The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1919-10-27

tfoH4 Whatever 10 lHelil, DIS any oHS Wiz I
find who will take the trouble ito look |
back over the history of the resolutions
of inquiry with regard to the Mexican
trouble. / have been told, though
have not counted them myself, that |
there are 262, and / think only one OF
them has been answered. They go to
the department. or to the PRESIDENT
and no notice at all is taken of them.
If there issan objection to sending in
the information asked for, that is not
stated. Nothing is stated. They are
simply pocketed and no attention is
paid to them. That is a new SYSTEM
dare say a very good one, but 1T is
new
While it has been perhaps inevitable
that the senate should not have given
much attention to legislative matters,
so long as the peace treaty has been the
predominant issue in that body, the
house has no such excuse, and it viii
be hard for the members to arouse
much public sympathy for the dilatory
practices pursued there.
1t is the constitutional duty of the
house to initiate fiscal legislation, and
| this duty has been specially urgent at
| this time owing to the high cost of hv-
ing, TO which the President directed its
| attention last July. Nevertheless,
when it came to the adoption of the
| budget system, which is one of the fun
damentals of an economical fiscal poll
| cy, weeks were wasted in useless gener-
al debate in the house, when the leaders
! on both sides knew that there was
| hardly q member on either side of the
| chamber who was not ready to vote
| for it. a 81
| Some remarkable figures have re-
! Gently been complied by Charles F.
/ Nesbit, showing the truly serious condi-
| ton Of the nation s finances. The pres
/, ent Indebtedness of the United States,
he shows is between 100000 and
| $50, 900 600 600, or about 10 times great
| CIR than any national indebtedness ex-
| listing at any previous time in our his
| tory. On the top of that, it is conced
ed that national borrowing will have
to continue next year in order to meet
| the deficit between current revenues
and expenses
''From the establishment of the gov
eminent in 1889 to 1916 inclusive, Gus
toms duties have yielded over $4,000
100000, internal revenue over 100000
100000 and miscellaneous receipts over
$2,000,000, 600, says Mr. Nesbit
1.-The total receipts of the government
from its establishment to 1916, inclu-
sive, he continued, Excluding loans
and premiums, have been between $25,-
600, 100000 and $2s,000.00O 900.
1.-THE expenditure of the government
for the same period have been for civil
and miscellaneous purposes, s. ,S44 900,
600; war 1921 ,0oo,0 900; navy So.
SO0,oOo,o 600; Indian, $624, 200, 600; pen
sions, $5,099000,0 geo; interest, 1920,
{ 100000, making q total of between q
{ and y billions, exclusive of the cost o.
the Panama canal or of the postal ser
vice.
We find ourselves now with a deb
= equal TO the entire income and the en-
n tire receipts of the national govern
/ ment from its establishment to the tim
we entered the war;
Treasury records show that the pc
t. capita debt in this country at the clos
I of the Revolutionary war was Sl5. I
1910, it had reached the lowest poin
II in history when the total debt of tn
Z" United States wits only 81 ,01U. 300 o
less than 81 per capita. During tn
I. Civil War the national debt reache
g at its highest point. $2,675 100000. Q
VI per capita of $769S. but BY 1885,
/ this debt had been reduced to approx
e imately $2,000,000,00 making the ne
r, capita about $685..
Reduction of the national debt wen
II steadily on, and in 1890, it was rs 10,
IS as billion and half with per cap
n ia of only $i41j, and in 1916 it wa
a. the lowest since the Civil war when
r, was billion dollars. making per cal
70 ita Of $9.S8. The interest charges fl
II ured on a per capita basis in 1910 wa
Dr. one cent. Just after the Civil war.
Il had reached the total of $4l2; and i
II 1916 it was % cents. Today the inter
is est or the national debt is SO per car
$. tia and the national interest charge i
1920 will be more than the entire ma
re tional debt of 1916
s Figured on the basis of nations
Sc wealth, Mr.. Nesbit shows that til
to United States national debt in the Yea
N l9l9 Is equal to one tenth of the M
IN ton $ total wealth as compared to til
Il debt of England which is one-ffth an
the debts of Italy and France whic
G. are approximately one third Yet. wit
TINS state OF affairs confronting the nf
ton, the house has adopted y supin
= policy with regard to fiscal matters. III
sole exception being in the matter q
the budget system which has lust bee
passed. And even that could be dis
posed OF by the senate before the en-
OF the present special session and will
out interfering with the consideration
or the peace treaty if its leaders woul
set themselves to the task.
ID