The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-01-27

would cut federal taxes he.,,-
DR.. Rosa further shows tS,.
expenses Of government M NJ. 'ls
ly set forth, are not accur,t s'p "a
cause they fail to show ths "
ings Of the government n. s
office. the reclamation seryic. '.aa
bureau Of navigation, the s., ne
service and the postofice Al, AZ.
receipts as well as disbursemss.s.se
But In summarizing the ernss.
of government. it is usually ms ..
to add up the total appropri,t;ea.
for the various bureaus, Thrs T.
pre-war days We used TO ha 49,. :.
dalized by the term "a billion A.,
lar congress" But as a matt.
Of fact. the net cost Of the rovs.r.
ment to the federal ta1payer, ~
fore the war was never SO much :.
seven hundred millions in a y.sr
; DR.. Rosa concludes his arrumsn,
/ with a plea for the support Of ths
scientific and engineering vorr :,
the government. In this part =,
his argument he probably com..
closest to the real question al i,
sue. That question is: What AZ.
1.-The legitimate and necessary scfiv
tiles Of the federal government!
Whether certain bureaus ass q.
panding or contracting, it IL ee,.
tainly true that the activities A.
the federal government, as a whole
ever since its establishment. h,ye
been steadily growing, while Ia
importance of state and other Local
governments has steadily dwindled
The percentage Of the population
which works for the federal sov.
eminent 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 Colo
RADIO recently attracted attention
by a speech in the senate in which
he convincingly pointed out this
tendency. And these critics fur
Their point out that bureaucracy Is
not democracy. It is opposed To-
the principles for which this gov
eminent is supposed to stand. And
the dangers of it have been strik-
iingly illustrated by several Euro
pean countries. notably France.
Is the United States q BureAu0aey
In a word, the many publicists
who attack the activities of the fed
eral government are probably mo-
tivated at bottom by this feeling
THAT the government is degenerat.
ing into bureaucracy, and BY q
desire to check this degeneration
DR.. Rosa's analysis suggests tina,
this attack has been somewhat In
discriminate. The tendency ha
been to attack federal e1pansio.
as a whole or. more often, to at
, tack it where the interests OF thu
attacking party are least concern
ed. Thus a congressman from TIL
corn belt may eloquently stand W
for states rights and the curtail
ment of federal authority. but HI
is in favor Of enormous appropria
lions for the making and distribut
ing of hog cholera serum by tn
federal government. Numerous sim
liar instances suggest themselves
DR.. Rosa's figures seem to ind
l cate that what is needed is a clea
and unprejudiced analysis OF tn
situation to determine just wha
> activities of the federal governor
are legitimate and necessary, an
i. and which are not. DR.. Rosa argue
that the scientific and engineerin
activities of the government ar
among its most legitimate and nee
essarv ones. The bureau of stand
1 ards. for instance, makes scientil
research which is Of great value
industry, as do also other scientin
;, bureaus of the government. I'M
,. work could be done by private col
!; Germs for themselves. But for eac
y , concern to do its own primary II
= search would be to do the san
thing over and over again. II
y logical way is for the government
!. do the primary work. in full 9
operation with private enterprise
: leaving the private laboratories
l. work out their own special pr
), blems. This seems logical. sue
II work nv the government represen
!. merely economical cooperation
L the American people to solve INT
!. industrial problems.
= As for engineering work, II
mostly necessary in deVelopme
of the public domain. So the ca
e of national forests and the ret.
IL nation OF arid public lands are ie
j. itimate government work.
= There certainly seems to oe
= distinction between such go's
lie ment activities as these and ONE.
J. which readily come to mind' 10
d might be as we'll or better pe
W formed by states or munlclpa!il'
1t or individuals. 1t is the iat'
id which brought down upon u,
IN heads the eplthet "paternaiiSu
if and "bureaucratic'.
X 1t is a complicated and VI
re question, but DR.. Rosa seems
s. have shed some light on IT, d.
at how.