Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-27
BY ASHMUN BROWN.

1ngS IN the principle Oh luoANIuud4lSui
and toward paternalism in government
The medieval conception of govern
a1ent as being that entity from which
flows every good and perfect thing, and
upon which the subject must depend
for his welfare, his Job, his state OF
happiness and prosperity, has been re-
vived in a fashion that amazes and
alarms students of affairs.
On the plea that the arrival OF the
machine age has rendered obsolete tne
system established by the American
Constitution, a cry arises for the Gre
aticn of a government of the machine,
for the machine, by the machine, CEN
tering at Washington.
when the founding fathers houn-
dered through the Constitution, the
horse and the OK, the wind and wood,
were the basis OF civllization, II Is
argued. Hence the Constitution should
be made over, or ignored, and the
sources of authority should be removed
far from the people over which that
authority is exercised.
Abandon "Jeffersonian Idealogy."
Morris Hillquit, chairman of the
abandon the "Jeffersonian idealogy,"
which comprehends the principle OF
local elf-government, and his preach
nent is echoed by the so-called Pro-
gressives and meets approval in many
other quarters.
The Progressives declare a purpose
"to seek an increase in the consump-
tive power of the general population
by encouraging a redistribution OF the
national income" which may well
mean that the shiftless, the lazy and
the incompetent, alike with the thrifty
and industrious shall be guaranteed q
livelihood from the national revenues at
the expense of those who contribute to
those revenues.
"To seek a balance between produc-
ton in each type Of goods and the
prospective market for that type OF
goods" ito stabilize employment" to
minimize the human stresses of tech
nological unemployment" and to con-
troll in the public interest financial en-
terprises both in domestic and foreign
investments" are other items on the
Progressive aEenda-noble detectives, to
be sure but, in the Progressive mind, to
be attained only by governmental edict,
and through political action.
Hard Times Aggravate Situation.
Hard times. appearing coincidentally
with breakdown in the ancient system
Of party government and party respon-
sibility, have contrived to breach the
defenseS which President Hoover-and
President Coolidge before him-had
maintained against the attacks Of pa
ternalism. Now, with new Congress
elected In which a Progressive minded
coalition holds the balance Of power.
these breaches promise to be widened
It Is altogether probable that neither
the Republican party nor the Demo-
cratic party, In national convention as
sembled, would give party platform ap-
prevail to either the sum or all the par
ticulars Of the great mass Of demands
for Federal cash, for enlarged bureau
enterprises and for adventures into
Socialism that are represented in bills
that await action at the first session Of
the Seventy-Second Congress, which
win meet next December z.
Yet very much of this legislation
promises to be approved by both houses
Of Congress. How much Of it will sur
viye expected vetoes by President
Hoover cannot now be estimated. Sen
ators and Representatives, as q rule, no
longer are moved by considerations Of
national party loyalty. They are prone
to vote not their convictions, but what
they estimate to be the demands of the
majority of the voters among their con-
stitutents, which does not mean at all
the majority of their constituents.
The farmers vote, the veterans vote,
t4tc NAIOQS JULIET group NOVCS AL S1AC
home States, and the fear Of group re-
prisals constitute the animattng motive
In national legislation.
S10,0o0, 100000 Congress.
The Seventy-f1rst Congress, which
died on March 4, goes down into his
tory as a $4,000, 000. 900 Congress, for
the sum of its appropriations for the
two years Of its life reaches that huge
haTafnfnra
time Of war. Expenditures are not &C
tually at that rate, for they will aver
age more nearly S4,500, 900, 900 a year.
It Is not improbable that the Seventy
second Congress, unless checked by the
force Of public opinion and presidential
veto, will exceed that record, and,
furthermore, will commit the Govern
ment to policies and payments that
will entail extraordinary burdens on
posterity.
These demands fall naturally into
three classes. One embraces those pro-
posals which would entail a further
distributor of Federal revenues among
the States on the plea of e. sing
the burdens of local taxation or aiding
the States in the establishment Of be-
nevolent, social, educational or other
wise beneficial services. These include
increased and new subsidies to States
The second class includes legislation
ostensibly for the benefit Of war vet
Grams and direct grants TO individuals
either as unemployment relief, old age
pensions, or frank charity. In this
class falls such legislation as the vet
Grams certificate loan law, enacted over
session, and the bills that would have
appropriated $l00,000,000 TO be dis
tributed among the unemployed of the
country, which failed Of passage.
Effect on Taxpayers.
The third class includes such legis-
lation as that which President Hoover
vetoed when he had before him the bill
putting the Government into the bust
ness of operating an electric power
plant at Muscle Shoals. 1t compre-
hends the principle of Government
ownership and operation Of public
utilities
Consideration of these several classes
Of legislation requires surveys from thu
standpoint of the effect on the public
revenues and thus on the exciting
systems of taxation, Federal, State ant
local. and likewise from the standpoint
of what may be termed the newer ant
enlarged responsibilities Of the Fedora
Government as to the general welfar'
Of its citizens These responsibilities
appear as the complexities of modern
American civilization and take less an,
less account Of the artificial barriers o
State lines.
In this series of articles it is propose,
to deal first with the effect, actual ant
prospective, on the taxpayers of tn
country Of the rapidly increasing de
rnands on the Federal Treasury. That
indeed, is the matter Of most immedi
ate importance.
Approaching the task, the first thin
to be noted is that the demands fl
veterans legislation and other privat
rrayatg as YneaSlired by the PROPOSE