The New York herald., 1921-12-06

creating and setting in motion the
budget system, driving the wori,
of rehabilitating and caring for
our manned and dependent soldiers
or giving rational financial aid to the
distressed agricultural industry.
What a vast extent of ground this
labor of reconstructing and reor-
ganizing the business machinery of
the Government covers now takes
hundreds of pages Of official reports
to reveal and explain. The financial
results under this budget system and
this solid business management,
however, are easily grasped, although
expressed in terms OF billions of
dollars.
Post Office deficiencies of more than
$3.50, 100000 last year have come
down to s4S,O0O,OOO this year and
will be further reduced to s21, 500, 900
next year.
The Department of Agriculture has
followed with reduction of costs
from s62,o06,O0O last year to s4s,-
100000 this year; the figure next
year will be $4,000, 900.
The Department of Commerce
spendings will drop from $4,000, 900
to $20,000,00O; of Labor from sS,50o,.
600 to $6,30o,Ooo; the Shipping Board
from $74.000,000-and last year $751;
0oo,O0O-to s50.O0O,0OO; the War
Finance and Grain Corporations, &C.,
from $s3,50o,0O0 to s17,000,0O0; the
Treasury Department from S476, ,0OO,-
600 to s169, 100000; the War Depart
ment from s1,10O,000,oO0 last year
and $3s9, 100000 this year to $780,
100000 next year, and the Navy De-
partment from s65O,OOO,OOO last year
to s479, 100000 this year and to s432.-
000,00 next year.
In round numbers, the total ordi-
nary expenditures for the present
fiscal year at $36OO,O0O,OOO will be
billion and half dollars below
those Of the past fiscal year and more
than two and three-quarter billions
of dollars below those of the year
before that.
For the next fiscal year. as the
budget estimates went to Congress
yesterday, the total ordinary expen-
ditures at s3,143, ,00O,0 900 will be half
billion of dollars below those OF
this year, two billions of dollars be-
low those of the past year and nearly
three and third billions OF dollars
below those OF the year before that.
All these billions saved to the pock-
cts of the American public instead
Of being hurled into the bottomless
Pit OF Government squander and eco
uomic obliteration!
Yet gratifying as this chopping,
pairing and whiting cannot but be
to the overburdened taxpayers Of
the nation, there will long continue
staggering spendings which are
unacceptable.
Included in the foregoing esti-
mates. for example, are interest on
the public debt for next year calling
for S975,O0o,O00; the sinking fund
for the reduction in principal of the
debt, S2is, 100000; the redemption Of
bonds and notes from estate taxes,
25,000,O00; the redemption of securi-
ties from Federal Reserve Bank fran
chise tax receipts, s30,OOO,0O0. These
items, stupendous in themselves, are
going to stay very much as they now
are for years. Nothing can be done
about them except to pay and pay on
them time and again until they are
cleared off the books.
When that uncomfortable annual
outgo is subtracted from the total
spendings Of the next fiscal year the
appropriations for other ordinary
disbursements will stand at less than
two billions of dollars--to be exact,
at s1,SsO.536.793. IT will require