Evening star., 1928-04-29
MADDEN'S RECORD
BASED ON ECONOMY
Proponent of Budget System
Was important Factor in
Curbing Expenses.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Economy, which has been the charac-
teristic OF the present administration,
lost its chief exponent in Congress in
the death of Martin B. Madden, chair
! man OF the appropriations committee of
the House OF Representatives.
Many other men in public life have
preached economy. but Martin Madden
practiced II In every legislative proposal
years as the watchdog of the treasury"
he permitted no friend or foe to in
fiuence mis- judgment as to how the
Governments money should be spent.
He neither carried prejudices against
political opponents nor ga lie allow
political friends to sway his Judgment
Defended McCarl.
When the budget system came into
operation there we're those who pre-
dicted an unsympathetic attitude on the
part of members of Congress who had
previously welded real power in appro-
priations. Mr. Madden gave the budget
system his whole-hearted cooperation
and used to emphasize with pride TO
this correspondent and others how
closely Congress had followed the rec
concentrations of the budget bureau.
When Controller General McCarl
began to be criticised for his decisions
with reference to Government expendi-
lures in the executive departments and
brought down on himself all sorts OF
denunciation. 1t was Martin Madden
who upheld him and insisted that the
Controller General was carrying out
! the true wishes of Congress In cxercis-
ing a close check on the spending OF
/ Government funds.
| Popular with his colleagues of both
/ parties. an indefatigable worker Mr.
Madden was one OF the outstanding
| leaders of Congress. His word carried
weight in both houses He was always
Staunch Republican but took the
liberty of differing with the executive
branch of the Government whenever
he thought 1t wrong.
Yet while Martin Madden was one OF
the most useful members of Congress in
| the present generation. he had his diff
culties being reelected Time and again
he was worried about his political flu
ture. His district is heavily populated by
negroes and every now and then he
/ was opposed by negro for the Republi-
! can nomination in the primaries. Once
| nominated. however he was always
sure of reelection.
Martin Madden was not merely a
negative figure in the sense that he
stopped extravaganza. He offered many
constructive pieces of legislation, Two
of the proposals dear to hts heart have
not been adopted but he worked hard
on them in his closing years.
Favored Shoals Lease.
One was for the leasing OF Muscle
| Shoals to the American Cyanamid Co,
and the other was his plan for an au-
| tomato reduction of taxes whenever
/ the surplus in any fiscal year exceeded
| $4,000, 600
! Modest to the extreme, the little para
graph in the Congressional Directory
where extensive biographies usually ere
printed, tells how self-cffacing was Mar
! tin Madden His biography was al
ways just a single sentence: Martin B
Madden, Republican of Chicago. was
elected to the Fifty-ninth and each
succeeding Congress"
And that was all he cared TO say
about himself. Today the Nation
mourns him and the whole Govern.
ment on Sunday participates in state
| funeral in his honor.
| JTonxriRht 1881