Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-05-20
THE REPUBLICAN
ECONOMY.

THE president who proudly rode
l into office in March Of las,
year with seven millions majority
behind him IL now 80 uneasy as tc
the result Of the coming November
elections that he and his director
of the budget, General Dawes, jug.
gle appropriation figures and bold
ly distort the facts in their efforts
to fool the people into again voting
for the party of special privilege
The presidents claim to saving
$l,600,o0o,ooo In the past year was
taken up in the house the other
day by Congressman Byrnes of
South Carolina and shot full of
holes. Mr.. Byrnes said:
1.-THE president announced to
the country that we will this year
reduce our expenditures $780,
900, 900 below the expenditure for
the last fiscal year. Well, the ex-
penditures for the last fiscal year
which were authorized by a repub-
lican congress were the largest ever
authorized in time of peace in the
history Of the country. If now,
four years after the war, there was
not a tremendous deduction in ex-
penditures there would be little
hope for the preservation of the
government.
my regret is that the president
in issuing this statement did not
call attention to the fact that for
the year 1916, the last year prior to
u entering the war when we were
engaged in measures of prepared
ness, our expenditures did not
amount to more than $1,115,ooo,o 600,
and that the estimate he now makes
as to expenditures this year is
$3,e22,37z,o30, or $2,so7,SS1,326
more than was spent under the
democratic administration for the
last fiscal year prior to the a
81 regret that he did not call at
tention to the fact that while the
budget bureau claims these bogus
savings of $136,000,o 600, the fact is
that the same departments have to
date secured from the congress de-
ficiencies or supplemental appro-
priations amounting to $374,69l,-
O40.65.
"The secretary of the treasury
does not keep up with this political
game. He issued a statement that
we are facing a deficit, and then
along comes General Dawes, WHO
says that we have saved a billion
and a half dollars. The president,
if he has any confidence in him at
all, ought to urge the congress to
declare a dividend to the taxpayers
of America, and we should all be
entitled to a share. ! favored the
bureau Of the budget. There was
real work for the director of the
budget to do, but the bureau of the
budget has never functioned as con-
gress intended it should. The bu-
reau submitted estimates for an
amount larger than the appropria-
tons for the current year and be-
fore the subcommittee of the COM.
mittee on appropriations no one ap-
peared to defend the estimates.
The director contented himself
with these baseless claims of saw
ings. 1t is nothing but bunk
political bunk"
Mr.. Byrnes then went on to show
some of the specific instances
where the president and General
Dawes had made claims of saving
claims so easily disproved that the
president appears in a childlike
and ridiculous attitude before the
country, if we assume that he was
easily misled by Dawes political
smoke-screcn. Mr.. Byrnes said, in
part:
He says that $500 was saved
out of an appropriation for the
widow of Senator Proctor, of Yer
mont. Away back in 1908 when
Senator Proctor died this money
was appropriated for his widow.
She declined to accept it, and the
good lady has long since gone toi
her reward. It remained upon the
books to her credit, but nobody
else could get it, and General Dawes
says he saved it this year. Who
was trying to get it7
There is 100000 saved in en-
the capitol grounds. Do
you remember in the distant past
that appropriation was made for
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