The Elk Mountain pilot., 1922-02-23
Where Your
Taxes Go
How Uncle Sam Spends
Your Money in Conduct.
ing Your Business
BY EDWARD G. LOWRY
Author Warrington Close-Ups." BANKS and
Financial Bystems." etc. Contributor Political
and Economic Articles to Leading Periodicals
and Writer of Recognized Authority on tbs
National Governments Business Methods.
By EDWARD G. LOWRY
Copyright. western Newspaper Unioa
MI.
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

Secretary Mellon of the treasury. in
letter to Representative Fordney,
chairman of the committee on ways
and means Of the house Of representa-
tives, says: Ordinary expenditures
for the first three quarters Of the fis-
cal year, 1921, have been $S,783,771.-
906.74, or at the rate Of about $4,000
100000 for the year. !. According
to the latest estimates of the spending
departments. ordinary expendI.
lures during the fiscal year. 1922. in
Guiding interest on the public debt,
will be over $4,000. 100000.
"The nation cannot cOntinue to
spend at this shocking rate. As the
President said in his message, the bur-
den is unbearable. and there are two
avenues Of relief. One is resistance
in appropriation and the other is the
utmost economy in administration
R. G. Leffingwell. formerly an assis-
tant secretary of the treasury, whom
/ have quoted previously in these ar
ticles, and who is still deeply and ac-
lively interested in securing retrench-
ment in national expenditures. COM
menting on this utterance Of Secretary
Mellon, says: why should there be
retrenchment in public expenditures
Why does the secretary of the treas
ury speak Of current and estimated ex-
penditures as shocking? What is the
evil that we are discussing and what
Is its effect?
Government expenditures must be
met from taxes. To the extent that
they are met promptly from taxes and
from honest taxes directly laid upon
the incomes of the people, and In pro-
portion to those incomes, exaggeration
of the evil of government expenditure
is avoided. Government expenditure
takes the money of all the people for
the supposed benefit of a portion of
the people, honestly or dishonesty,
equally or unequally, avowedly by d.
rect taxation, or surreptitiOusly by the
indirect taxation which results from
imitation of currency and credit and
of the public debt.
Government expenditure takes the
fruits of the earth and the labor OF
the people and diverts them from the
productive and reproductive enter
prises of men, from the natural enjoy
ment of the men, who by their pru-
dence, foresight and effort created the
wealth and made it available, to the
sometimes benevolent and sometimes
belligerent, but almost always econom-
ically wasteful, purposes of govern
ment.
Government exploits all of us for
the benefit, or supposed benefit Of
some OF us. Yielding to the vague
aspirations of men for a better world
or better distribution of the good
things of this earth, government i'm
poses upon all of us ever-increasing
burdens In the effort to benefit vOcif-
erous and organized minOrities.
Each of the executive departments
Is concerned to improve its service
and to discover new and useful fields
of service. The entire organization
of the army. of the navy, Of each Of
the departments Independent offices
and agencies of the government, is de-
voted to an important task. Its par
ticular function seems of vital use
fulness, even necessity. Experts I'm
each are alive to its defects and to
the opportunities for usefulness which
have not been availed Of.
''The secretary, or other head Of
the department, drawn from private
outset Of the nature and extent Of IT'S
problems, promptly becomes the advo-
cate Of the policies and demands of
his permanent assistants and bureaw
chiefs. II he does not become such
advocate. he may break down the
morale Of his organization and possibly
lose the confidence of his personnel.
Behind it all is the pressure of Or
ganized interests in the constituencies.
which are the beneficiaries of specific
expenditures, operating upon politi-
clans, executive departments, senators
and congressman. The strident voice
of greed is heard in the market place
and in legislative halls; the voice of
the people is barely audible.
''The fact that each project is CON
sdered separately, without reference,
either in executive departments or
congress, to ways and means of financ-
ing 1t, prevents concentration of popu-
lar opinion on the awful total. All
agree that there must be economy, but
as each item is presented all seeming
ly agree that that is not the proper
field for economy. There must be econ
omy, but there must be merchant
marine, whatever the cost There must
be economy, but the government must
pay high wages to railroad employees
and furnish transportation ON the rail
roads at less than cost There must
be economy, but the World war sol
diers must have their bonus There
must be economy, but Civil war pen
sions must be increased. There must
be economy, but we must prepare for
WAR repnrdleSs of axnonsn y