Evening star., 1932-10-15

unQer Lne CONLlnutO dSen o!Aeo
what they gave balanced the nuoget.
Disquieting criticism was rife. A
great newspaper openly charged the
administration with a new concealment
of deficits. Senator Tydings. OF Mary
land made that charge on the Senate
floor. The administration was adamant.
quote from the New York Times, June
S: Just before the House cast its
final vote ION the tax bilD Secretary
of the Treasury Mills announced that
the amount would guarantee balanced
budget"
Well what are the facts?
I quote from two special articles by
Mr.. Robey Financial Editor OF The
New York Evening Post, one OF the
most partisan pro-administration jour-
mails in this country.
September Il quote):
The campaign of optimism Tor the
past several weeks has diverted atten-
ton almost completely from the state
of our Federal finances. 1t still Is as
sumed by the public > that our
national budget is in approximate
balance as a matter of fact. the
result so f2r during this fiscal year has
been especially bad-even much worse
than it was in the corresponding period
last year.
Last year. to which Mr.. Robey refers,
the total deficit ran over 28 billions.
At the end of the first quarter the
deficit was $50 millions. On the same
date in 1882, the daily Treasury re-
port shows a deficit of about 403 mil
lions.
Extraordinary Budget"
That is only part of the story. Before
read from Mr. Robey's second article
let me quote President Hoover-New
York Times. May %, 1882:
1T will serve no good purpose and
fool no one to cover appearances by
resorting to the so-called extraordinary
budget That device is well known. 1t
brought the governments OF certain Tor
eign countries to the brink OF disaster.
the o-administration post, under this
heading: Real deficit is $500 600, 600.
Treasury figures of s400 900, 900 do not
include advance to r. F. c." The ar
ticle proceeds:
washington statements about our
Federal finances continue to be incom--
plete and misleading. The most recent
one places the deficit at S400, ,000,-
600. During the period the public
debt - increased $3.50, 900 900. .
There is every reason to object to pick
ing out just one group OF special ex-
penoitures and setting them aside in a
special budget. That is what the
treasury is doing today. The policy
cannot be justified even on an account
ing basis-especial care should be taken
in seeing that the public has all the
facts The Treasury IS not doing
this. ="
Now I submit that the record shows
Democratic Congress determined and
willing to 60 the limit for a balanced
budget. It shows that the purpose has
been frustrated by the same methods
this administration has practiced for
three consecutive years. The budget Is
not balanced. The whole job must be
done over.
"The Democratic Program"
The Republicans claim exclusive
credit for the emergency laws OF the
last session of Congress. They list
lot of defeated bills and call them the
Democratic program" At DeS MolneS
it was said that Democrats controlled
the policy of both House and Senate.
Now on this state of facts, have only
one appeal to make to the common
sense of the country and that Is a
question:
If the Democrats controlled the
policy of both Houses, how could the
enacted legislation be the exclusive
program of the Republican administra-
ton and the defeated bills the exclu-
sive program of the controlling Demo-
cratic CongreSs?"
Now have neither the intention nor
desire of calling names. do not wish
to be understood as attributing to the
administration any perversity or delb-
crate intention to prolong the country's
troubles or to delay the country'S re-
covery. I merely believe that the ad-
ministration was bewildered, was unable
to control the resistance OF the cabinet
departments to an adequate diminutlon
of their budgets and could not bring
itself to take the responsibility that
belonged to it. Hence it adhered to the
policy evidenced at the beginning OF the
depression of minimizing the emergency,
and because it had no adequate pro-
gram of its own attempted to pick flaws
in the only constructive process that
had been advanced.
Program in Three Parts.
The adopted emergency program con-
sists of three great parts: O The
balancing of the budget. which both
the President and I say was the 1nd1s-
pensable foundation stone Of all: (2)
the purely financial measures to support
private credit; 60 the humanitarian
measures to relieve unemployment and
to insure against human misery.
The cold print Of the record shows
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