The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-09-22

vOr. In 1916 the platforms of three | great parties, Democratic, Republi- ! can, and Progressive, advocated the |
 introduction of tho budget system as | a means of relieving the terrible ]
 wastrfulness and confusion of our | 3 Federal finances. Leading statesmen | of both parties in Congress today are | Advocating Llis change. The fact that we have a Republican Congress and a Democratic administration makes the present a good time rather than bad time for introducing the system, since any new system of pub lie finance must be one which can be made to work when there Is di- vided control at Washin gton.
 The magnitude of financial trans actions at Washington have been null tiplied enormously by the war. Where the Federal government was spend ing something like a billion dollars a year in 1913, 1t was spending at the rate of over twJ billions month when the peak of the war loan was being carried, and as late as July, 1919. expenditures were about a bill lion for the month. While accurate forecasts of the expenditures for the fiscal year of 1919-2O cannot of course be made today, it is certair that they win eSreed the prc-war figure by
  of watchfulness and economy in ap- propriations was ever greater. Ttams which would havo bullIed large m or dinary years are now so trifling in comparison with the vast totals that they are sanctioned with compara- lively little scrutiny. The temptation to measure things in terms of war appropriations, and to make extrava- gant appropriations on the theory that the amounts involved are rel ! atively small, is strong. The aggre- gate of unnecessary expenditures Cer- tain to occur under our present meth ods is enormous, and the need for moro business like planning Is exceed | ingly great The difficulties are in- herent in the system, not in the men who administer 1t.
 What is a budEet2 Roughly speak | ing, a budget is a comprehensive if [ nancial plan, designed 4or enactment into law. in which a balance between receipts and expenditures is aimed at, | and in which a proper proportion among the different items of expen- allure is sought.
 British Financial FincSsc.
 On April IT, 1890, the Right Hon l orable George J. CfosChen. Chancel- | Tor of the ExeChequer, presented in tNC H0uee of Commons his annual | plan and made his report for the 1 preceding year. So far as eNpendi- | lures have gone, he had done well. | Expenditures had exceeded estimates | by only f116,OOO, and this Was not regarded as calling for explanation. l But the revenues had outrun antici | patton by f3,OOO,OOO. compared with an estimate of E9O,OOO,OOO, and Cos chen was obliged to apologize for and 1 eNplaiu this f3.OOO.OOO surplus,
 on April 23. 1891, MT. GOschen |
 again apoIogized for a surplus of |
 f1,756,OOO. On April Il, 1892, MT. | Goschen presented to the House a 1 very careful estimate of the income for various taxes, giving the House dia grams and statistics indicating how variations in prosperity affected i different items of revenue. He esti- 1 mated that the receipts from the | income tax would be reduced in the
 coming year by f443.OOO, a predic- l ton substantially verified by the end |
 of the next year.
 T clinical though the English bud !!
 get was and minute though the re-
 finements in these delicate forecasts. |
 the speech of the Chancellor of the |
 EXeCh Squer, often lasting two or l three hours has been one of the great |
 events in the English Parliament |
 and crowded houses have listened to |
 it with breathless attention. Literary
 finish as well as scientific accuracy |
 has characterized it. Gladstone's | great reputation was made both by the clarity and eIoquence of his ox- position of his budget, and by the ac- | curacy of his forecasts.
 In contrast with this wonderful | financial system, our American me | tiSods have been incredibly loose, l slipshod and crude. Our revenue measures have been prepared by diff ferent groups of men from those who have planned our appropriations 1 There has been no single man Charg- ed with the responsibility for keep ing expenditures and revenues to- gether. This has made relatively little financial pressure in a rich and growing country, particularly sur pluses have been numerous in our history. But the very existence of a surplus has commonly been a temp tation to extravagance, and has at times led to very serious economic difficulties, particularly under the old Sub-Treasury system. under which the Eovernm s-lt placed it's funds in its own vaults and withdrew actual cash from circulation. Thus, the Panic of 1857 was partly precipitated by this cause. and all parties got to- gether fin 1857 to reduce the tariff as a means of reducing the surplus and permitting funds to get back in the hands of th2 banks and the peo- ole again.
 President CIeyelan Ts ablest mes sage to Coz gre1s, that of 1887, dealt with he problem of dispos'nE of a growing surplus. Cleveland had been using the surplus in purchasing Gov ernmert bonds and paying off the national debt. until he had forced up the price of bonds 10 point which made further purchases unwise. He proposed that the revenuea should be reduced as a means of disposing
 of further surpluses. Congress, on 1he other hand. unwilling to reduce 4he tariff, which involved protection as well as revenue, was disposed to spend the surplus in pensions and in other ways A very large number of President C1evsland's yetoes grew out of this dtffere-ce with Congress, ve- toes of bills for pensions and for sxpen diturss which he regarded as unwarranted and extravagant
 American Pracfzces,
 During President Tafts admins