The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-05-17
], MIA Service Writer

NEA Service Writer
 Washington-If you can follow the statistics that are being hurled about ad lib during the big budget, balancing act, you are doing bet ter than many of Us who are here on the ground.
 You tuck a statistic away some. where for safekeeping overnight and next morning you're as likely to find 1t a totally different statis- tic, swollen enormously or shrunk- en to a mere shadow of It's former
 That dicconcerting capricious. ness of the darned things maye be observed in everything from the treasury's estimates of deficits and of return from specific new taxes and various estimates to be saved through reorganization to the wild, phoney figures often tossed about on the floor of Congress and the information broadcast to the country about the post-war jumps in government expenditures.
 ABOUT THAT BUDGET CUT.
 The casual reader certainly must blink to read one day Presi- dent Hoover's hot message to Con- gress implying that 1t isn't going to effect any economies at all and the very next day to read that by yitue of cuts already made and ap- parently about to be made there's n slash of $833,00O,O00 under the 1892 budget in sight. Don't ask just how its going to turn out.) '
 On a Tuesday night you find Congressman Arthur M. Free Of California warning that local-state- federal expenditures of 13 billion dollars are eating up one.sixth or the national income which he sets at 7S billions and the next night Editor. Phil Hanna of the Chicago Journal af Commerce, broadcasting for the American Taxpayers league has the national income consider. ably below 50 billions for 1892 and a i6- billion dollar tax bill eating 30 cents out of every income dol- lar. Both ask you to wire your congressman.
 one refreshing set of figures. however, has come from the Budg- ct bureau. It shows exactly the activities for which federal ex. penses in the past decade have materially incerased. It was com- piled for Congressman Phil Swing of California, who wanted to an swer q widely circulated letter from the du Pont de Nemours company in its vigorous campaign to bring pressure on Congress Tor expense reduction by cutting out certain government functions.
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 Deducting interest, sinking fund and certain other payments, the du Fonts cited an, increase of from $f,9e4,O00,O00 in 1927 to $3.195,- 900, for 1892, an increase of $l,- 23l.100, 900 spent by major depart ments, bureaus and commissions. The difference sounded pretty bad and seemed like riotous extrava-
 But the picture is out of pro- portion, regardless of how badly we need federal economy right
 The year 1927 was the lowest since 1917 while 1882 was the largest st-and most of the increase was represented by efforts or Con- gress for things that would stimu- laLo ,SmVlOyIlSAts GAPShossssSSA " " public works alone had increased from $1ss, s,00o, 900 to 623,o00.000, for highways, public buildings, rivers and harbors and hood con. trol work. Other construction ac. | tivities accounted for lot more. f.N 4 WHERE THE MONEY WENT. Increases beside that of 436 mil. lions on public works, the Budget Bureau shows, included 15b mil- lions for the agricultural market ing fund--so-c farm relief, 167 millions for postal deficit, 70 millions for ship construction m the navy and through Shipping
 board loans, ~ millions Tor air- craft construction and aeronauti- cal activities, 240 millions for vet erans, and 37 millions for settling under the war cIaima act. Most of the other 60 millions or increase. went for argricultrual ala, | Department of Justice law enforce \ ment, better prisons and complet-
 ins the ieso census i A BETTER COMPARISON.
 The increase in the budget for 1g85, which the Budget bureau suggests as q better year for cont- l parison, was only about s77zs00o,- GOO over 1927. It breaks down ] into an increaSs of s7s millions fcs st, ", ,if s 4 .a i s Z t li' "A. sr li| tte E