Evening star., 1933-06-10
"The Relief of Unemployment" }"

THE Keller Oh unemploymehl'
Chairman Cannon of the subcom-
mittea which handled the District
appropriation bill in the House finds
q snurce of qualification in the fact
that the bill carries out two important
pledges. In the first place. it reduces
expenditures twenty-five per cent; and,
in the second place, it balances the
District budget"
The District budget is not balanced.
Under the District budget more money
is being collected in taxes than will be
spei1t. This means excessive taxation.
And excessive taxation is hurtful,
helpful to nobody.
Through the District bill the Federal
Government has been able to save some
two million dollars, part of its in
adequate contribution to the expenses
Of the National Capital, and this money
will represent small part of the total
savings which the administration is
making toward balancing the Federal
budget Everybody grants the necessity
for bringing the Federal budget into
balance, and sacrifices are being asked
Of everybody to that end. The District
has no complaint with emergent steps
that are taken to bring the Federal
budget into balance.
But the attempt to handle the local
appropriation bill and the expenditure
Of local revenues as If these had any
earthly connection with the balancing
Of the Federal budget or campaign
pledges is not only hopelessly con-
fusing, but has no justification what
ever either Ii theory or in fact. In re-
ducing local expenditures by twenty
five per cent, this being the amount
by which Federal expenditures are to
be reduced to help balance the Federal
budget, the people of the District would
ordinarily pay in taxes nearly $4,000, 900
more than will be spent. This surplus
will be reduced to the extent of some
$2,600,0 900 If the tax rate on real es-
tate is cut to $1.5o, and it may be re-
duced still more by the falling of in
revenue collections. But there will
still remain a large surplus of idle
money placed to the credit of the Dis
trict, without interest, in the Federal
Treasury. unavailable for budget bal
ancing or anything else.
H1ou- aho,,f mn mn ,f fI,ie
representing collections from the gaso-
line and water taxes is made avail
able for expenditure in the discretion
of the director of the Bureau of the
budget. But Chairman Cannon, has
made a strange Interpretation of the
conditions under which this money can
be spent. He told the House:
But wish to take advantage of this
opportunity to emphasize the terms of
the section authorizing this additional
expenditure only in such emergency. If.
as 1t is expected, there Is no increase
in unemployment In the District, these
additional funds are not available, and
the director of the budget alone is au-
thorized to determine when there shall
have been such an increase in mem-
pioyment over present conditions as to
justify recourse to these additional
funds.
It has been supposed, of course, that
the fundamental purpose Of the ad-
ministration recovery program was to
increase employment, and therefore
purchasing power, and thereby recovery
not to wait until it is discovered that
unemployment is still increasing be-
fore doing anything. If the exercise
of the extraordinary powers conferred
on the President to spend billions
of dollars were dependent upon statis-
tics gathered by the Federal director Of
the Budget Bureau indicating that un-
employment continued to increase, and
that some emergency even greater than
the current emergency was to arise, the
Nation would be pursuing a strange
course indeed. The money collected
from the local taxpayers is needed now
for street and water system extension
or improvement, or 1t should not be
collected at all. The need for II
has been sufficiently demonstrated In
the past without any reference to un-
employment conditions, which, as every
body knows, are distressing enough. II
1t Is not spent, it merely means that
men who need work will go without it
improvements and extensions that should
be made will be indefinitely postponed
and the Federal budget and the local
the extent of penny in savings.
Fortunately, Chairman Cannon's ode
Interpretation of the law is not justi.
fed by the language of the bill, which
states:
For additional street and road i'm
provementS and repair to aid in the re
lief Of unemployment, to be allotted fcl
such projects and purposes and IL
such amounts as the director Of thu
budget NAV approve (including th
ALLEGATION of additional sums to any an:
all Of the general items herein charge
able TO the gasoline tax fund.- there i
hereby appropriated out of the gaso
line tax fund to be Immediately availabl
such sums (not to exceed in the aggre
gate 81 500, ,oo0) as may be deemed sur
plus in such funds. ,"
The appropriation of water fund sur
plus. amounting to s635,oo is made ii
language which Is practically identical
There Is no reference to the bulge
directors refusing the expenditure un
Ssas there Is an increase in unemploy
iment.
This money is Immediately available
"to aid In the relief Of unemployment.
The District authorities should imme
diately proceed to itemize their pre-
posed expenditures of this sum and re
i,aest from the director Of the budg'
Il