, 1908-10-29

government to issue bonds for all pub
Lie works, but SO large have been the
receipts Of the treasury Of the United
States that it has been the custom to
pay for these permanent Investments
Of capital out Of current receipts. 1t
is a bad system of bookkeeping, and
Secretary Cortelyou has announced
that he proposes to correct 1t. 1t might
have been %pardonable for "the man in
the street" to be misled by the present
form Of treasury statement. 1t is not
~pardonable on the part Of a man who
pretends to be a student of public
questions. MI. Bryan must either
confess himself a stupid novice in re-
gard to public finance or as deliberate
ly seeking to mislead the people as to
the facts.
The tremendous expansion of mill
tary and economic activity throughout
the world has undoubtedly led to a
volume Of expenditures which calls for
serious consideration. In Germany 1t
became necessary last spring to Issue
a large loan to cover ordinary expendi-
lures and to consider every possible
means of increasing taxation. In
France the ministry even pressed
through the chambers the proposition
to tax the coupons Of the public debt,
thereby taking back from the citizen In
ltuyoc what ~ bod promfSad 20 por btp,
In interest when he loaned his capital
In Great Britain changes in the rate of
the income tax afford a ready means
Of adjusting income to expenditure, but
the burden falls heavily first upon the
small s~hopkeeper and is shifted by him
Largely to the masses, whom he sup
plies with daily necessities. In all these
countries substantially all public works
of a permanent character, whether
great or small, are charged to special
accounts and are not permitted to in
cumber the statement of current oper-
ating expenses or to add to the weight
of taxation on account of their princi-
pal.
Secretary Cortelyou has already an
nounced that he is having the system
of bookkeeping at the treasury v
hauled and modernized. All admins
trations In the United States are pre-
vented from applying the pruning knife
resolutely to Expenditures because
there is not the complete control of the
budget by a single minister, which pre-
walls in Europe. Some steps in this di-
ERECTION should undoubtedly be taken,
but few voters are likely to be misled
as to the relative efficiency IND intelli-
gence In taking such steps which would
be shown by a Bryan administration
on one hand or a Republican admins
~tration headed by Mr.. Taft on the
other. Mr.. Taft In his speech of &C
ceptance requested the supporters of
Mr.. Bryan to put their fingers on the
items where expenditures could be lie
ultimately reduced. He pointed out
thar the increase was due chiefly to
the enlargement Of the navy, the con
struction of the Panama canal, the ex-
tension Of rural free delivery, the en-
forcement of the pure food and meat
laws, which have probably saved hum
dreds Of lives; the rigid supervision Of
the railways, which has been demand
ed by public opinion; the reclamation
of the arid lands and the preservation
of our national forests. If MI. Bryan
knows anything about finance let him
put his finger on those items in this
list which he would wipe out from the
budget of expenditures or materially
reduce.