The Washington times., 1923-12-03
BUDGET CAME IN
NICK Of TIME,
IS CLAIM
Eliot WadsWorth Says It Is
UnthinkabIe That System
Should Go.
By ELIOT. WADSWORTH.

By ELIOT WADSWOKTH.
Assistant Secretary Of the Treasury
Of the United States.
Written for Cosmopolitan News Service.
It is almost unbelievable that
there should be any serious
thought of doing away with the
budget office In the Federal Gov
eminent. In less than three
years of operation, the budget
had proved itself beyond a ques-
ton of a doubt. It came in the
nick of time when every energy
Of the Executive was needed to
cut down Federal expenditures,
eliminate the great war organi-
zation and get back to a straight
peace-time basis. Without the
services. of an aggressively man
aged budget office, this task
would have been well-nigh inn
possible.
Has Saved Many Millions.
It Is understood that by bringing
together In the budget office q
record OF all contemplated expendi-
lures, the President and his ex-
ecutive officers may know in adj
vance the yearly cost of this great
corporation, the United States OF
America. This Is the feature of
budget most generally emphasized.
But the budget has done more
than this. Through its efforts,
more business like methods have
been inaugurated. The Federal
Government is a huge organization
Of the peoples money each year.
The money is spent through some
eleven departments and thirty-two
independent establishments. The
budget office is steadily bringing
about coordination between these
varied activities, all OF which are
inclined to operate Independently
with their own facilities and per-
sonnet regardless of any overlap
ping with others.
Some Examples Cited.
Here are a few examples of
what has been accomplished by q
central office acting for the Pre-
sident, devoting itself entirely to
analyzing Federal expenditures, not
only as to amount, but also as to
methods.
We are spending over $50, o00, 900
q year for rent on 1857 leases. A
real estate board was created to
cut this item. 1t was found that in
the same city, Government owned
space controlled by one department
might stand empty, while another
department paid good money for
rented space.
1t was found that one department
might be selling surplus material
at sacrifice prices, while another
was buying the same material at
market prices. This was stopped.
In the Treasury it was found that
over twenty officers We're buying
supplies. Now the buying is Gen.
tralized. handled by experts, divided
into commodity groups. and pur-I
chases are being made where posi-
Die in large quantities.
Transportation Bill Cut.
The Governments transportation
bill ran into many millions Of dol
lars year. A Federal Traffic
Board has been created to study the
routingS and the nature Of ship
ments in the interest Of efficiency
and economy.
After all, the national and local
Government units are just COM
munity operations managed by
elected officials and paid for by
money contributed by the members
Of the community through taxes.
If the community affairs are well
managed and do not impose an I'M
bearable financial burden upon the
individual citizen, the confidence Of
the people in their Government will
be maintained.
Death Blow to Economy.
The Improvement in methods and
the economies brought about by the
budget office have strengthened the
faith Of the people that there can be
efficiency in government, and that
waste can be eliminated.
To go back to the old hit and miss
plan, after we have proved that the
present plan is good, would be almost
q death blow to the movement which
Is steadily gathering force in the
direction Of better management for
national and local government af-
fairs and a better understanding be-
tween Government officials and the
public at large.