Daily Kennebec journal., 1925-03-13
y. should enlis. under an

economy. should enlis. under an
other flag.
If I have an especial appeal to
you today, it is an appeal for nation
al thinking. One of the greatest
sources of waste and inefficiency in
the Federal Service was the entire
lack OF cooperation between bur-
eaus and departments. and the habit
of thinking in terms of bureaus and
departments rather than in terms OF
the United States. We are preach
ing night and day for the develop
ment Of a national conscience. Not
very long ago a very high official in
the Federal Service recommended to
the Director Of the Bureau Of the
Budget a certain reorganization Of
certain department agencies. If it
had been applied as recommended,
while it would have aggrandized his
own bureau, 1t would have reriously
crippled other Government activities
quite as important as his own. A
Scotchman was very sick in a hospi-
tai. nigh unto death, and he told the
surgeon in charge that he would like
to hear a bag pipe play some OF
those sweet old Scotch airs. "rhe
Bluebells of Scotland" "Scots Wha
Haze W. Wallace Bled.' and so
forth. The bag pipe was secured
and the Scotchman got his Scotchish
airs and recovercd--and the rest of
the patients died. (Laughter.)
You see, the official to whom /
have referred was thinking locally
and not nationally. I have no doubt
ft,zt L., - 11s I,r,f I'm
had no thought OF injury to any
he had lost sight of the general well
if 1 have special appeal, it is
an appeal for national think
ing. You should give first
place in your thoughts to the Fed
eral Government. to the Nation as a
whole. and not confine your interest
and your concern to a restricted pro-
iect or a limited area. If the opera
tion of the Budget Law is ever seri-
ously imperiled, it will lie because
the appeal Of the Budget for a sane.
| impartial, consideration Of national
interests will be lost in the glamour
of local interests for their own pre-
ferment and preference. When you
are asked to endorse this or that
project. which means an appropria-
| ton from the federal treasury, or an
appropriation from your state treas
| ury, you should give it the same
careful consideration as YOU would
give it If it were to be financed out
of your own pocket; and any other
course Is not fair and is not honor
able.
There are today created and oper-
a. iy, 10 rtt.,y htrnArndo nj 1.-Two
organizations devoting their time to
the project of getting funds out Of
the federal treasury. There is only
one organization Of which l know
that is created and operated for the
purpose of protecting the federal
treasury, and that is the Bureau of
| the Budget. Every measure that pro-
poses a federal appropriation COM
mands powerful support. and the Di-
rector of the Bureau OF the Budget,
in his defense of the treasury, en-
counters always able, organized OPP
position. At times he Is almost over
whelmed with letters and telegrams
and appeals from the people whose
| pocketbooks he is trying to protect,
, letters, personal appeals and tele-
grams demanding consideration for
policies and projects which he, with
his entire knowledge Of the field.
knows should not be approved. What
are you doing as individuals to up
| hold the hands of the Budget Bureau
| in its effort to reduce expenditures
so that we may further reduce taxes
and reduce the public debt? We
need your help all the time. We need
your intelligent. your considerate
help, and that at all times. The Bu-
| reau of the Budget Is your agency.
operated and created for the purpose
! of protecting your funds and reliev-
| ing tile demand upon your pocket
| books. II ever the Bureau Of the
! Budget is thrown into the discard.
| II that time ever comes. through the
| efforts of people opposed to federal
economy-and their name is myriad
then when it is too late for any
| body to come to the rescue. l hope
someone will be there to tell you the
story OF southern worker on the
| soil who pointed. an accusing finger
at the sun. blazing In unrivaled
splendor overhead. and plaintively
asked, Where was you last January
| when I needed you so bad?'
| Someone has said. your Excel
| lency. that the Director Of the Bu-
| reau OF the Budget should have a
j backbone Of steel and the hide OF a
rhinoceros. l have amended that
i and will say "Yes. and he should also
have a heart Of flint to resist the elo-
| quent appeals Of advocates for large
| appropriations for important national
| projects such as reforestation, rivers
and harbors, good roads, reclama =
tions. public buildings. research and
the like. The Director OF the Bu-
reau OF the Budget yields, in point OF
national pride and public spirit, TO
no man in the federal service or out
of It. He has vision to see our ham,
| let's and our villages and our towns
and cities bound together by broad
rivers Of faultless highways over
which ponderously rumble the trucks
of commerce, and over which royalty
roll the limousines Of the rich and
the f1ivvers Of the more moderately
circumstanced. He has vision to see
the denuded slopes Of our hills and
mountains clothed again in the glori-
Gus ajesty Of wonderful forests
lie has vision to see the public CEN
ters of our great communities
adorned with public buildings. He
| has vision to see our rivers and our