After a dinner in Washington one evening last week at which Publisher Frank Knox of the Chicago Daily News was host, 38 potent newspaper publishers proceeded to the White House and filed into the President's study. Notably absent were William Randolph Hearst and Adolph Ochs of the New York Times. But their presence was unnecessary. The President knew they were favorable towards the proposal he had in mind. He wanted to ask the others if they would help drive a Sales Tax through balky Congress.
President Hoover led off with a 45-min. speech. Then each guest was asked to give his remedies for the nation's ills, beginning with Clark Howell of the Atlanta Constitution who illustrated his remarks with a smoking-compartment story about a young man in a lingerie shop. The publishers' consensus was that the President should be more firm with Congress. Aggrievedly President Hoover replied that when he had attempted to reprimand Congress he was not only jumped on by Congress but by the publishers. At this point someone brought up the real business of the evening, suggested that a hand-raising vote be taken to see how many present would work for the Sales Tax.
Out of the 38 present, only dapper little Roy Howard (Scripps-Howard) and Harry Preston Wolfe of the Columbus (Ohio) Evening Dispatch failed to lift an arm. Scripps-Howard chainpapers had vigorously cudgeled the issue when it was before Congress in March. Final agreement of the publishers, however, was that they would support a Sales Tax if the President would personally sponsor it.
Few days later when Senator Harrison flaunted his round robin in the Senate and the Sales Tax had been knocked groggy, the President took a hand. He called the Democratic members of the Finance Committee to a night conference in the White House. After they had left he heard disturbing news about raids on the dollar abroad, was unable to sleep. At 5:30 a.m. he arose, took pencil & paper, wrote diligently for three hours. At 10:30 a.m. he told the Cabinet he would address the Senate at noon, an impromptu procedure such as none at the White House could recall witnessing. From a special platform set up at the reading clerk's desk the President voiced his grave concern over depletion of the nation's gold reserves; appealed for economy of $400,000,000, support of his relief program (see below); urged speedy passage of a general manufacturers' excise tax (see p. 12).