The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1921-04-28
THE PRESIDENT AND THE
NATION.

APPLY recalling that Economy" is a
campaign cry much employed before
election, President Harding insists
that it shall now be made an outstand-
ing and ever-impelling purpose after
election, in both legislation and ad-
ministratiOn. In such fashion does
he begin his first address to Congress,
with the matter-of- course assumption
that the promises made in 1920 are to
be fulfilled in 1921. Naturally, econ
omy is the first topic which he dis
cusses, because it is the most univer-
sally pressing. The burden of ex-
penditures has become intolerable. 1t
must be lightened. And that is a
task which must be performed by the
two great branches of the Govern
ment, cooperating. The Legislative
must limit appropriations of public
money, and the Executive must spend
as little as possible in satisfactorily
performing the public work. That
prescription is simple. So is the null
tiplication table. Both are effective
when rightly applied
After all possible reductions of ex-
penditures have been made, however,
there will be heavy burden remain
ing. 1t cannot be got rid of by mere
shifting; the nation would not toler-
ate that. But it can be made easier to
bear by helpful revision of the meth
DDS Of collecting revenue. There are
taxes which have become unproduc.
tive and which serve as nothing but
a clog upon business. Their abolition
would not decrease the revenue, but
would actually tend to increase it by
relieving business and industry of OPP
preston. Thus a thorough revision
of the internal revenue system is
strongly recommended.
Nor is it worth while to haggle over
the question whether revision of the
internal revenue or of the tariff shall
come first, since, says the President,
both must be effected as promptly as
possible. An emergency tariff law is
needed at once, to protect America
from the dumping of masses of cheap
goods, which would not so much les
sen our cost of living as they would
destroy our ability to buy. Then at
more leisure there needs to be ma
tured general scheme of traffic re-
form, on protective lines For the
President shrewdly perceives that
while we cannot sell unless we
also buy, our ability to sell based upon
the development of home industries
and the fostering of home markets; a
fact which Free Trade propagandists
too often forget.
The President again urges the adop-
ton of an efficient Budget system, en-
ploying again his own felicitous cpl
gram, which has been so widely
adopted throughout the land, that
there should be less government in
business and more business in Gov
eminent.
The greatest problem of the ma
tional economy today is that ftrans-
portation, and especially of railroad
transportation. The railroads are in
a deplorable plight, due to the Gov
ernments having operated them dur
ing the war without regard to cost, so
that today they look largely to the
Government for aid to save them
from insolvency. The President
wishes it to be clearly understood that
Congress has no sanction for Govern
ment ownership, and also that it does
not levy taxes upon the people in or
der to pay subsidies or to cover def
lclts in services which should be self
supporting. Freight rates are now so
high as to halt commerce and dis
courage production. The logic is that
those rates must be lowered. If it be
argued that such reduction would de-
crease the revenues of the roads and
thus increase their deficits, the an
swer Is that the cost of operating the
roads must also be decreased. Brit
isht miners have been demanding that
the Government shall subsidize their
Industry out of the public purse, so
that the men may receive higher
wages than the business can afford;
and the British Government has de-
termined to resist that demand to the
last ditch. The application of the
same principle on American railroads
would be equally Objectionable. La