Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-07-31
THE COST OF MAR

-
Senator Smoot, the angular solon
from the Mormon state, has assumed
! the role OF treasury watchdog at this
time when the war, navy and treasury
departments are demanding from con.
gress an additional s5,OO0,0OO00O for
the conduct of the war.
The figures the Utah senator quotes
on Americas war time expense are
enormous. This cannot be denied But
SO is the task which America has un.
dertaken in the war. If victory is to be
won, the cost in money and in men will
be large. But if there were to be de-
feat instead of victory. the cost would
be multiplied and continued indefin-
itely.
No one wants to see squanderfest,
and 1t is because this is true that some
of the members Of the senate and
house are critical and inclined to ques.
ton the advisability of the proposed
expenditures. The difficulty in con.
nection with the effort Congressman
Mann made yesterday lay not in the
real object behind his action but in
the manner in which he went about
the business of making inquiries.
This is no time for party factional.
ism, but it truly is time for the exer.
else OF good sense. Little could be
gained, and much effectiveness might
be lost, through the creation Of con.
gressional committee on war expendi.
lures. Certainly there is little to be
gained through such committee If
its appointment must come as the Sc
quel to a partisan fight.
Tho hnnoo ;poI,,d;r-
republicans of undoubted party loyalty,
voted against Mr.. Mann yesterday by
way Of standing by President Wilson
The latter, guided by the experiences
Of Lincoln during the civil war is anx-
ious to have no hamperlng, spying
congressional committee with which to
deal.
But Mr.. Wilson and his cabinet mem
bers must know that the nation at
large. swayed not by politics but by
very natural and loyal desire to see
victory for the American arms, must
have an explanation OF some sort from
an authoritative source to justify the
expenditure of money in America on
the basis proposed by Secretary Nc.
Adoo. If America is to spend s4S..
100000 a day to Britain's $33,0OO,-
900, the people here are bound to de.
mand a reason.
Dispatches from Washington indi.
cate that the administration, or some
of its prominent figures, may set up
as principle that it is unsafe for the
nation at war to detail the manner In
which it proposes to expend war ap.
This sounds convincing,
at first, but 1t is capable of containing
just the danger against which Senator
Smoot and others who agree with him
are battling.
The American public is ready to
strain every resource to provide the
billions the government must have to
gain victory, if that public can be con.
vinced there, is actual need for the
money. But blanket assurances from
Secretaries McAdoo. Baker and Dan
iels cannot carry conviction,
The president would go far toward
cementing the public's confidence in
him il he would appoint capable com.
mittee, of his own selection. to pass
on war expenditures and to give to
congress and the people the guarantee
that loose expenditures are necessary
although they cannot always be pub.
lished and discussed in detail.
Such committee, of course, would
have to be chosen with great care. 1t
would have to be made up of finan-
ciers and business men Of undoubted
probity and coed Judgment. Such a 4
committee would be hard to appoint,
no doubt, because its duties would be
onerous and its actions would be sub
iected TO criticism
Perhaps such committee would not
be considered necessity if the pres.
ent cabinet was Of such strength as
to enjoy the undivided confidence OF
the American public But it is evil
dent from the wide interest which is
taken in the present situation that at
least some of the cabinets members
lid not bring into the administration
the strength they should have brought.
1t is Of high Importance that the
American public feel that the money
which goes into the war is to be ex.
pended wisely and not wasted. 1t is
equally important that the discussion
IF the topic be divorced from the party
basis.
HERE'S HOPING IT'S TRUE.