, 1921-11-14
REPUBLICAN

:. .horo I. ma poiut on which the Republican party
he, bean faithful to the people, 1t is in its steward
shin Of their fiscal affairs, and 1t IS Always "iNnHs "A
even anxious to have the record Thoroughly VS.
sated There has been moro or less partisan iseu
SION of estimates and appropriations Tor tne pas' "
erai years, especially since the advent Oh a NepoD-
l;..r congress in the midset Of a Democratic ADMIN
-4--.i, A. evervbody knows, the Federal fiscal
r.or .rds June 80. The Democrats were IN fuh
cb.rve of expenditures up to March 4, 1921 or Tor
eight months of the year ended June oo' 1871 Inc
Democrats had not only spent the money ior eighe
months of the year but they had made contracts ms
commitments covering the whole year. Inc hepuo-
licans. therefore, cannot be held accountable Tor any
Of the expenditures for that year. But for the year
beginning July /, 1921, and ending June 80, 1922 the
Rsnublicans will be accountable, except that, OF
course, they cannot avoid paying indebtedness incur
red by the previous administration.
A national debt is binding regardless Of the polit-
zeal ,party that incurred it. We have, for instance, an
annual interest charge of approximately a billion dol
Iars. which the nation must pay for a number OF
years to come, whichever party is in power. The
amount of this payment is something that the Repub-
lcan party cannot be held accountable for, for it was
the Democratic party that managed the business OF
the war. The fighting in Europe was non-partisan,
hut the letting of contracts, the adoption OF fscai
policies, the purchase Of supplies, the erection OF
buildings, the transportation of troops, etc., were kept
uH0t Ill 0OhLOA W
Wilsonites of some other party utilization. The pay
ment of the debt or the interest on the debt, or the
payment of obligations LIFT over from the Wilson
regime, cannot be charged to the present administra-
ton. That,is SO plain a proposition, that no one will
dispute it.
What the. country can, should and will hold the Re
publican party responsible for is the management Of
the nations business so far as it relates to normal
administrative affairs. sBack to normal was one OF
the Republican campaign cries, ard the party car
properly be held responsible for the speed with which
it accompanies that desirable result. No one coult
expect, or did expect, that the nation would be brought
back to normal in a day or a month or a year. II
would be the utmost folly to disband every wal
agency instantly, leaving many records in a tangled
mess. That is what some Democratic bureaus ant
commissions would like, for then it would be impos
sible ever to check up on their management of affair
or. to ascertain how much money they spent or hov
they spent it. To dump the records in storage boxe
with no system of filing, would be an encouragement
to other administrations to conduct business in TIL
same grossly wasteful and inefficient manner that tn
best guarantees of good management in the future
the demonstration that no political party can vast
government funds and go u~nexposed and UNPUBLISHED
The fiscal year 1922 will end next June 80, fou
months before the congressional elections. There wi
be plenty of time for the Democrats to inspect tn
record of actual expenditures for that full year of Re-
publican control and to point out specifically til
amounts of money which were spent and which the
think ought not to have been spent. They will fin
the Republicans ready to defend that record and t
compare it with the record of the previous admins
tration.