New-York tribune., 1918-07-13
Unbusinesslike War

We are accustomed to think that only
in this country, with our loose system of
appropriations by Congress, the absence
of any budget or board of control, is
public money thrust about in wholly
unbusinessike and reckless fashion APP
parently it is otherwise. A recent num-
Der of "'The Manchester Guardian" has
strong editorial on conditions that now
obtain in England. "The Guardian,' it
is true, is not overly friendly to the
Lloyd George administration and is
strong opponent of the "bitter- -enders"
and all the jingoes Of Great Britain.
But it has high rank-none higher And
it must have been very deeply moved to
write in such vein as this:
"Thc government is now spending
about s7,750,000 of our money a day-a
little Of which may ultimately be recov-
cred. Nobody believes that all this vast
treasure is being spent wisely or with
common prudence. Most Of us knew the
contrary long ago from our own expe-
rience and observation, and now we have
the reports of the Committee on Public
Expenditure, revealing to everybody the
chaos of administration, the lack of the
most ordinary business precaution, the
colossal waste.
"But that is not the whole or the worst
The reports of the committee have been
utterly disregarded by the government
The scandals exposed; the months
pass; nobody is punished, nothing is al
tered, the evils increase and multiply
The moral is that the departments have
become enslaved by the intoxication
of extravaganza that they cannot euro
themselves, and mere exhortation is but
an idle buzzing in their ears
Nor is this matter which has only
recently come to light. 1t is Of long
standing, and feeling had become so
acute as to lead to the appointment of
Committee of Public Expenditure, to
which "The Guardian" refers. Let US
take the "Guardian" Indictment and see
how far it is paralleled in this country:
"Let us, for the hundredth time, sum
marize the vices of the present system
There is control over finance by the
Chancellor Of the Exchequer because Mr..
Bonar Law continues to combine the
duties of Chancellor of the Excheuuer.
leader of the House Of Commons and
member of the War Cabnet--an impos-
sble burden for any human being to
carry. There is no control by the Treas
ury, because Mr.. Asquith abolished such
control, and even if it existed the Treas
ury is so understatfed in numbers and
knowledge that it could not exercise it.
There is no control by the House of
Commons, because there are no estimates.
and even if there were the House of
Commons is not equipped with the neces-
sary machinery of committees to ex-
anime them properly"
The position of Mr.. Bonar Law is
largely duplicated by Secretary McAdoo.
who, with the tremendous problems of
the transportation system on his hands.
can give relatively little time to matters
OF taxation and finance. The position
OF the House of Commons is largely par
alleled by the position of Congress.
which, so far as appropriations 90, has
become pretty much rubber STAMP.
countersigning the orders of the Admin
lstration. For the rest, we have not
even centralized War Cabinet.
The Guardians" proposals for rem
edying conditions in England are. first.
a Budget Committee of the House of
Commons, with the restoration of the
estimates; second, reorganization of
the Treasury, and, third, "a one-iob
Chancellor of the Exchequer." 1t is evi-
dent that nearly the same situation pre-
walls in this country now. If we are to
avoid the same chaos which "The Guar
dan describes, it is evident that Con-
gress and the Treasury should set about
now the organization of just such a
budget and Budget Committee and "one-
]oo Secretary of the Treasury as is
proposed over there. We deeply admire
MY. McAdoo's work He cannot do
everything. And the country will more
willingly support practically unlimited
expenditure by the government and more
cheerfully accede to the taxation and re-
of consumption necessary for
thls II 1T has firm feeling that govern
ment expenditures are being made with
some degree of business prudence and
with clear sense for real.nee
s.-
At last the terrible secret is ont Tho