Great Falls tribune., 1921-01-28

tobacco, more than support the civl
government of this country, including
all of it's scientific research. its educa.
tional activities, and it's public works
such as improving rivers and haroors
reclaimisg lands, building roads,, ano
the like. For the average annual cos'
OF all these governmental activities loI
than the internal revenue tax on cigars
and tobacco yielded in 1920.
This interesting fact is brought out
by DR. r. b. Rosa of the bureau OF
standards, who has set himself the i'm
! portant task of finding out for the
! American people just how the money
| they spend for federal taxes is used:
He recently set forth proof that out OF
every dollar spent by the federal gov
ernment in 1920, SO cents was spent TO
pay for past wars or to prepare Tor
the wars of the future, andt only
cents for all civil activities. lie has
now elaborated his study, setting forth
many facts which illuminate the cur
rent vague and voluminous discussion
Of governmental extravaganza ike
searchlights in fog.
Not a Criticism.
Dr. Rosa specifically disavows a
critical attitude toward any group Of
governmental expenditures. He does
not pretend to discuss whether it is
necessary to spend more than nine
tenths of all our federal money on past
and future wars. But he does believe
that the taxpayer should have the
facts about how this money is used.
And he points out that not only the
taxpayer but journalists and legisla-
tors appear to be lamentably ignorant
of these facts. Daily we hear and read
much about the growth of government
expense We are daily told that gov
| ernment expenses are increasing. Clerk
! hire, the pay Of government scientists,
the cost of maintaining bureaus are al
ways mentioned as chief among The
| creatures which devour our taxes. We
are told that in these bureaus there is
! much duplication, waste and red tape.
Every administration comes in with
promises Of retrenchlnents and reforms
| which will save the public money by
cutting down the appropriations for
government bureaus, and this seems
generally to refer to the civil govern
ment primarily. Army, navy and pen
sions are seldom mentioned.
DR.. Rosa sets out to show just how
much this civil government costs. His
method has been to analyze the cost
Of civil government for 10 years, dis
regarding war costs. BY doing this he
succeeds in showing that the cost OF
maintaining the civil government, in
cluding all Of its scientific and engin
eering work. has increased in actual
dollars and cents barely as fast as the
population has increased, and that this
increase takes no account Of the falling
of the said dollars and cents.
This is the important point: If you
express the cost Of civil government
in terms of actual commodities instead
of dollars, far from increasing. it has
decreased more than so per cent. That
is. the purely civil activities Of the
government cost in bushels of wheat
for instance. more than 80 per cent
less in 1920 than they did in 1910. AS
a result. during that period much Of
this civil governmental activity has be-
come far less efficient. Salaries have
become so low. as the cost of living
has risen. that the bureau cannot hold
tific men. The labor turnover is rapid.
1t would ruin any private enterprise.
1t means that nearly all Of the civil
bureaus are undermanned. and that
nearly all of them are becoming mere
ly training schools which men rapidly
desert for more remunerat!ve places.
Cost Of Government Lower
Thus the figures amply refute the
charge that the cost of civil govern
ment has greatly increased. On the
contrary, it has greatly decreased.
Our increased tax burdens are made
necessary by the burdens which the
war visited upon us, and by the great
11y ;pnrnocnI ,rhsch
are now maintaining. II civil govern
ment were completely abolished it
would have saved you but I per cent
on your federal taxes in 1920. ana If
all scientific and engineering work had
been suspended it would have saved
you but 4 per cent. Disarmament is
the only thing that would cut federal
taxes heavily.
Or. Rosa further shows that the
expenses Of government. as usually SET
forth, are not accurate because they
fail to show the earnings of the gov
ernment. The land office, the recla-
nation service. the bureau of naviga-
ton. the forest service and the post
office all have receipts as we'll as dis
bursements. But in summarizing the
expenses Of government. it is usual
merely to add up the total appronria-
tions for the various bureaus. Thus
in pre-war days we used to be scan
dalized by the term "a billion dollar
congress-" But as q matter Of face.
the net cost of the government to the
federal taxpayers before the war was
never as much as seven hundred nil
lions in year.
Dr. Rosa concludes his argument
with plea for the support of the
scientific and engineering work of the
government. In this part of his argu-
ment he probably comes closest to the
real question at issue. That question
is What are the legitimate and neces-
sary activities of the federal govern
ment?
Whether certain bureaus are ex-
panding or contracting, it is certainly
true that the activities of the federal
government. as a whole, ever since
its establishment, have been steadily
growing, while the Importance Of state
and other local governments has stead
ily dwindled. The percentage Of the
population which works for the fed
eral government steadily grows In
word, the United States is said to be
turning into bureaucracy. say the
critics OF this expansion. For example.
Senator Thomas of Colorado, recently
attracted attention by speech in the
senate in which he convincingly point
ed out this tendency. And these critics
further point out that bureaucracy is
not Democracy. 1t is opposed to the
principles for which this government
is supposed to stand. And the dan
uarr nf ~ hovn haan strikinpIv il1ne-