HARD TAX

Senator Bingham, of Connecticut, is the latest to raise his voice in protest at the majority Republican policy of meeting the impending federal deflcit by large scale borrowing. He champions in its stead a taxation of a greater proportion of the population. Under the present system corporations and the very wealthy bear the chief burden of national support. Mr. Bingham believes that the more people paying taxes, the greater will be the sense of public responsibility for national economy. At present, he feels that the un-taxes portion of the public forces large appropriations from the government under the impression that it is getting something for nothing.

A policy of increased taxation, or at least a return to previous standards, as opposed to federal loans, seems to be a sound one. But Senator Bingham has stressed the psychological argument of public responsibility and neglected the basic financial wisdom of a solution through higher taxation. It is true that if a person is taxed he will be interested in cutting down the national budget, but the chief support of higher taxes lies in the fact that floating loans at this time will not solve the difficulty permanently, and at the same time will increase the annual budget. According to the majority of Republican leaders the inevitable return to "prosperity" will obviate any further increase in taxation, but prosperity is a variable factor and the burden of interest will put a strain on the government's credit in the future.

Direct taxation has been a source of trouble in the past and will probably continue to be so in the future. Unless the deflcit is met by increased taxes, however, the country as a whole will suffer indirectly through higher prices. A billion dollar deflcit is a heavy load under any circumstances, but a raise in taxes now will strain national credit less in the future than would wide-spread borrowing by the federal government, which is the course of least resistance at the present time.