The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-10-21
NO PROSPECT OF. NATIONAL BUDGET LAW GOING THRU
Republican Oppositi o Il Holding Up Measure Which
 Democrats Could Pass

1 OsmOCTaJS could Pass
 Washington, Oct 21.-There is lit
 tie or no prospect of legislation for a
 national budget system being enacted during the special session of Congress. : But there is q chance that during the long days of the regular session that i begins Dec, l, this important measure will pass both Houses and it undoubt- edly will receive the signature of the President, who has long been an ad- yocate of such a law.
 Already the Republican leaders in Congress are sharpening their pencils and voices to point out to the nation this bit of constructive legislation as one of the nileStones on their Iegisla- l tive way. If it was passed today it would be the only one, the Democrats ! say, but it is not yet passed and i when it is Democratic votes will be i necessary to overcome the opposition ! of "Old Guardsters,' who are reputed l to De whetting their knives for it's i arrival.
 i President Wilson and former Presi- l dent Taft have done much to prepare i the people as a whole for the installa- ton of a budget system. The average i citizen neither knew what a budget is, ] 1 pounding the need of one, and point 1 ed out that Congressional extrava- l gances could be curtailed, the voter i was for it.
 l Some Democratic leaders have no i hesitancy in asserting that the only : reason why the Republican majority l is displaying such soEcitude about a 1 budget is because it has failed utter i ly in passing constructive legislation l during the extra session, now rapidly ! drawing to a close. Trying to save 1 their faces, is the way this conten- 1 ton is expressed. Moreover, the l Democrats blame the Republicans for 1 having fostered the present extrava- gant system upon the country in the l half century they were in power sub
 sequent to the Civil War, and having 1 done nothing to eradicate the evil. l Joseph w. Byrns of Tennessee,
 ranking Democratic member of the House appropriations committee, and
 who has had much to do with the 1 drawing up of the budget bill, re- gently pointed out the long time it i has taken to educate the people to l the necessity of a budget.
 Among the most prominent advo- l cates of such system," said MT. l Byrns, were former President Taft, i both during and since his admins i tration; John J. Fitzgerald (Dem., 1 N. Y.), and Swager SherIey (Dem., 1 Ky.), both of whom were great chair men of the appropriations commit l tee, and President Wilson, as shown 1 in his message to Congress on Dec 4, i 1917. The necessity for some sort of i a budget system was recognized to be
 of such grave importance that both 1 n he 1 for it in their national platforms. 1 Even then, however, although l ably advocated by a number in both
 political parties, both in and out of 1 Congress, there was no general public l demand or public sentiment in favor l of the inauguration of such a system.
 Some one has truly said that the gov 1 ernment, like the individual, is | creature of habit. This is entirely ! true. It is prone to follow along the | old beaten bath until strong pressure l causes 1t to move to higher ground. And so long as our revenues exceed ed our expenditures, and so long as it was possible to collect the neces-
 sary revenues by way of indirect tax ation and the taxpayer paid his tax without knowing he was paying it, ] there was no general demand or par I@S--S@' oCEStA ' Oll t4AS pal O1 tie gen eral public for economy or a reform
 in our financial and accounting sys- tems"
 In discussing the House budget measure MT. Byrns emphasized that ] ''the chief merit of this bill is that it ! fixes responsibility and brings the full
 light of public opinion to bear on
 those responsible and in that way it
 will surely bring about a greater
 economy and efficiency in govern
 ment"
 'In order that there may be real and practical economy" continued MT. Byrns. 'it IS essential that there
 shall be a public demand for it. The
 government at Washington reflects
 the views, wishes and sentiments of the people as their representatives un-
 del'st and them, and if the people are
 ind iferent to extrava gance and uncon-
 1erned as to the amount of public
 expenditures, there is but little real res stance to the persistent and con- sant demand which is ever pressing on Congress for enlarged and new
 and untried Federal activities As a result the National government is
 now performing many functions of l government which really belong to ! the states and municipalities and ] could best and more economically be
 performed by them. The people are
 now watching the government expen- ditures closer than ever and as re-
 suit there has happily come a persist
 ent demand for budgetory reform in the interest of economy and efficiency in government service.
 | ''The reason for this change Is per- l fectly obvious. Experience has shown | that after every war the people, at least for a time, have given a closer l scrutiny to the.F governments ex- 1 pend:tures. There has always been a huge war debt to pay and the pea pie are brought face to face with l higher taxes. These conditions have 1 heen multiplied many times by the i last war, and the people are turning 1 their eyes on Washington, in order l to see just how their money is being 1 spent. It is this fact which makes it possible to do now what could not l be done 8 few years ago-that is, to | secure the favorable consideration of
 a measure revising our appropriating 1 and accounting system in the interest l of economy and efficiency.
 The annual expenses of our govern 1 ment are now many times greater 1 than they were a few years ago, and | they must continue so for many years