Albuquerque morning journal., 1920-07-03

UN uNDdIllllehldl BSIl
mates of sums which would no
have been spent in any event, an(
by reducing formal appropriation
the republican statement of eNpen
ditures omits the pregnant fac
that congress authorized the use o
one and one half billion dollars II
the hands of various Department.
and bureaus, which otherwis,
would have been covered in TO thu
treasury, and which should be add
ed to the republican total of eX
penditures.
High Cost of Living.
The high cost of living and tn,
depreciation of bond values in thi!
country are primarily due to the
war itself, to the necessary govern
mental expenditures for the de.
structive purposes of war, to pri.
Vate extravaganza, to the worlt
shortage of capital, to the initiation
of foreign currencies and credits
and in large degree to conscience.
less profiteering.
The republican party IS respon'
sible for the failure to restore
peace and peace conditions il
Europe, which is principal cause
of pOst-armistice initiation the
world over. II has denied the de.
mand of the president for neces,
sary legislation to deal with sec
ondary and local causes. The
sound policies pursued by the
treasury and the federal reserve
system have limited this country
though they could not prevent the
initiation which was world wide
elected upon specific promises tC
curtail public expenditures and tc
bring the, country back to n status
of effective economy, the republi-
can party in congress wasted time
and energy for more than year
in vain and eXtravagant investiga.
tions, costing the tax payers great
sums of money, while revealing
nothing beyond the incapacity OF
republican politicians to cope with
the problems. Demanding that
the president from his place al
the peace table. call the congress
into extraordinary session for i'm
perative purposes of readjustment
the congress when convened spent
thirteen months in partisan pur'
suits, failing to repeal a single wal
statute which harassed business ol
to initiate single constructive
measure to help business 1t busted
itself making a prediction recort
of pretended thrift, having not one
particle of substantial existence ir
fact 1t ragged against profiteer.
and the high cost of living with
out enacting single statute tc
make the former afraid or doing o
single act to bring the latter witt
limitations.
The simple truth Is that the higt
cost of living can only be remediet
by increased production, stric'
governmental economy and a re-
lentless pursuit of those who take
advantage of post war conditions
and are demanding and receiving
outrageous profits.
We pledge the democratic party
to a policy of strict economy II
government expenditures and to the
enactment ana enforcement o.
such legislation as may be required
to bring profiteers before the bal
of criminal justice.
.......r Tariff.
We reaffirm the traditional pol
icy of the democratic party in ia
vor of q tariff for revenue only
and confirm the policy of basinG
tariff revisions upon the Intelligent
research of . nonpartisan commits
sion, rather than upon the demands
Of selfish interests, temporarily
held in allegiance.
Budget.
In the interest of economy and
good administration. We favor the
creation of an effective budget
system that will function in accord
with the principles of the con lti-
tuition. The reform should reach
both the executive and legislative
aspects of the question. The su-
pervision and preparation of the
budget should be vested in the sec
retary of the treasury as the rep
resentative of the president The
budget. as such, should not be in
creased by the congress except by
two thirds vote. each house. how
ever, being free to exercise its con-
stitutional privilege of making APP
preparations through Independent
bills. The appropriation bills
should be considered by single CON-
mittees of the house and senate.
The audit system should be consol-
idated and its powers expanded so
as to pass upon the wisdom of. as
we'll as the authority for expendi-
lures.
A budget bill was passed in the
closing days of the second session
of the sixty-sixth congress which,
1t validated by plain constitutional
defects and defaced by considera-
tions Of patronage. the president
was obliged to veto. The house
amended the bill to meet the exec
utive objection. We condemn the
republican senate for adjourning
without passing the amended
measure when by devoting an hour
or two more to this urgent public
business budget system could
have been provided.
Senate Rules.
We favor such alteration of the
rules Of procedure of the senate of
the United States as will permit
the prompt transaction of the ma
tons legislative business.
Agricultural Interest,
To the great agricultural inter-
ests of the country, the demo-
cratic party does not find 1t neces-
sary to make promises. 1t already
is rich In its record of things actu-
ally accomplished. For nearly half
a century of republican rule not a
sentence was written into the fed
eral statutes affording one dollar
of bank credits to the farming in
terests of America. In the first
term of this democratic admins
tration the national bank act was
SO altered as to authorize loans of
five years maturity on improved
farm lands Later was established
a system of farm loan banks, from
which the borrowings already ex-
ceed $300,000,000 and under which
the interest rate to farmers has
been so materially reduced as to
drive out Of business the farm loan
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