Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-06-18
nIssczlslsln1A oosr AsbSurrY1unsux.


TNoa ElA ooaf nE1Iu
= ~ - GoMfnnercstai Club address the se3hsr evening
oovsrhor Lowdsn dealt 4 some ,.neth M ,ha nrob,eru
! o the Increasing cost 81 gov.rnuent5 ana xt.h 4h.e II
sFsssang inencisncy OF government which NJ maintained
1853 necessary result Of present tendenciAa. He All
MAJ sh ~ ehs exeeuttve department In Washington befory
tne var there were some -, 900 employees A year afte
the var vas over there were over 100000 employa Il
rms dspartnasat a great nnnnberI Of Temporary build
s ms had besn erected In which to house this additions
efmy of3enployss. These buildings because Of their In
tenaed tenapas4ry character were built hastily ana In tn,
most convenient location accessible. conssquently the.
dsSaced the Landscape ana spoiled the beauty Of what il
are remit flhiy, the finest city In the world Those build
mss are nille standing and are still. occupied BY their i'd
Ieadonai clerks. and Governor Iowden said that IL We mas
Judge By present Indications, the people Who are employed
~ those buildings will die Of old age before they are re-
tired from service and before the buudtnsa which wer,
intended to nest q temporary ana uasdns need 40 re-
moved from the, places which they occupy The enorrn,
Gus additional cost Of such . condition il manifest, ana 4
va POINTED out thasSths additional cost Is not the only o.
the sreafest evil connected with It The condition tepdi
% inemciency, and to a scattering Of the activities Of
government through fields which II has no business e
invade. Enployss who have been: placed on the fedora
PAYROLL are naturally reluctant to give up their positions
The members Of congress from the home district
70 these people are bestesed with requests TO,
sucn regulations as will enable these additional
employees to retain their places. The members
OF congress. in most cases hope to retain thetr
legislative %positions. In order to do 60 they must have
votes ana the votes of their constituents who have Sc
cured positions on the public payroll count Just 8 lmuch
q other v4tes; hence. there Il 4 great obstacle in the way
lpfaAhs reform toward which every consideration 81 com
mon sense would point.
The problem which ~eonsronts our nation now ii not
q new one. It has existed In some form for many years,
and many men have stven their best thought to is solu-
ton. President Taft was hopeful OF having government
during his tern reorganised in such q way as to limit
expense and to promote encieney. The plans for which
he was responsible were approved in principle, but when
1t came to acceptance and application Of them In detail,
they were unceremoniousy dttchad. President Harding
will have a similar roblem and he will meet with Sim
liar opposition. The budget plan which has been adopted
looks we'll and may be made exceedingly useful, but We
may expect that when It comes to practical application
OF 1t. there will Be the same kind Of obstruction that has
prevented the realization, OF similar plans<these many
years
While the problem is not new, the conditions under
which 1t Is presented now make 1t more pressing and more
acute. There has almost from the very beginning been
unwtse and expensive ways. The great war brought on
an emergency which had to be met regardless Of expense.
1t was absolutely necessary that a great army Of addi-
tional people should be employed to take care Of the ad-
dihonal work which originated In war conditions. Hence
we have at this time as an inheritance Of the war a
much larger burden to carry than we have had before.
Our sttnaton Il not peculiar to this country alone.
Great Britain and France have each a similar problem
War activities In each case resulted In Z, vast expansion
OF governmental activities and in a great increase OF the
government payroll. The two governments have put
70 rapidly as possible, bat each administration is finding
ITSELF confronted with the same kind Of obstacle that was
found In Washington. Those once on the payroll hope
to remain there and there is brought to bear the In
nueace Of lesislators to enable them to stick. In each
country there y needed an awakening to the need .of the
country tor a program Of economy. There will never be
Al end to governmental expansion 30 long as there are
OF unnecessary employees on the payroll With
out any particular occupation. Something must be found
TOR than to do. and that something will be found In eyery
=. >. N enterprises which will impose enormous burdens
OF additional taxation upon the public. Those who occupy
legislative positions should be big enough to see beyond
the nandfuls OF votes which they may secure BY catering
should be too short sighted. too lacking in vision ana
to do this. the public itself which in the last
analysis carries the burden and meets the bills must zee
)" that the dfdre Of individuals to retain lucrative POI
staons 10 not permitted to influence the selection az those
VINO are to make ana administer our laws This l. IL
principal which must be recognized by our entire public.
II II one IA which the business man is peculiarly inter-
ssfed and to which he must give careful attention ~ he
is to meet his obligations as . citizen.