Harris Proposes U.S. Disaster Aid

The federal government should increase income taxes in order to finance a disaster insurance program, Seymour E. Harris '20, Chairman of the Economics Department, recommended in testimony yesterday at a U.S. Senate committee hearing on flood control in New England.

Harris, who appeared at a one-day session of the Senate Banking and Currency Committee in the Federal Building, stated last night that he "hopes some kind of flood insurance will be adopted, with the federal government paying part of the cost." Part of Harris' goal is protection against losses involving private property, including such consumer goods as automobiles.

Variable flood losses from year to year present too much of a risk for insurance companies to offer private insurance, he added.

Two bills concerning federal flood insurance have already been proposed, one by Sen. Herbert Lehman of New York and the other by Senators Leverett Saltonstall '14 and John F. Kennedy '40 of Massachusetts. Harris has drafted a more comprehensive bill for consideration by the committee. He expects these three bills, with proposals from the Administration, to be combined in a single bill for presentation to Congress at its next session in January.