Newspaper Page Text
September, 1921
THE ATLANTIAN
5
THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION ENDED
The session of the Legislature recently ended was re
markable for two or three things, which probably will
exert a considerable influence for years to come. In one
respect, it was like all previous sessions, it fiddled and
talked and blustered most of its time away in buncombe,
and then it had a change of heart and buckled down to busi
ness. It accepted Governor Hardwick’s dictum that the
State must pay up its deficits and then keep its appropria
tions within its income.
It would be giving too much credit to say that the Legis-
ature did this cheerfully and hilariously—but we must ad-
nit that it saw the necessity and bowed to the Governor’s
recommendations.
Resulting from that we find the State road’s rentals will
be discounted for five years; we have a new tax act which
will be praised, abused, and fought over in the courts as
they always are, and the appropriations have been kept
within the apparently certain income.
It is to be regretted that some of the State's educational
institutions suffered, and it is not speaking harshly when
we say that the people of Georgia have not yet risen to a
full appreciation of real values.
There are some who criticise the hypothecation of the
State road’s rentals, and to that it may be said that the
State must pay its honest debts at all hazards, and if to do
that involves hypothecation of assets, we must do it.
The State of Georgia cannot afford to stand before the
world as a defaulting community when everyone knows
that it is not bankrupt in resources and can pay if it wills
so to do.
The Legislature gave no indication of genius, but when
the pinch came, it did show common sense—and for that it
is entitled to credit, because sometimes that does not
happen.
BUSINESS GAINING-WATCH IT AND HELP IT
That there is some gain in business is evident. It has
gained but little momentum as yet, but with nursing, it will
soon get the momentum. The most noticeable improvement
is in building lines, and this is a good indication, because it
shows that people have not lost faith.
The meat business is gaining some and here we see an
example of one of the stupid things American business men
do. At the first sign of improvement in the meat business,
prices were advanced.
There is no surer way to check improvement than this,
because purchasing power is not yet strong, and will gain
very slowly.
The purchasing power of the forty-odd million people
on the farms is still at the lowest point, and will continue so
until we acquire wisdom enough to help the farmers over
the slough of despondency. Wages are hanging in the bal
ance, with a downward trend, and that necessitates cau
tious buying by labor.
We are not out of the woods, but we are slowly drawing
nearer to the edge, and it is poor judgment when any man
throws a rock in the road.
On the other hand, it is folly to boast or boost when
facts do not justify.
Our country endured the reactions from 1873,1893, and
1907 because the people buckled down to industry and econ
omy. There is no other way to meet the periods of business
reaction.
1920-21 will leave scars on many of us for years to come,
but if we meet the ills of the day with fortitude, industry,
economy and neighborliness, in coming years we can look
at the scars as testimonials to our courage in time of stress,
for: “If we faint in the day of adversity, our strength is
small.”
THE PROPOSED FEDERAL TAX ACT
We use the word “Proposed” advisedly, for while the
new act has passed the house by the big majority which the
Republicans control, it lacked some twenty votes of polling
the full party strength on many sections, and on one section
50 Republicans voted with the Democrats. It is claimed
by its advocates that it will reduce taxes by a total of 818
millions of dollars, of which about half will show up in the
collection of the first year, and the total amount in the sec
ond year.
Its opponents claim that where it does not actually dis
criminate in favor of swollen fortunes, it merely shows a
shifting of burdens so that the very rich will escape at the
expense of the less well-to-do. They further assert that the
estimate of reduction in amounts to be collected is pure
guess work.
They cite the fact that the surtax on the great incomes
from 65 per cent to 32 per cent is the outstanding feature
of the bill and shows who the authors wanted to favor and
please, while the repeal of the excess profits tax on corpora
tions and the substitution of an increase in the straight
corporation tax is cited as poor judgment.
The bill has not yet passed the Senate. Its passage will
probably be delayed for two or three months, and some
careful observers predict that when the Senate gets
through with it, all resemblance to its present form will
have disappeared, and its authors in the House will be wail
ing as they hunt for their “lost child.” You can’t always
tell. The game has just opened. The House has shown its
hand, which displeases many people, hence we may expect
“wigs on the green” before the stakes are pulled.
THE SOUTHEASTERN FAIR
At the instance of people who are keen for investigation,
the operations of the Southeastern Fair were gone into by
a Legislative Committee, which gave it a clean bill of
health. This is what a large majority of people expected,
for the Fair, under the capable handling of President Hast-