San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-03-01
WATCH GOVERNMENTS OUTGO

Secrecy is crimes greatest facility.
Thus is expressed principle applicable
to the conduct of nations as well as OF
individual persons. If full publicity is
given to affairs of state, government
officials will be constrained to keep the
straight and narrow, and countries will
not so readily provoke each other to
armed strife.
This idea is suggested by the wide
publicity that is being given to the Brit
ish governments response TO the re-
quest of the American debt-funding
commission for exact information as to
how Great Britain purposes to spend
her revenue. Did the British demur?
They did not. They furnished the in
formation quickly, and without the
slightest intimation that the Americans
had teen impairment.
When a man applies for loan at
a bank he is usually willing to tell the
banker what he wants the money for.
The banker NAV not invariably ask
him; but if he should, and the appli-
cant refused TO answer, the loan most
likely would not be made.
The same principle has become high
" important in the international sense.
For a time the United States, the worlds
banker, so to speak, was a bit careless
about handing out money to applicants
therefor. But it has grown wiser with
experience. 1t has refused to make
loans to various foreign nations during
the last few years because it either was
in doubt as to how the money would
be used or else disapproved the projects
for which the money was sought.
Before Great Britain became one of
our debtors it was none of Our business
how she spent her money, and she would
have been justified in telling us so had
we Intercepted her on the matter. But
now she owes us money, and we Ger
tainly have right to know how she
is going to spend her revenue before
we make any concessions to her. Ii
she intended to use an excessive part
OF her income to build up her military
and naval facilities, or to promote any
project whose success would be adverse
to our interests, we should have per-
feet warrant for making her burdens as
heavy as we legitimately could.
The largest item in the list OF eX-
penditures presented by the British gov
eminent is Interest on debt, 31.S per
cent" The next in point Of size is
Fighting forces, 1871 per cent" Then
come the items of Social service, 1874"
and administration, lis per cent" The
percentage for war pensions is listed as
1872 Thus it is shown that the British
people are paying heavily for the wars
in which their country has already en-
gagged and for the prospect of future
wars The three items, Interest on
debt" Fighting forces" and "War pen
sions," make an aggregate call for con-
siderably more than half OF the total
revenue from taxation-and the British
taxpayers, one may easily believe, arc
coming to be more and more keenly
concerned in the uses the government
makes OF their money. And realizing,
through unpleasant experience, that war
means increased tax burdens, they may
be depended upon to keep their govern
ment officials headed away from the
routes that lead most directly to war
The principle referred to is one that
should be put into universal practice
wherever there is the slightest posi-
bility that the peoples money may be
used for unworthy ends.