Smyrna times., 1933-05-31

FIX EXPENSES
Standing Expenses For Run
ming Government Exceed
100 Million Yearly
HAS TILT IN CONGRESS

HAS TILT IN CONGRESS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS voting
through a big appropriation bill
glibly refer to them as ''the per-
manents and indefnites." They
don't appear in the regular tabula-
tion of appropriations for the COM
ing year as reported by the house
and senate appropriations COM
mittee, says the Chicago Tribune.
Yet they are going to cost the
taxpayers this year the sum of
$1,2S5, ,191,0 OPS and in the next fiscal
year of 1894 the bill will be S113,-
345,553 larger, or $1,39S, ,536,5S1.
They are indeed the "perma-
nents and indefnites," for they are
the appropriations which go on year
after year on the strength Of some
past legislation and without the ne
cessity Of any annual affirmative ac-
tion such as is required to author
ize payment of the regular current
appropriations.
The biggest permanent and indefi-
mite items by far in these years of
a public debt of more than $20,00O,-
100000 are the $725,000,000 to be
required in 1884 to pay interest on
the debt and the S534,000,000 to be
written on the books as the annual
contribution to the sinking fund es-
tablished under the Liberty loan
acts.
Some Cost Nothing.
Other items, unlike most items in
appropriation bills, cost the treas
ury nothing. Such a one is the $71,-
100000 to be taken from premiums
on converted veterans insurance
and which are set aside for payment
of losses and benefits in 1884
Then there are the incomes from
various gifts and donations to
government and social enterprises
which must be distributed each year.
There are revenues from public
lands and national forests and In
dian reservations. These may be
distributed to states to compensate
for taxes lost through being host
to nontaxable government property
and enterprises.
In addition to these forms of per-
manent and indefinite appropria-
tions, there are appropriations that
go on and on just because their
hackers were once upon time legis-
latively clever enough to get them
put in this privileged class of gov
ernment expenditures.
There they hide, year after year
beyond the reach of economy drives.
They are seldom heard of. Only re
peal of the original authorizing act
can touch them.
A special house committee in the
last congress was delegated to
search out these hidden appropria-
tions and drag them into the light.
AS Chairman Anthony J. Griffin of
New York explained in his report at
the close Of the session he and his
committee had been too busy pass
ing annual appropriations to do any
thing much in the way of cutting the
permanent ones.
At least they performed the sery-
ice of getting these appropriations
out in a group where they could be
seen and considered and the ground
work was laid for hearings at which
department heads may be sum-
moned, in Mr.. Griffin's words, "to
show cause, If any, why the perma-
nent appropriations over which they
have jurisdiction should not be re-
pealed or converted to the status
of regular annual appropriations so
as to be annually subject to ex-
animation and review"
Might Review Some Expenses.
More than s6O.OO0,OOO of the per-
manent and indefinite sums annu-
ally expended might so be reviewed
and the department heads who
spend the money made to show
cause why it should not be put on
an annual basis.
In the economy amendments add
ed to the 1884 post Office and treas
ury appropriation bill an attempt
was made to bring the permanents
and indefnites into line by a SIM
pie order that all such appropria-
tions should hereafter be on an an
nual basis. But before the bill
reached its final approval that or
der was stricken out
There is, for example, the perma-
nent appropriation--in the sum
of $6.636,46 for 1934-to be paid
out in state subsidies for vocational
| education. Part of it goes to nav