New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-01-03
Budget Reform Fails.

The Democratic leaders in the House of
REPRESENTATIVES who undertook 70 devise
workable Budget Committee scheme knew
in their hearts that they would fail. Now
they frankly admit failure There Is
good deal of human nature in the House
That body holds the governments purse
strings. Il is very jealous Of its power TO
originate tax and appropriation bills. As
he House has grown in numbers there has
been increasing pressure 10 disperse con-
troll of the appropriation measures so as
10 give more members 8 hand in framing
them. That is why the Appropriations
Committee was stripped of the exclusive
jurisdiction which it once exercised and
the money bills were parcelled out for the
benefit Of various other ambitious COM
mittees.
Rivalries in the House still prevent a
restoration Of complete control to the APP
preparations Committee or even the crea-
ton Of a new Budget Committee, OF which
the heads of the other committees now
handling appropriations shall be members.
Rather than fight the unwise practice Of
dispersion to finish, Speaker Clark, Mr..
Kitchin, Mr.. Fitzgerald and the others
have decided TO let the appropriations be
made again this year in the same old
vasteful, unscientifc fashion.
1t is a discouraging surrender to inertia
and ineffcency. Our form of government
does not lend itself to accurate and
methodical budget-making The Execu-
tive Department does not feel responsible
for the cost of government, and is willing
10 spend money injudiciously because the
blame for extravaganza can be shifted to
Congress. Knowing that it must bear the
blame for a good deal of loose expenditure
IN which the departments are interested,
Congress is prone, as an Offset, to over
load the appropriations out Of which its
own members can make political capital
that is, for pensions, rivers and harbors,
public buildings, useless army posts and
navy yards.
On the whole, the House of Representa-
t;ves has been much more frugal than
either the Senate or the Executive. 1t al
WAYS appropriates less than the Treasury
estimates and less than the Senate asks
for, yet its pet eXtravagances have usually
been of the highly demoralizing pork bar
rel" sort. 1t can never hope to regain its
former reputation as the Watch Dog Of
the Treasury until it ceases TO look at eX-
pendture from the parochial point Of view,
until it is ready to take the lead in ere
ating a higher control of expenditure in
which all branches of the government will
participate.
In spite of the awkwardness of our con-
stitutional machinery budget system can
lie created which will make appropriations
correspond with the real needs Of the gov
ernment.. Voluntary concert between the
Executive and Congress and between the
House and the Senate would result in
fixing in advance each year the lines along
which expenditures are to be enlarged and
the lines on which they are to be con-
tracted If we spend more in any year for
military preparedness we should count on
spending less for internal Improvements.
Il was this unity Of direction which Sen
n ator Aldrich had i'm mind when he said
" that were the government run as a bust
ness man would run his business the an
nual appropriations could be reduced by
100000. 00O The non-essentials could be
cut out and the waste from haphazard
preparation Of the bills eliminated. Some
cay We shall have d real budget system
when unified control and joint response
bility are accepted BY Congress and the
Executive as indispensable factors in fiscal
efficiency.