River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1920-01-15
Our Weekly Letter
From Washington
BY James A. Frear, M. c.


the House recently declared in
speech in the House that sit would
be a crime for the government to
attempt to borrow any more money
during the next fiscal year." In his
talk Mondell said the total obliga-
tions and estimates reported by the
Administrative departments reach
ed nine billion dollars for the next
fiscal year, the receipts about six
billions dollars, leaving a balance Of
three billion dollars to be met. He
insisted that estimates on appropri-
alton bills must be cut approximate
ly 25 per cent to prevent treasury
deficit.
"We cannot increase taxes; we can
ret issue bonds; there is no course
pen to us but to economic to the
limit" That was his declaration. The
situation of course is inherited from.
tie war and is not party measure
and every effort is now required to
maintain a SCUM; condition of tn,
rublic trels1Iy al a time when Sir
George Paish, the English economist
is here urging us to pool with other
governments to raise ten billion dol
lars to finance bankrupt Europe. Car
ter Glass, Ex-Secretary of the Treas
ury, appeared before the Ways and
Means Committee last Saturday
urging that action be taken to relieve
European conditions.
Assistant Postmaster General
Preager testified before our investi-
CATION committee several days ago,
that daily operation of a postal route
between New York and Washington
had been maintained for ninteen and
one half months. Other routes were
from Cleveland to Chicago and New
York to Cleveland, which had exist
ed over six months. An extra charge
is made on airplane postage so that
the service is self-supporting and
carries the mail twice the speed OF
the fastest train between the points
named. Air service is becoming of
recognized commercial value and the
p sstal service has been giving dem
oastration of its possibilities.
Four postal pilots have lost their
lives during 473,210 miles of flying.
The fatalities seem rather large but
ir the ranscontinental races last
October, from New York to San
Francisco and back, ten pilots were
killed and nine of these were in what
is known as the I'D II A." the only
American built plane we sent to
France during the war. Rickenback-
Ell and other aviators called them
flaming cofins." General Mitchell,
of Wisconsin, who commanded Amer
lean aviators in France, testified to
TIE heavy fatalities in the recent
race.
Recent criticism from daily paper
outside of the Tenth District was
directed against Congress for per-
hitting the big papers of the country
to use unlimited quantities of paper.
Many bills have been introduced to
relieve the paper situation and these
are always referred to the Post Office
Committee for consideration. The
Anthony bill proposed to limit quaint
ity of paper used by the large papers
o. the country Anthony is big
man mentally and physically, and a
newspaper man who halls from Kan
sas.
His bill had hearings before the
Post Office Committee and was OPP
posed by the large daily papers. Fin
ally promise was made that they
would voluntarily limit their issues
to ten per cent and they were given
go days in which to do it. Anthony
told me they had not done so, but he
is an important member of the Mil
itary Committee and cannot follow
it up. This is the situation. Waste
in paper comes from every direction.
The mail of the farmer, the man in
the shop, and in the Office, is bur-
dened with pamphlets, catalogs and
other documents which are rarely
read. Waste must be curtailed and
the big papers are offenders that
should be limited, but the only SOL
ution may be to appoint some public
agency to allocate the paper.
| have have thrown open to general
competition, the different appoint
ments to Annapolis and West Point
giving every boy in the district an
even chance. Never before has
equal opportunity been afforded with
four appointments to Annapolis and
one to West Point. Preliminary eX-
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