The Ocala evening star., 1920-08-07


outposts, be the real rulers of Amer
lea. The federal reserve act was
originated, advocated and made law
by a democratic president and Con-
gress. against the bitter protests of
the republican stand-patters. who al
most without exception voted against
it. Among these men are the familiar
names of Senators Lodge. Penrose
ard Smoot, the inside Senate ca5al
responsible for the existing status IN
the leadership of their party. The
federal reserve act is admitted to be
the most constructive monetary legis-
lation in history. At stroke it
transferred the power over money
and credit and all they represent,
from one financial district out into
the keeping of the people themselves
and instead of one center to which all
paid tribute, there are II citadels of
financial freedom where every citizen
has an equal right and where the
i principle that the credit of American
business shall be free is the basis of
administration. Every citizen should
be alert to guard this great institu
ton which is his guarantee of credit
independence. 1t should be kept from
/ the hands of those who have never
been it's friends, and my by changes
in few obscure phrases could trans-
late it into greater power for evil
than it ever has been for good. It is
almost unnecessary to speak of the
federal reserve system in connection
with the winning of the war, as, next
to the conservation of our manhood
i and womanhood itself, the greatest
i factor was the marshalling into one
unit through the federal reserve
banks of the stupendous wealth of
i America. To those of vision who look
out beyond our shores into that COM
mercial domain where we are so just
ly entitled to enter in time of
peace, latent power of the federal re-
serve system can be seen promoting
in every quarter of the globe an ever
widening flow of American commerce.
/ We will soon have marchant ma
rine fleet of 100000 tons aggre-
gate, every ship flying the American
flag and carrying in American bot-
toms the products of mill and mine
and factory and farm. This would
seem to be a guarantee of continued
prosperity. Our facilities for exchange
and credit, however, in foreign parts,
should be enlarged and under the fed
eral reserve system, banks should be
established in important trading GEN.
i ters. | am impressed also. with the
Importance of improving. if not re-
organizing our consular service. The
certain increase in foreign trade
would seem to demand it. This sug-
gests another change. Our ambassa-
dors to foreign countries have had
assigned to them a military and
naval attache. The staff should be
enlarged so as to include an officer of
the government whose exclusive duty
would be to make observation and
report development and improvement
in educational and social problems
1 generally.
i Government bureaus during the
war had close contact with the bust
ness organization of the country.
That experience revealed the modern
need of reorganization along purely
business lines. The advantage of
democracy in government need not
i be recounted. 1t has been held by
experts that it involves the disad-
vantage of disbursements. authorized
by the law-making power without suf-
ficient knowledge of the need of the
i service, or the possibilities of extrav-
agance. The answer to this is the
budget system. No successful busi-
ness enterprise of any size can ope-
rate without it. For a hundred years,
the federal unit, and the states as
well, made appropriations without
determining the difference between
department need and caprice. at the
same time, paying little attention to
the relation as between income and
expense. Many of the states have
adopted a budget system, and with a
success that carries no exception.
Efficiency has been improved-de-
partmental responsibility has been
centered, and economies 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 surpIusage OF employees.
1t awakens individual interest. en-
courages greater effort, and gives
. opportunity for talent to assert it
self. The normal course of least re-
sistance, develops in government bu-
reaus hardpan, which retards pro-
gress. When the reorganization is
made, pay should be commensurate
with service. Many federal depart
ments whose ramifcations touch the
!: country generally. have lost valuable
men to business. This has badly
, crippled postofices, the railway mail
service and other branches.
I 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 four billion dollars. includ-
) ing sinking fund and interest on the