The Washington herald., 1920-04-05
3 BILLION DEFICIT
LOOMS BEFORE u. S.
AS NEW PROBLEM
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ture. and which seized upon the war
to spread themselves all over the
man have asked Congress to grant
them an increase in appropriations
over the last year of the war
amounting to the enormous sum OF
1855, 56S, ,6o6.41 "A sum almost eQuai
to the total cost Of the government
fifteen years ago.
Only two departments of the gov
ernment-the Navy Department ana
the Postoffice Department - are
seeking smaller appropriations Tor
the ensuing fiscal year than they
had last year.
Congress is not going to grant
this enormous increase in approprta-
tions. That much Is certain. Ac-
cording to Mr.. Mondell. the leader
of the House, Congress will chop at
least $1,000, 200, 900 OF the amount
sought by the departments.
No Machinery for "Chopplng"
But in chopping 1t on. Congress
will hack here, there and elsewhere.
without any scientific consideration
of the whole amount Of money need
ed for the operation Of the gov
ernment and without any considera-
tion, say, as to the greater desira-
bility of an appropriation for the
Department Of Agriculture as com
pared with an appropriation for the
Department Of Labor. Congress has
no machinery now for the considera-
ton of such problems and as yet
II has not indicated an intention
OF setting up such machinery.
Congress will proceed to chop ap-
propriations Just as II has chopped
them in the past Each committe
which considers appropriations will
cut down items or eliminate items
in the bills before II. But these
committees will not confer with
other committees, and there are be-
tween twenty-five and thirty OF
them, all told, which are handling
other appropriations.
Nine Billions Needed.
Mr.. Mondell, in q speech before
the House several weeks ago, graph
ically illustrated the problem before
Congress-. He informed the House
that, for the ensuing fiscal year,
the United States Is facing the ne
cessity of raising the stupendous
sum of ss,oS6,35s,574.e2.
As against this. the Secretary OF
the Treasury. in his annual report,
estimates the receipts OF the gov
ment, from all sources, at $685.
$4,000. -.
If Mr.. Mondell's figures are cor
rect-and II Il not unlikely that
they may be enhanced still further
and IL the secretary's figures
are correct-and It Is probable
that they are optimistic-the United
States, on June 80, 1s21-sixteen
months away-will have hang
over deficit for one fiscal year OF
S3,o50.5o8,774.6z.
This deficit II greater than the
entire public debt at any time In
the history Of the country, prior to
April 6, 1917. when we entered the
world war. The interest on II alone
will be greater than the amount OF
money needed to run any one OF
several of the government depart
mefts prior to our entrance into
the world war.
At the time Mr.. Mondell made
his speech. It was rumored but II
was not certain that our allies and
associates In the world war would
default on the interest on the
money which we advanced them
during the conflict and following
the armisticeL Since then. their
inability to pay has been made
known and the Secretary of the
Treasury has asked. authority from
Congress to fund over these in
terest payments for several years,
adding them to their total indebt-
edness.
This means that approximately
$500. 100000 in. interest due the
United States VIII not be paid dur
,nG the time OF funding and that
the American government will have
to raise Just that much additional
money by taxation during each OF
the. funding years. The loans to
the allies were made through an
exchange of credit. We loaned
them our bonds and took their
bonds as security. They. are nm
able to meet the interest payments
on their bonds. which our govern
ment holds as security. but the
United States. must pay. the inter-
est due to the American people
who bought the liberty. bonds which