Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1920-08-10

business lines. Inc advantage OF
democracy in government need not be
reCOunted. 1t has been held by experts
that it involves the disadvantage OF
disbursements, authorized by tho law
making power without SutfiCieut
knowledge of the need of the service,
of the possibilities OF extravaganza.
The answer to this is the budget
system. No successful business en-
terprise of any size can operate with
out It. For 100 years the federal unit
and the states as we'll made appropri-
ations without determining the diff
ference between department need and
caprice, at the same time paying lit
tie attention to the relation as be-
tween income and expense. Many OF
the states have adopted a budget sys-
TEN. and with a success that carries
no exception. Efficiency has been i'm
! proved departmental responsibility
has been centered, and economics
I have been effected. The same can be
done by the federal government. The
system will reveal at once, as it did
in the states. vast surplusage Of erl-
plOyes. 1t awakens individual inter-
est, encourages greater effort, and
gives opportunity for talent to as
/ SCit itSCIl. uc COuTSc Vi
/ least resistance develops in govern
ment bureaus hardpan which re-
tards progress. When the reorgani-
cation is made pay should be common
surate with the service. Many federal
/ departments Whose ramifica tiOns
touch the country generally, have lost
valuable men to business. This has
badly crippled postoffices, the rail
! n l. |,
Government Too Costly.
l am convinced after considerable
study Of the subject that the expense
Of the government can, without loss
of efficiency, be reduced to a maxi
mum Of $4.0OO.OOO.OOO, including
sinking fund and interest on the
national debt. When we enter the
league Of nations, We should at the
same time diminish our cost for arm
ament. To continue expenditures in
either the war or the navy depart
ments on a vast scale, once our men,
bership in the league is assured.
would seem to be very definite refu-
tation of the advantages of the world
plan which we believe 1t possesses
An appealing fundamental in the lea
que method is the reduction Of arm
aments. We cannot afford to do it un.
til other nations do likewise. II we dc
not enter the league, hundreds Of mil
lions Of dollars must be spent for
ornaments. II we 90 in, and believe
the people will insist on it. then we
can count on economies.
I Since the last national conventions
OF the two great parties. a world war
has been fought, historic. unprecc-
dented. For many. many months.
civilization hung In the balance. In
the despair of dark hours. 1t seemed
as though world dictator was In
evitable. and that henceforth men and
women who had lived In freedom
would stand at attention. in the face
OF the drawn sword of military auto
cracy. The very soul of America was
I touched - never before with q fear
that our liberties were to be taken
away. What America did, needs no
restoration here. 1t IL known Of all
men. History will acclaim it-poets
will md It an inspiration Throughout.
the ages. And yet there Ia not line
In the republican platform tina,
breathes an emotion Of pride. or re-
cites our national achievement. In
fact, II man from Mars were to de-
It's spoken interpretations, by the can.
didate of that party, as his frs,
means Of Information, he would not
find a syllable telling him that the
war had been won, and that America
had saved the world. How ungener-
Gus, how ungracious all of this Is;
how unfair that a mere group of lead
ers should SO demean themselves in
the name of the party of Lincoln and
Mckinley and Roosevelt.
1 HistOry's Verdict Coming.
The discourtesy to the president is
an affair Of political intrigue. History
will make 1t odiOus. AS we'll might II
be directed at a wounded soldier OF
the war. One fell in the trench; the
strength of the other was broken in
the enormous labOrs of his Office. But
others were ignored-the men and
women who labored at home with an
industry and skill that words can
not recount! What of the hands that
moved the lathe by day and the needle
by night? What OF the organizations
superbly effective, that conserved
food and fed the world--that carried
nourishment to the very front trench
in the face of hell's furies--that
|
that buried the dead in the dark shell
ter of the night-that inspired bust
ness men and artisans of all parties
to work in harmony? What of the
millions of men. women and children
of all creeds. religious and otherwise.
who stood in the ranks as firm as
soldiers overseas, undivided by things
they once quarreled about? What Of
the government itself-confirming
the faith of our fathers as sufficicn,
to meet the storms of time? Why
y the sneer at labor with the yelled
4 charge that 1t was a mere Stacker?
I The specticle is sufficient to con-
vince any unprejudiced man that the
republican leaders who have taken
charge of their party and nominated
It's candidate, are no more possessed
of the spirit of the hour than they
were in 1912 when they precipated
a revolution within the rank and file
of o great organization. II further
proof were needed, the action of tho
present congress supplies it. Not a
constructive law can be cited. Money