Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-04-20
THE BUDGET
By DR.. Frank Crane

Not only school children, but the average cit
izen needs good deal Of primary and simple
explation of what is meant by the budget.
In a nutshell, the budget, when it refers to
the nation, is careful estimate of how much
money the country needs to spend during the
year.
Every private individual who has any bust
ness sense tries to find out what his income
is going to be for the coming year and then
aims to cut his coat according to his cloth.
Every corporation or business house does the
same thing 1t figures out its insurance, cost of
general maintenance, depreciation, advertising,
overhead expenses and so forth.
Although this is nothing but plain common
sense, it was only adopted recently by the
United States Government. Previous to that
time Congress made appropriations by the pork
barrel method That is, each Congressman
grabbed all he could for his own district, in
order to please his constituents and get elected
again.
These appropriation bills were rushed through
the last part of the session of Congress, and
were the cause of much scandal as we'll as in
finite waste.
Often at the end of the fiscal year it was
found out that there were not enough funds to
pay the bills, and Congress drifted into the
habit of passing what were known as deficiency
bills, or, in other words, voting money that yet
remained to be collected. Any private firm
that would have followed this method would
have soon been in the bankruptcy courts.
The bill for Government expenses to which
Washington affixed his signature in 1889 was
but $63o,0OO The amount kept on growing,
however, until the sum appropriated by Con-
greSs during the year following the ArmiStice
was 81, 498, 697, 51S. Thus in a century and a
half the expenses of the Government rose from
about half million to over twenty-five billions
for year.
1t was for this reason that the President called
in Mr.. Dawes, and an effort was made to put
the expenditures of the country on business
footing.
Where does the Government get its money!
We usually say that the money comes from the
taxpayers 1t does SO indirectly. The direct
taxes that each citizen Of the township and
county pays, go merely to support his County
and State, and none of it to the Federal Gov
eminent except what is paid in the Income Tax
The Federal Government gets its money from
internal revenues such as taxes on tobacco
and luxurieS. from corporation, inheritance and
income taxes, and from the sales of public
lands, and SO on 1t gets great deal of its in
come also from customs, which is tax levied
on goods imported from foreign countries into
the United States. The idea of the tariff is
not only to support the Government. but to
keep American manufacturers from disastrous
competition with manufacturers abroad, who can
make goods cheaper because of cheaper labor
1t is the emphasis on this side of the question
that makes some persons favor high protec-
tive tariff The higher the tariff, however, the
more the price of all the commodities which
the average citizen must buy, and this is the
reason why the opposing party does not favor
the protective tariff. Thus the tariff question
has always been an important political issue.
The establishment of the Budget at least guar
| anteeS that the whole matter shall begin with
| clearnesS.
Copyright. 1922. by Frank Crane)