The New York herald., 1922-07-07

year Dy reason or the Increased budgets,
and 1t is proposed in addition to that
which we already have to lay on an
extra indebtedness
Near Financial Marne.
"Mr. President. the time may come.
and In my opinion II is very likely to
come. when the United States will have
to stand, as II were. as the Marne on
this question of preserving financial
civilization. The time may come wh=n
our reserve. economic and financial. will
have to be called upon as our reserve
of man power was called upon In 1917.
and 1t behooves the American people
and the American Congress to prepare
for that as we would be prepared for
the great conflict which confronted us
in 1917.
'The nation which will lead in the
future. which will control and dominate.
Will not be the nation of armies. not the
nation of navies. but the nation of eco
ionic power. of prosperity at home. or
financial reserve. of means to take care
of those things. and it behooves us.
therefore. not only by reason OF the
call which will be made upon us here
in this country. but by rea son of the
condition which surrounds us through
out the world. to conserve and reserve
all the economic and financial power
that we have In order to meet that exi-
gercv when 1t cores"
Mr.. Underwood .'Mr. President. IL
the Senate will allow me to interrupt
him to make suggestion. If we had
owed $4,000. 100000, as we do to-day.
when the war broke out in 1917 il
would have been financially impossible
for us 10 have put 100000 men IN
France"
Mr.. Borah: absolutely"
Mr.. Underwood The weakness in
arms is evidenced as much in financial
weakness as 1t Is in loss of man power"
Growing Armament Costs.
Mr.. Borah: Quite so. There is an
other element to which I want to refc-
In connection with this. and that Is con-
slant outlay for armament. / have en-
my desk here the figures Of the increase
In the budget of France for 1923 for
armament. Both war and navy appro-
priations are increased over this year S
budget. the former 23400O.O00 francs.
and the latter 323.0O0.000 francs. This
is under date of May 16. 1922. In o.ncr
words. Notwithstanding the financial sit
uation in France. for some reason une1-
planned, or not understandable, at least
by the outside world, she is increasing
her army and her navy outlay over that
Of 1922.
Let us make comparison with our
country. For 1916. the year we started
the large naval building program, we
expended $154,727.556.36 for the navy.
For 1928 we have appropriated $685.
100000 in round figures.
THE total appropriation for the army
in 1915 was $1,115.0O4. In 1928 1t YVES
s3.500.000- A like increase could be
shown with reference to England. with
the exception Of the army in England.
Il have called attention TO this situa-
ton. which seems somewhat irrelevant.
but I am coming to the proposition of
what should be the attitude of the
American Congress toward these obli-
cations which 1t is proposed we shall tn-
cur.
II look upon somewhat in the light
as IL we were preparing for actual war.
think to drain our resources, to burden
our people, to increase our obligations at
this time Is short sighted. to say the
least. 1t may be disastrous. 1t is a
time when every citizen should feel to-
ward his Government and its expendi-
lures just as he would feel toward his
Government IL he knew that an outside
enemy were threatening. Every man
and every citizen should be willing to
himself, the same as we did during the
great war. There can be no possible
doubt as to the task which confronts us.
and there can be no doubt but that 1t
will call for all we have under our con-
troll in order to met it.
Notwithstanding that fact. Mr.. Presi-
dent, we are told 1t Is proposed, as soon
as this bill is out of the way, to take UP
the ship subsidy bill. / am not going to
discuss that to-day. I propose to do so
in the future. But 1t will be drain
upon the Treasury. 1t will establish a
vicious system Of tax exemption. 1t will
not grant the relief. and 1t will burden
the future, in my judgment. quite as
much as it would to actually vote bonds
or obligations Of the Government.
Must Care for Disabled.
Second, we propose 70 take up what
Is known as the soldiers bonus bill.
am perfectly well aware that both sides
of the chamber are in favor of that
proposition to large extent. We are
now paying out about $1,0o0.0o0 day
for the disabled veterans; about $685.
10000 for this year will be paid-more
than $1,000.000 day. If we calculate
the obligations which we own to those
men--and II they are disabled it Is an
obligation which we must meet at what
ever cost-it will cost this Government,
In the same ratio that 1t cost us after
the civil war, In the next twenty years
more than $65.000. 900, 900. a debt and an
obligation which we cannot escape,
which we should not undertake to escape.
But adding that to the $22.000, 900. 900
which we already owe and the immense
budget which we have, and you have
about all that the American taxpayer
will be willing to carry during these
coming years.
But it is proposed out of hand to
lay upon the American people at this
time an extra burden Of from four to
six billion dollars. almost twice as large
as the debt which we had at the close
Of the Civil War. and II we pay 1t In
the same way and at the same rate that
we paid the debt after the Civil War
II will take us $50 years to pay off the
debt which we propose to lay In a few
weeks for the purpose of meeting this
proposed obligation.
This particular measure has been
discussed heretofore. or the discussion
has ranged principally about the qucs-
tion OF the present condition OF the
Federal Treasury and the immediate
burden of the taxpayer. Those are mat
ters Of vital concern. but 1t must be
apparent to all, as we face this situa-
ton In its larger outlook, that there
is another problem underlying this qucs-
ton, touching not only this particular
measure but this whole trend of legis-
lation and the whole theory of re-