Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1923-04-19
THE STORY OF UNCLE SANS
INCOME


that one penny of yours then I'd
have enough to make five ard We
could get some candy" said Jack to
his sister.
eve could get some candy?"
answered Ruth in disgust. "You
mean YOU could get some candy
When you get it l never see any Of
it,"
Money and candy spoke up I'm
Gle Ted who had dropped into the
room. That's all got Of the con-
versation. It's too late in the even
ing for candy and as there Is nothing
to buy this evening I wouldn't worry
about the money"
| THAT makes me think" said Jack,
"that you said some time you would
tell us story about how our Govern
ment spends it's money. Tell us now,
Uncle Ted"
"A very good suggestionr Jack.
There are few things more import
ant to all of us than Government fl
nances. / wonder how many people
realize that during the four years
Of 1917 to 1920 the money spent by
our Government was about SO per
cent greater than the total cost of
the Government from the beginning
of 1889 to 1916. To make that fact
more astounding remember that DUR
ing those years four wars were wag-
ed The war Of 1912, the Mexican
war, the Civil war and the Spanish
American war. During the four
years Of 1917 to 1920 nearly $4,000
000, 900 was spent as compared with
less than $27, 600, 000, 900, the amount
spent during the entire life Of our
government, period of 127 years.
Nov Riddles the figures show
you what big business we, as citi-
zens, are stockholders in, and they
also show you that waste and ex-
travagance on the part Of those RUM
ing the Government would impose
burdens and make trouble for every
individual and business in the Unit
ed States. And, just as true, if the
money is spent carefully with deep
thought given to conditions andneeds
Of the country, the tax burden can
be made lower. If the present Adj
ministration had nothing else Of
which to be proud they could well
look with pride upon the achievement
Of effecting tremendous economy in
Government expenditures during the
past two years. During the first
full fiscal year of the Harding adj
ministration, 1922, the money spent
was reduced to $3,795, 900, 900 as a.
gainst $5,538, 100000 for the fiscal
year Of 1921 which ended four
months after President Harding was
inaugurated. Don't think that the
reduction Of Government expenses
in one year Of about $1,700, 600, 900
was easily accomplished. That saw
ing, coupled with the fact that for
the same period the surplus Of mon
ey coming into the United States
Treasury over the amount spent was
about 100000, 900, sounds simple.
AS a matter Of fact it was accom-
plished not because Of conditions but
in spite Of conditions that, at the
beginning, looked impossible to over
come. President Harding made up
his mind to run the Government as
it shuld be run and get the full CO.
operation Of every department.
ut is a very interesting fact to
me to demonstrate the extent OF that
cooperation when we note that the
money spent for that year was about
600 million dollars less than the de-
uartments themselves figured it
would be necessary to have. 1t is
estimated now that the money spent
for the present year will be about
$3,574, 000, 900 or about $200,000,00O
less than during last year and near
ly $4,000, 100000 less than during 49,
.21.
Every effort is being made by the
whole Administration to get these
figures even lower. As you know,
one Of the first things that was done
after President Harding became our
Chief Executive was the establish
ment Of the wonderful things with
the help Of all the departments in ef-
fecting real saving.
"Here is another accomplishment.
Listen to this from the report Of the
World War Foreign Debt Commiss
ion which succeeded in settling the
British debt which will now be paid
in full, the amount being $4,600,000,-
900 with interest:
~qThis settlement between the
British Government and the United
States has the utmost significance.
It is a business settlement, fully
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