p. 21 | Untitled article

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 3, 1914

From the Southland

BROTHER O. MONTGOMERY, of Atlanta, Ga., writes regarding the Harvest Ingathering prospects in the South:—

“We are facing a desperate situation. Undoubtedly no other part of the United States is suffering so fearfully from the effect of the war upon its finances as is the Southland. Things are absolutely at a standstill. Hundreds and thousands are living on half rations. Yet in the face of this condition, our tithes and offerings are keeping up remarkably. Surely God is with his people. Mrs. Montgomery and I took some papers with us down town on a business trip this morning. She gave out four and received $10.60; I, three, and was given fifty cents. We are all of good courage.”

These are cheering words from the South, and should encourage others to perseverance and faithfulness in more favorable sections.

— Orders were issued recently by the Comptroller of the Currency for the printing of $250,000,000 of federal reserve notes for the use of the twelve federal reserve banks. They will be in denominations of 5’s, 10’s, 20’s, 50’s, and 100’s. The designs are all new, and are thought to be the most artistic notes yet issued by the government.

— The twelve federal reserve banks opened for business November 16. The opening date is two weeks earlier than first planned, but in announcing his decision Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo stated that this step was taken because of emergency conditions in the South, in the belief that the opening of the banks will be helpful there and benefit business in all sections of the country.

— The National Safety Council, recently in session, passed the following resolution by a unanimous vote: “Whereas, It is recognized that drinking alcoholic stimulants is productive of a heavy per cent of the accidents and diseases affecting the safety and efficiency of workingmen, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of this organization to go on record in favor of eliminating the use of intoxicants in the industries of the nation.” The members of this council, it is said, employ more than 1,000,000 men.

— Unless the experts who figured out the “taxables” when Congress was working on the income tax law were far at sea in their calculations, there are 140,000 income tax dodgers who have evaded the internal revenue collector and failed to pay their share of the toll. According to figures made public by the Secretary of the Treasury, 357,598 returns were made under the income tax law during the fiscal year just ended. The estimates on which Congress did much of its work on the act gave a total of 425,000 taxable incomes. These estimates did not include incomes between $3,000 and $4,000.

— The longest sitting of Congress in the history of the nation came to an end October 24, having been in uninterrupted session for nineteen months, or since the inauguration of President Wilson. Tariff reform, the income tax, the new currency law, antitrust legislation, the repeal of the toll exemption provision for American coastwise ships in the Panama Canal, and the provision to build a government railroad in Alaska are its chief items of legislation. This Congress has also been remarkable in that it has had to deal with conditions arising from two foreign wars—the revolution in Mexico and the European conflict. Congress has also devoted much attention to foreign relations, general arbitration treaties with twelve nations having been ratified by the Senate, while new treaties providing for peace commissions of investigation in international disputes have been ratified with twenty-three nations. One of the important items of legislation passed, growing out of the European war, is the war revenue law imposing special internal revenue taxes which will aggregate about $90,000,000. The next session of Congress will convene December 7.