lead...
...Consequently, working conditions are better and wages are higher than in Quebec...
...with the means for, achieving its designs...
...But out group sensed its dangerous potentialities...
...Premier Hepburn in Ontario, like Premier Duplessis in Quebec, thrives on the disastrous splitting.tactics of .the...
...In the lower income groups the opposite is true...
...During recent years, because of depression conditions, we have increased the tax schedules and have taken a greater slice of the incomes in the upper hiiihsh m. should continue this practice, for it is the best way to cheek u» growing concentration of eesnossk-power in this country, a process if not cheeked by taxation, wH ttsi to the destruction of the exbthn economic order...
...AN EXPERT ON AMERICAN FINANCES AND EDITOR OF DYNAMIC AMERICAN ANALYSES THE TAX BATTLE A.LP...
...Those candidates who ran on the C.C.F...
...This was done without the asking, as a gesture of comradeship...
...Premier Aberhart put a press-gag law en the statute books...
...It has been an inevitable concomitant of progress that as nations become more civilized, a larger proportion of the national income goes into public expenditures...
...1 The dash of economic interests between the 'workers- and the industrialists, in other words, the class struggle, is frowned upon by the Catholic clergy, who first organized the syndicates and control their activities...
...The country owes these economists no thanks for their economic racketeering...
...French newspapers carry front page headlines which scream "The C.C.F...
...The money is paid to the governments...
...This is because citizens find that many services are desirable which cannot be, or are not, supplied by individual initiative...
...They have introduced bills for cheaper electricity and milk...
...There are many things that can be done and that need to be done in our national, state and local governments in the interest of the citizens and taxpayers...
...Penalize Slums •T'AIK about balancing the body* * and lessening the tax burdo* of those best able to pay, does net help in the present situation...
...PaxtJea-larly, in dealing with the hssstfat problem, government can hue credit on its taxing power to supptj adequate funds for a real heasb* program, one that would SSSSJSJ the housing needs of our people...
...An attempt to arouse indiscriminate mass prejudice against governmental activities is unsound and reactionary...
...All this fuss is supposed to be an attempt to crush communism, but the clergy-controlled press is making every attempt to bring the C.C.F...
...Soon "public opinion" will demand the suppression of the C.C.F...
...The C.P...
...Another unusual A.L.P...
...were denounced in the communist press as being opposed to labor, as splitters of the working class...
...If you expect to boar anything sensational," salt Minkoff, "I will have to db» appoint you...
...AaaemWyman Minkoff laid much stress on a bill which the group sponsored to make it possible for tenants with limited means, wfco are being threatened with eviction, to charge in court that tiw sent is much too high, and the court is to be empowered to deal With this question...
...It was their inflation-mongering and insistence upon a balanced budget which created the present jitters of the average business man and led him to over-expand commodity inventories as a hedge against the "wild, uncontrolled inflation" which these economists predicted would result from the government's fiscal policies...
...We've accomplished nothing sensational yet...
...discussion of the many was* fa which government—federal, state and local—can use its power of taxation to promote the wettest of the nation and its people...
...The five Assemblymen •Are not strong enough to throw out this point, but they have beea standing in the way of final consideration of the bill for the last four weeks...
...Te tho Democrats and Republicans we are not merely five representatives, but five representatives of a new party which has Stepped into the political scene—a party of workers, a party of a class which to fast becoming politically conscious and is demanding more and more the right to have its say in society...
...was virtually endorsement by the Communist Party, since communists were largely represented in the executive, and influenced its decisions...
...It seems to me that taxes serve the purpose of bringing about a fairer distribution of the income of the nation...
...Books published in the French language .are being distributed which expound the scatterbrained political philosophy of the corporate state...
...members, who ran as independents...
...Of the group of top business executives whose salaries were reported in the public press in January,, there remained of the aggregate income of 49 million dollars something lfke 29 million dollars after the estimated taxes had been deducted...
...In the past six months" we lost all the ground won in 1935-36 and the first half of 1937...
...STATISTICS PROVE CONTENTIONS OF INDUSTRY ARE UNFOUNDED...
...Thus, they will force private companies in both fiesis to lower prices...
...The city fathers of Montreal, Three-Rivers, and Quebec City boast that the French-Canadian workers 'are contented with their lot and consequently immune from all forms of radical propaganda...
...MhihtsT spoke of the labor delegation with great enthusiasm, and with the feeling that there is a great future for the Labs* Party in New York and far labor poetical action throughout the nation...
...It was a question of principle to us...
...NEW DEAL TAX FIGHT BASED ON SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY By IRVING B. ALTMAN Editor, Dynamic America BY and large the Roosevelt Ad** ministration has been guided by the progressive principles of sociaf responsibility far pabfie welfare...
...This association was sponsored by trade unionists, who felt that the C.C.F...
...125 pier month sis changed into hostile criticism of A ber hart's political hash of theology and economies as a big bluff...
...The Communist Party attached itself to the Labor Representation Association, L.R.A...
...The federal government at Ottawa has promised to investigate the nocturnal marchings, drillings, and saluting of fascist groups in Quebec...
...There are "jokers" throughout the bill...
...a good slice out of our income, but it is the biggest $90 worth we get on any market...
...Yet in 1928 we manufactured consumers' goods, exclusive of those exported, to the value of 55 billion dollars...
...It was defeated by a large majority, yet the Labor Party men were able to do an effective bit of work...
...was an intruder in labor politics...
...in the background...
...is going to square its approvsl^of a mossled press in Alberta with its opposition to a muzzled press in Quebec must be left for one of the master cortDftJO»»Sti of the party to explain...
...Adversity makes strange bedfellows...
...Federal spending and federal lending rescued the business and financial institutions from utter bankruptcy in 1933...
