The Newark journal., 1922-01-12


 ton systems and payments
 Co the railroads under the
 transportation act, 1920 ....... 1.o97, ,ooo, 900 Interest on the public debt..... l.o2o, ,0oo. 900 Pensions .......................... 2l3 00o, 900 War-rtsk insurance ............. A7.020.oVo Purchase of federal farm-loan
 bonds soooa, GOO Total ...........,.......... $, TIC coo 900
 Substantially all the expenditures catering into this total, and large share of the expenditures on various minor accounts, represent burdens d. reetly traceable to the war, to past wars or to preparedness for future wars. These figures serve to Indicate the direction which sincere efforts to reduce the cost of the government must take.
 Then I found Mr. Gilbert, the under. secretary of the treasury, saying:
 There has been much idle talk to the effect that the excessive cost of govern ment is edue to ineffieieney and extraYa- gance in the executive departments. Without doubt there has been waste and inefiiciency In the various government de- partments and establishments. and much can be accomplished, and has already been accomplished, by the introduction of efficient and economic methods Of ad- ministra ton and the elimination of du- piication and unnecessary work. It might well be possible to save as much as 100000 or sl0o, ,000 0d0 by careful and sci- entifc reorganization of the governments business
 The figures show that over % per cent of the total annual expenditures of the government are related to war. Out of total expenditures during 1920 of about s5.4oo o.009 about 51a billions rep resented expenditures directly traceable to the war. to past wars, or to prepared ness for future wars. Of this. about 2. oeo.oo0 went for the army and navy, over oo0oo.o0o for the shipping board. over sl,oooooo.ooo for the railroads, another I. .0e0. .00o.010 for interest on the public debt. almost x5po, CO., 600 for purchase of obliga- tions of foreign governments on account of their war expenditures, and the remain der for pensions, war risk allotments and i. miscellaneous items related to war. An analysis of the expenditures Of the first six months of the fiscal year 1921 gives similar results. The figures also show that the total cost of running what may be termed the civil establishment proper. that Is to say. the various government departments. boards and commissions and the legislative establishment. have not much exceeded s25o. o.0oo even in the sb- normal war years.
 l sought details. If more than 90 per cent of the entire disbursements of 1920 went for past and prospective wars. how much had We been spend ing to keep the world safe for democ- racy2 We are all familiar with the argument that the best way to prevent war Is to be prepared for war. thought l might find out whether that was true. I went back into the rec ords and found that year by year, from 1854 to 1919 inclusive, the treas ury department had kept an account of the actual disbursements ap- propriations, mind you. but actual money expended--of the War depart ment, the Navy department and for pensions. When I got all the figures before me l couldn't add them up.
 In the bureau of internal revenue they loaned me a machine and an operator, and so I know and can tell 1919 the War Department actually dis bursed S23.002, ,390,008.65. In the same period the Navy Department spent S6,907 ,369, ,032.84; and pensioners of past wars got $5,634. .o79, ,694.23.
 That is laundering total of $29,- 909, ,759,041.49 for the army and navy alone, leaving out of account the $5,634.079, ,694.23 for pensions.
 l will let you decide whether any part of the twenty-nine billion dollars spent for preparedness and for war prevented our going to war or found us prepared when we went to war. The three items I have enumerated are only ribs of the skeleton of the cost of war preparation and activity. have not been able to excavate any other detail figures But 1t is known that the war of 1872 cost about $133,- 7o3, 1880.
 The cost of the Mexican war Is esti- mated to have been S63,6O5.G21.
 The total cost of the Civil war, talk ing the period from June 30, 1861, to June 30, 1866, may be figured closely at S3,5O0. 100000.
 The treasury in the winter of 1920 21 estimated in a report sent to con- gress through the secretary that the cost of the World war to US to that date had been $24.10O. 100000, exclu- giye of our loans to the allies and other foreign nations.
 So you see the cost of wars Is go- ing up. no matter how much money ae spend by way of preparation.