The Cairo bulletin., 1905-02-07
FALSE ECONOMY.

Whenever the government reve-
naes baga 10 run bah MI The receipts
ut Washing ol-cau e1 in majority
Of case Of recklessness and extraya-
gance in appropril ioas-the foolish
cry goes up from a large number Of
congles hi 20 cent the aiyers and
larbor5 Bill Toe cry has gone up
again at he M ianal capital, and
TO-. the next Two weeks III repre-
entatiye5 viii make desperate eff,
forts I'D carry out thair false idea OF
economy and thereby paTalyze for
a large portion Of the year millions
Of dollars worth Of commerce en- the
country's waterways.
Commenting On this matter, the
st Louis Globe-Demoerat utters come
plain AMI iRdisputakle truths 1t
says:
som times (theough his mlstak-
an economy the riyera ana harbors
bin fails atog Their, and river i'm
movement fleets. created at heavy ex-
pense, have been lied up in idleness
og many months because of the fail
ures Of eag 1!ieiati9ns All ta9 organ
izst,oa eal zach h@g Rogided is
consigr & b i'll ness. The right men
'or the right places may have been
found az er long tfial, hui are COM
PEELED to turn t4eir attention 10 9th
er matt rs for long periods and Of
ten their valuable experience is lost
Picked nsaa are needed in aubordi-
nate places, but thagx Eco, are scat
tered WI n congress decides to econ.
omize' in THO false faSg On and mis-
taken direction Who win pretend
that it would lee in lire with economy
to partly compl te the isthmisn canal
and then stop the excavators and dis
charge the army 81 workmen because
OF current shortage in the treas
ury? If the Panama canal ought tC
be constructed by the United States
government II ought 10 be pushed
through in a businesslike manner
IN, rnal improvements are neces-
sarly an undertaking that should be
eeadily sustained. They arr a sys-
tom. not a series Of jobs, jarkily per
formed. that can be looked after or
ignored according to tran lent condi-
tons of ;he treasury. Nearly seven
months OF the fiscal year have passed
and the treasury expenditures for this
time are $27o00,O)0 ahead of re
ceipts So he cry u.s. as usual. Cut
The rivers and harboss bill In that
cas- river improvement must stop
Or lie min mixed, and the fleets en-.
gagged In /. consigned TO two or three
years of rust By that course much
hat has been done will be wasted
Efficient working forces will be cast
adrift And tAic is call economy,
If it Is thrift to paralyze internal i'm
PROV ements from time TO time. the
same frugal law would dictate heir
Congress 81 at faul.
in permitting a mistaken custom to
suids it's action
"When there is a treasury deficit.
or aurpius either extravaganza in
every form should be Topped off and
avoided BUT internal improvements
steadily. intelligenuy carried on. are
not extravaganza. The ir theory and
ascertaineI ge-ult is an eventual saw
ing of money to the people and
general expansion of commerce. The
va growth Of traffic on the lakes
is due to lhcic improvement so as TO
accommodate bigg ships No rash
prodigaliy is advised for rivers ana
harbors bills. but they should provide
for coat uuous work. and keep pace
win the growtl Of the country.
There are other remedies for a treas
ury shortage than The gripping of in
t-rnal improy aments. The people ia
yor them On a rational basis ami ex
pee to pay for them. They DO not
sea the economy of getting nacnin-
ey together for a specific purpose
and then stopping t. ConEres. ought
10 chang ia ylewpo.n in This mat
t1r of material cone m.