...is pro-communist...
...During the past few years Canada has seen more trade union activity, especially in the eastern-provinces, than ever before...
...It is being argued by some that it would be possible to increase purchasing power of the income-tax-paying groups by decreasing the tax burdens...
...Perhaps the padlock law in Quebec will provide the C.P...
...Action in the f - State Assembly By a New Leader Correspondent ALBANY.—Two months have passed since elected representatives of the American Labor Party began taking an actios part in the New York State Assembly...
...There are, according to a recent study, over 175,000 taxing units in this country...
...Colored shirts and swastikas are to be seen in the law courts...
...The truth is, that there are far tab'lew unionists...
...First, * through our representation on, important committees...
...KISS OF DEATH OTRANGE as it may seem, the victims of the padlock law, the communists, are surreptitiously peddling the myth that there is no difference between the C.C.F...
...The meeting was not held, the second of its kind .prohibited in Montreal...
...THE demand for recognition is expressed in many ways...
...At present the exception dealt with "grapes...
...But the fact remains that the deflationary forces have been stronger than the inflationary tendencies...
...Bvery Inter-Provincial Conference breaks down h? the same old way...
...Persons in the upper brackets spend proportionally less on consumption goods and services and save more of their incomes...
...Every reactionary law he places on the provincial statute book is applauded by the heads of, _ the Catholic church...
...The L.R.A...
...in all its attempts at unity is to capture control of non-communist organizations, or in case of failure to rule them, then to wreck them...
...On this issue the communists are in agreement with their persecutors, and a spontaneous united front with the enemies of liberty in Quebec is the result...
...Pplice spies are everywhere, public meetings are* prohibited if not approved by the "champions of law and order...
...A BILL has been introduced in the Assembly on the question of ^* relief...
...Canadian Socialists) into the same net...
...The natural outcome of such tactics was to give quite a ¦ few Tory, reactionaries a clear passage to a seat in the legislative assembly...
...Extravagance and inefficiency must'be curbed, in government, but public-spirited citizens ¦ must base their action intelligently upon facts and not upon make-believe...
...The doors of printing establishments are padlocked, book stores are raided and closed, private libraries are ransacked, workers' educational headquarters are shut down, wagon loads of books and newspapers trundle through the streets on their way to police headquarters...
...Space does not permit a dosstss...
...has not made much progress'in Canada...
...It is impossible to get any kind of agreement among the provinces...
...The meeting was called to support the Loyalist cause in Spain...
...We're but a small gross of (five) labor Assemblymen in a body of 145, a more drop in the bucket...
...worse and wages are • Jower in Quebec than in any *>f the other nine , provinces...
...Deputy Police Chief Barnes of Montreal stated in court that he was in charge of 1,459 foot and mounted police on February 22, 1936, with instructions to prevent the holding of a mass meeting in the Mt...
...There is much to be done in Canada, and sooner or later the fs^nsit* and fhctorv worker* will have to do it...
...but principally to give its blessings to those who kept the name of the C.C.F...
...A Social Credit Government has secured power by- a promise to pay a monthly cash payment of (26 to the people of the protmee...
...Or it will pay the wages of eight ordinary carpenters in New York for one day, or the charge of a second-class Wall Street lawyer for three hours...
...What can you get for $90...
...Trade unionism is far from being what it ought'to be...
...e B\MIN'KOFF then proceeded to tell of an occasion when a dto-'** cussion on the floor of the Assembly based on his union experience served to defeat an anti-labor move...
...If any group of individuals are to be held responsible for the present plight of the nation it is the so-called "gold-standard" economists...
...Premier Hepburn does not receive unanimous approval of his reactionary policies as does his colleague, Premier Duplessis of Quebec...
...In the Province of Ontario the industrial picture is more impressive...
...Needless to say, industrial conditions are...
...A unanimous decision to do something about the stone-age conditions under which Canadians work and live is_sure to be balked By some constitutionally elected delegate making the startling discovery that such an ' agreement'would encroach upon provincial rights...
...By HENRY GASKILL fli|OXTREAL.—Canada today presents anything *** but a rosy picture...
...proposal is ths one to establish a "civil liberties" department" in the atssn Upheaval Up North CANADA IN TURMOIL AS FASCISM GROWS SOCIALISTS FIGHT CLERICAL DICTATORSHIP _____ AND ANTI-UNIONISM—COMMUNISTS SUPPORT ~—~ SOCIAL CREDJTJTES—SUPPRESSIVE MEASURES _ IN ALBERTA—NAZI INFLUENCE FELT AS CHRISTIAN SOCIAL PARTY GAINS...
...BIG BUSINESS OBSCURES BASIC ISSUES IN BATTLE ON A^INtSZBJiTtOtrS ATTEMPT TO MAKE TAXATION SERVE AS ANTIDOTE TO CONCENTRATION OF POWER AND WEALJTH...
...He continued with the story of the Qj^d Labor Amendment fight...
...But, I can OS-sure you that pur influence to much greater than we might have expected...
...Paid out to the government last year, it provided us with police, fire protection, street cleaning, traffic control, health protection, hospitalization for millions, education for our children, libraries, museums,1 art galleries, scores of colleges, scientific and industrial research, regulation of industry and the protection from the exactions of predatory groups of all sorts, agricultural aids, child welfare, protection of forests, maintenance of order, patrolling our coasts," maintaining an army and navy, countless aids to commerce...
...maneuver is quite transparent: should their support of the fascists succeed in getting the C.C.F...
...IN Alberta the situation is by no means what it 1 promised to he a few years ago...
...The labor delegation raised a cry against this provision...
...They forced an ops* debate, and put the Assemblymen on record...
Vol. 21 • March 1938 • No. 12
