The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1921-06-02
THURSDAY. JUNE 2. 1921.
Wild Government Spending.

The one outstanding lesson Of the
-sries of articles which THE New
YORK HERALD is publishing about the
Federal Governments continued
squander in the face of the impera-
tive need to save Is that the Congress
appropriations and the administrative
spenders do not know how to econo-
mize. They do not know how to stop
the waste because they do not know
where the waste Is.
For the present fiscal year lending
with this month";, the Democratic
heads of departments asked for So
064.350,793, and this was hailed as
wild extravaganza. The Republican
Congress cut those estimates and
appropriated to meet the revised
items s3,717,441,4S4, and this was
acclaimed by the legislative body as
heroic economizing. But Secretary
MELLON of the Treasury figures that
when the year closes four weeks from
now the actual spending will have
been $500, 024.S61, not counting post
Office outlay, which was included in
the original estimates and the ap-
propnations. II the cost of the
postal service is added the spendings
will have exceeded six billions Of dol
lars as against the five billions of
original estimates and the three and
three-quarter billions of appropria-
lions.
The estimates for the new fiscal
year were s5,259,515,574. The ap-
preparations with estimates for the
army and navy bills) have been 49,
S06,029,647. Secretary MELLON fig
ures the actual spendings, not In
Guiding postal service, will be s4,-
565,S77,033. Congress, In other words,
went through the motion of saving
for the approaching new fiscal year
a billion and four hundred millions
from the demands of the spenders.
But without the post Office figures the
spendings will be three-quarters Of q
billion of dollars more than the ap-
preparations. With the postal items
counted in the spendings as they
were in the estimates, the actual
spendings will be nearly a billion
and quarter of dollars more.
How the Government used to appro-
pirate and spend may be judged by
some comparisons before the war.
For 1910. 1911. 1912, 1913, 1914 the
appropriations were little In excess
Of billion dollars every year; the
expenditures ranged between s919,-
100000 for 1910 and s1.o35, e9s, B7S
for 1914.
In 1917 the appropriations were
s1,625.419.s96 and the expenditures
S3,O46,1ss,746. In 1918 the appropria-
tons were s1s,S92, 027, Sol and the ex-
penditures s21.S13,3 5s,5os. In 1919
the appropriations were $27,065,14S,-
500 and the expenditures $35, 129,-
56s. 7O6.
Since the war the gross overspend-
ing OF appropriations has continued,
as explained in detail IN the first part
of this article. The spenders have
spent regardless of what the Congress
appropriations had given them to
spend. Then the Congress appropri-
ators, by means OF deficiency bills or
other more or less secret measures to
dig the spenders out, have given them
the difference under the table, so to
speak, where the public could not see
the special squander allowances or
know about them until after they
were gone and all but forgotten.
But the plain truth about this sort
of ramshackle business management
and financial profigacy, now that
revenues are growing scarcer and
scarcer, Is that unless the United
states Government, legislative and
administrative. buckles down to The
Job OF saving money instead Of talk.
ing about Il, the national treasury
will be headed for the rocks, and the
party in control of the Government
will have to face a reckoning with
the public.