Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-05
CLASH IN CONGRESS
! ON BUILDING FUNDS
Tendency to HaggIe Over
How to Spend $780,.
100000 Develops.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

A tendency to Maggie over where and
how the $l5o,O0O,0o0 will be spent for
public buildings has cropped up in Con-
gress and the usual disinclination to
give blanket authority to the executive
departments has appeared. But the
urgency Of the need for prompt spend
ing of Government funds to help re-
lieve unemployment is such that any
delay will probably not be popular with
the country, and hence q compromise
may have to be worked out quickly.
Already the President has replied to
Congress leaders by pointing out that
no new projects are contemplated and
that the funds will be used to COM
plete measures planned or heretofore
authorized. The danger of delay is
that when once the pressure starts from
various congressional districts asking
their representatives to sttpulate specific
appropriations, the measure may never
be acted upon before the new year. It
is the desire of Mr.. Hoover to have the
bills passed in the next week or so, with
the hope that work can be given TO
thousands Of persons before Christmas.
Congress Favors Idea.
Congress has reacted favorably, to
the idea of. spending the $3.50, 000, 900
FOR, public projects, though a number
of members feel the sum is inadequate
to meet the emergency. The admins
traitor realized this before sending the
estimate to Congress, but Zelt that 1t
for $50, 600, 900 now, and then, if the
Government financial program cleared
up, more sums could be authorized.
1t is generally agreed that an appro-
priation of q billion dollars comes
nearer the sum necessary than the
amount asked for by the President. How
to raise billion dollars when there is
a prospect of a $3.50, 900 deficit this
current fiscal year ending June 80 is
the stumbling block. Suggestions have
been made by some OF the Welfare
Committees in New York that huge
loan be fioated similar to the Liberty
loans of wartime. Internationally a
billion dollar bond issue could be
fioated with relative ease, and with the
abundance Of money and good judy
ment in fixing the interest rate 1t might
even be oversubscribed.
The difficulty is not In getting the
money, but in deciding the funda-
mental question of whether the emerg-
City - ouLuC1oilJly d@utS w aou W IklC
public debt of the Nation, which has
been gradually reduced since war days
I Depends on Situation.
The school OF thought which thinks
the war debt has been cut down too
rapidly already will say at is merely am
other way of recovering some of the
sums taken from the people in tax
alton during prosperous years and using
1t for the benefit Of q return to pros
perity. The school Of thought which
believes the soundest policy Is to retire
the war debt as rapidly as possible, and
thus keep the credit of the American
Government on q higher basis than the
rest of the countries of the world, viii
not for a moment approve $1,000
0O0, 900 bond issue. But neither side
can tell what the coming Winter may
produce. If the situation gets worse,
the big loan will be considered seriously
by Congress. II business improves, the
idea viii be abandoned.
(Copyright. issoJ