Republican farmer., 1920-06-11
NO SAVING MADE BY REPUBLICANS,
 CHARGES BYRNS Deficiency Budgets Will Offset Alleged Cuts in Expenditures. A. WAR INVESTIGATIONS ADDED TO EXPENSES Government Should Be Alp
 preaching Pre-War
 Creditors.

Washington D. C., June 9.---ExpoS- ing the fa1lacy of Republican claims that the present Congress has effected great "economies'' in appropriations, Representative Joseph w. Byrns, of Tennessee, ranking Democrat of the House Appropriations committee, an- alyzed the work of the closing session of Congress from an intimate knowl- edge of appropriation figures.
 Tbere has been no real retrench- ment, said MT. Byrns, as will be illus trated by deficiency budgets that have been passed and must yet be passed and that will offset so-called cuts in the departmental estimates. Further more, he averred, the Republican ma jority has added one million dollars or more to the country's tax burdens by conducting partisan investga- tions of the conduct of the war. These investigations have been fruitless, have developed no fraud and have re- suited in no legislation.
 From the very moment this Con- gress convened in. extra seSsion," said MT. Byrns, "it began to play politics in the interest of the presidential election of 1920. Instead of devoting itself to the enactment of wholesome laws, it began immediately to provide for a large number of investigating committees. It is estimated these in
 
 more than s1, GOO, 900 for high salaried employees, experts, travel and other expenses, junkets and time consumed in the departments supplying data de- handed
 These committees have only found large sums of money were spent dur ing the war, which everybody knew and approved at the time, that the war was brought to triumphant con
 
 pated, and with a minimum loss of life and expenditure under a Democratic administration
 MT. Byrns cited figures showing that despite Republican claims that they would economize when they got in control of Congr ess and the filibuster against Democratic appropriation bills as the Democrats were going out of power, ''this Congress has imposed ob- legations and charges on the Treasury for the next fiscal year amounting to around $4, 600, ,OOO, ,0O0." These appropri- ations he said were for a period two years after the signing of the armis- tice, when the government should be approaching pre-war conditions. The holdover expenses of wartime he contended, in no sense justified such large appropriation bills and contract obligations. The total ap- priations made for 1916, the year be- fore the war, were $97s,722,000. For the same purposes in 1921 MT. Byrns showed, the Republican Congress has appropriated $2,1s9, 1000. Even when it is considered there are certain war hangovers, said MT Byrns, "they cannot account fol more than two hundred per cent. in crease in ordinary expenses. Ar | analysis of the appropriations made I,;J ioI, ho Sajc to have any connection with obliga tions growing out of the war, show: there have been like increases made l in those bills for these strictly pre- 1 war activities"
 Representative Byrns said Congress has enacted a number of appropria l tions in varying amounts "whicf | were not asked by the administration l and do not appear in the estimates 1 Granting that some of the allowances l may be desirable, Representative | Byrns contended that "a number O
 them could and should have beel
 postponed until the people had beer | relieved of at least a portion of tn 1 burdens under which they are nov | staggering"
 1 Mr. Byrns added that the claim | made by Representative Mondell ant
 other Republicans of saving made t | the Treasury by reducing approprfa | tions below departmental estimate
 in some instances, will be found t 1 be ridiculous" For the fiscal yea 1918, he showed, the Democrats re | duced estimates by more than fiv 1 billions, and reductions of nor
 than five billions, and reductions 0 l than $9,0oO, 100000 were made il l the eight years while the Demo | crats controlled the Appropriation l committee.