The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1919-10-03

when Congress consents to the ex-
ecutive making the budget It will have
surrendered the most important part
of a representative government" says
Uncle Joe" Cannon. former Speaker
Of the House. in October Harper's
Magazine.
The heads of the departments want
to make the budget OF expenditures
and compel Congress to levy taxes
according to their plans for expendi-
lures. The Pharaohs had that kind
Of a budget system, and so had the
Cars of Russia It was not the sys-
tenn embodied in the American Const-
tuition"
II believe that the House Of Repre-
sentatives should have one committee
with jurisdiction over appropriations.
and that the House should stand firm
ly for its budget, because it Is the one
branch of Congress to which the Con-
stitution committed this responsibility
and the one which the people hold re-
sponsible for the budget, which in
cludes taxation as well as expedi-
ture."
The taxing power should always be
close to the people. insists Uncle
joe" when we create q budget
commission We should keep it in Con-
gress and as far as possible in the
House of Representatives. which is
directly responsible to the people on
the basis of population. II we leave
any part of it to the executive we
shall only exaggerate the present en-
barrassments."
Traces System to Revenge.
The present extravaganza in the
OF the peoples money
he traces to the desire OF the Demo-
Gratis of the Forty-ninth Congress
for political revenge on Representa-
tive Samuel ]. Randall, then chair
man of the Committee on Appropria-
tions. Randall was a protective
tariff Democrat and had led the
fight in the Forty-eighth Congress
r. Morrison, chairman OF the Com
mittee on Ways and Means, to re-
duce the tariff horizontally to a
point where it would be for revenue
only. In the Forty-ninth Congress
had his revenge in the dis
of appropriations. He in
troduced a rule at the beginning of
the session which was reported by
the Committee on Rules and adopted
by the House, giving Jurisdiction of
appropriations as well as legisla-
ton for the various departments of
to the several commit
tees on Military Affairs. Naval AZ
fairs, Postoffices, Agriculture, Indian
Affairs and Foreign Affairs.
1t was the beginning of executive
interference in legislation which. ac-
cording to Uncle Joe," has lead to
dominance in legislation
for appropriations to meet the de-
mands of the spenders instead of the
the taxpayers. Instead
of having one committee to act as
an auditing body to keep the ma
tional expenditures within the ma
tional revenues. half a dozen COM
mittees were given this Jurisdiction.
The inevitable result was a big in
centive to extravaganza and the
more careless appropriation OF pub
lie money.
Other Evils In Present System.
Waste and carelessness in spending
the peoples money are not the worst
evils Of the present system. in the
opinion of the former Speaker. '"Un-
der our present plan OF distributing
bills to half a dozen
OF the House and as many
more in the Senate We have opened
the door for executive officers to
formulate policies.
The multifarious duties Of the
members of Congress in. considering
.. 900 bills justifies them in follow
ing the committees having jurisiic-
ton, but this tendency of the ex-
ecutive departments to formulate gov
eminent policies without regard TO
their conflict with other policies of
other departments. and without con-
of the revenues, is the
one great embarrassment in the pres