New-York tribune., 1920-02-20


finance through which industry pro-
duces prosperity has been dislocated.
After years of sustained excitement,
with nerves keyed to the highest pitch
OF effort, old occupations seem tame
and distasteful; there is widespread
desire for something different to be
attained. no one knows how. Multi
tudes of people are neglecting their
own affairs and distressing themselves
over the shortcomings of others. It Is
a prevailing state of mind.
course, like other epidemics and some
day the world will realize that the cure
Is for each man to go to work himself,
attend chiefly to his own business, per-
form his own duties, pull his own
weight in the boat. Then the high
cost of living will go down.
Our business as party Is to ad-
dress Yourselves with cheerful courage
and confidence to the public prob
lens demanding solution and to bring
our country back to normal.
People Must Earn
More Than 1t Spends
"To prosper, a peoplc-like private
individual-must earn more than it
spends, must really earn by contrib
uting to the wealth of mankind more
than it consumes. 1t cannot live long
by borrowing, nor can it live long by
system of taxation which absorbs the
accommodations of the past and gradu-
ally dries up the source of supply.
''Tt is true that political party cam
political party can produce the shining
and potent example of thrifty and
economical government. The useful
thing is not to have a government that
breaches thrift, but government that
practices thrift, a government which
makes people understand that their
money is being saved, so that it will
be worth while for them to earn and
save.
"All the world has been confused by
the amazing financial figures of the
war. Incredible amounts were raised
by taxation and by loans, and were
spent like water There has been prof
ligate expenditure. To some extent
that was Inevitable. l am not now
criticizing that. There would have
been less il our government had begun
TO prepare for war years before it did,
and when the plainest common sense
demanded that it should begin; but
] am not going to talk about that.
"Thcre would have been less if when
we entered the war the men whom the
process of natural selection in Amer
lean business had pointed out as COM
petent to deal with great business
affairs had been promptly called to
Washington, and given power to act
in that greatest of all business under
takings, instead of leaving authority
in the hands of q group Of men quite
unframed in business affairs and dis
trustful of all who had achieved bus
mess success; but that is past.
officials Have Habit
OF Spending Money
"The important fact now is that the
officials and agents of the present Ad-
ministration have acquired the habit
of spending public money with both
hands and they do not know how to
stop. The government departments are
still running for the most part under
the wartime appropriations made by
the Sixty-f tn Congress, which was
elected in November, 1916, and they
are going strong.
recall the fact that Republicans had
no opportunity to acquire the bad habit
of spending too much money under
wartime appropriations; and they
may well feel that the way to change
the practice is to put out the men who
have the habit and put in those who
have it not.
with party in power free from
responsibility for defending the mis-
takes and bad methods which are to be
reformed, three great things can be
done.
"First, the vast mass of figures
tvh iCh bo oF
ernment are presented in such a way
that hardly anybody can understand
to what conclusions they lead can be
reduced to practical and instructive
form by the establishment of an ef-
fectlve budget system, under which the
government will be obliged to start
with its resources in order to deter
mine It's expenditures, under which
the cloth will be measured before the
coat is cut, under which, when new
or enlarged expenditure is proposed.
the question will have to be asked {:
Where is the money to come from p
and under which responsibility for ex-
travagance can be fixed. 1t was quite
right during the war to say: Such and
such things must be done Immediately
we Will find the money somehow; but
no nation can afford to conduct its
peace expenditures in that way.
Stop Urging Congress
To Make Appropriations
"a second thing to be done is to Sc
cure executive departments that will
stop urging and Congress that will
stop appropriating money for things
which need not be done now or need
not be done so eNpensively or need not
be done at all. We should have both
IN the executive and legislative
branches men who will not be content
with the assurance that proposed ex,
penditure Is for good purpose. but
who VIII also inquire: Are we justified d
at this time in adding to the already
oppressive weight of taxation upon the
American people in order to secure the
money Tor this expenditure?
icie present Congress has done we'll
1T has made es-'rmous reductions in the
Estimates submitted by the executive
departments for their expenditure in
the next fiscal year, which will BEGIN on
she Hrst OF next July. After that time
+ any reductions will be forced by the
7 nlts OF appropriations
1T is, however, very difficult for
n professional committees to cut down
expenses OF Il vast and COMPLICATED
slness like that of the United States
+ Vernment without assistance from
heads of the various departments
n ~ ~ w