East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1921-09-09
SURVEY SLOWS HOW
MOUNTAIN OF j. s.
TAX MONEY IS SPENT
Interest of Debt Reaches Bill
on Dollars, With Similar Sum
Spent for Army and Navy.


WASHINGTON, Sept. 9.--B. H. X.
Reynolds, ]. N. S. Staff Correspond
ent. -Grumblng as he pays his in
come tax and irrated by the extra
cent of two which he pushes across
the counter at the soda fountain, Mr.
Average Citizen occasionally feels the
pinch of federal taxation, talks it over
with his neighbor, and decides that
an awful lot of money is needed to
keep tie government running. but sell
do,l I9G ICES where all the dollars
T. II i'ncla G+Ia gathers in his treas
ury 81.
Secretary of the Treasury Mellon,
in his first estimate of the cost of op-
Grating the government. figures that
about four and half billion dollars
would be required to keep the offiti-
al wheels of the nation revolving dur
ing the present fiscal year. The sec
retary told congress how much the
government needed, showed neat rows
of figures to prove his deductions,
and then the house proceeded to slice
there and trim here in accordance with
their own ideas of how much money
Uncle Sam could get along with-or
without.
Departmental estimates or expenses
are being given the careful once
over" nowadays under the suspicious
eye of Charles Dawes. official watch
dog of the public treasury, but bureau
chiefs--those who decide how much
they need to keep things going-are
set in their ways and hard to bulge.
The effects of the war, when the per-
sonnel of many departments increased
enormously. are still felt; and, al
though efforts have been made to re-
turn to normal working conditions, it
is improbable that the comparatively
cheaply operated government of pre-
war days will ever be restored
Billion Required for Interest.
The biggest single item in Secretary
Melons list of estimated expenditures
for this fiscal year is the interest on
the public debt, which is placed at al
most billion dollars, or nearly one
fourth of the total requirements of
the government. 4
There is TO be. iii is estimated. an
expenditure OF S545, 206.2 to the rail-
roads. under the transportation act of
1920, and S551, ,354.3s5 for the re-
tirement of the public debt, as re-
CURED by law. The debt payments |
include: Sinking fund, S265,754.S65;
War Savings Securities, S100 000,000; |
debt redemptions. $l00,
200; Purchase of Liberty Bonds from
foreign repayments, s30,5O0;000; re-
iemptions of bonds and notes from
estate taxes, $25,O00.0 600: retirement
Of Pittman act certificates, $T0,D00,-
300, retirement from T.. r. b. fran
,hise tax receipts, $6o,000.000.
Some Other SfcnderS.
The legislative branch of the gov
arnment estimates that it will need
during the present year,
while the executive department viii
get less than two million, its expenses
beng estimated at $1,S97,751.
The estimates list their require
ment as follows:
State Department, st0,S44,0e0; De
partment of Justice, s17,0OO,0O0; Post
Office Department, $2,200,000; Inter-
or Department, including pensions
and Indian claims, sS22,oOO,O 900; De-
oartment of Agriculture. 2S,000,000;
of Commerce, s10.O2S.-
200; Department of Labor, S5,252,SS7;l
offices, $1S,4S4,516; Dis
.rict of Columbia, $22,1S7,665; mis-
cellaneous, $62.5OO,OO0 postal deficit
ency, $60.0O000o; Bureau of War
Risk Insurance, s2S6,ooo.0Oo; Public
Health Service, S47,O0o,0oO: collecting
revenue, 5S,1tO,1S9; all other treas
ury departments, $99,457,795, FEEDER
ii Board of Vocational Education.
Panama Canal SlO,-
900, 000>