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ALEX B E R B E R 9 D Q - 9 D ! ST. LABALLE B U I L D I N G OLIVC S T R E E T LOUIS 1, MO. May 5, 1945, Mr. Marriner S.Eccles, Washington, D.C. Dear Sir: According to a recent article in you are in favor of taxing The Wall Street Journal gains from capital assets held over 6 months m 90$. I bought controlling stock of a small bank at consider- ably above the market price and was active head of it 4 years. I sold that stock in Feb. 1945. Dividends were modest compared to earnings?, always at the suggestion of the Federal reserve bank. Now you propose that I keep a small part of those earnings? Why not with equal justice, suggest that all interest be stopped on Government bonds estate. or put a 10$ or Zb% flat tax on all real em§§$e I have never seen the Building, but I understand the front of the Supreme Court in 1/feahington has inscribed on it,nwith equal justice to all*. May 8, 1945. Mr, Alex Berger, 900-901 LaSalle Building, 509 Olive Street, St. Louis 1, Missouri» Dear Mr» Berger: This is to acknowledge your letter of May 5> from which I gather that you have been misinformed in regard to my proposal for a wartime capital gains tax. The transaction to which you refer would not be affected in any case. I enclose a copy of an explanatory statement, from which you fo.11 see that my suggestion would not apply in the case of capital assets purchased prior to January 1 of this year, or such other cut-off date as Congress might determine, if such a tax should be enacted. Sincerely yours, M. S. Scales, Chairman. Enclosure ET:b ALEX B E R B E R 9 0 D - 9 0 1 U S A I L E BUILDING sot a Live BTRcrr ST. LOUIS 1, MO. May 14,1945. Mr. M.S.Eecles, Chairman, Federal Reserve System, Washington 25. Dear Mr. Eccles: The brief article in the newspaper cietd gave me a wrong slant on your proposal for a war time capital gains tax. Just so long as people may know what to expect, anjt kind of tax would be acceptable so far as I am concerned. Since you do not advocate going further back than Jan. 1945 there can be no objection on my part to your proposed legislation. I appreciate your letter and the printed information attached.
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