Evening star., 1934-01-05
A Timely Shock.

PRESIDENT Roosevelt is 10 be con-
graduated on his extremely frank
budget message to Congress. He has
given picture of the financial situation
of the Government, a picture that may
be readily understood by ALL And
whether he intended to shock the Con-
gress into a realization that the time
is at hand to put on the brakes in
emergency expenditures or not, he ap-
parently has done so. He plans no
immediate termination of the expendi-
ture of Government funds to aid in
| the economic recovery of the country.
He does recommend, however, a decided
tapering off. And, further, he recon-
mends to Congress that in the third
year of the recovery" every effort be
made to keep the expenditures within
the total amount of revenues. We are
now in the first year. year that will
close with an estimated deficit of more
than s700O000,0OO, For the second
year the President says that the deficit
should be held to not more than
81, 2,0OO,OOO,OOO
A vast amount of the money already
appropriated for relief and recovery for
the present fiscal year still remains to
be expended And the President calls
for another S1,l66 600 600 to be appro-
priated for expenditure during the fiscal
year ending next June 80. Much Of
this is to go in continuation of the
civil works program, which has put to
work about 10000 men and women.
The United States can swing a public
debt running up almost to S32 900 000,-
900, the point to which the President
estimates it will reach during the fiscal
year 1885. The per capita debt then
will still be far less than the per capita
public debt in Great Britain. But a
large public debt can be wiped out
only through heavy taxation Of the peo
pie or through imitation" and repudia-
ton. Neither of these is a pleasant
course, although taxation is far prefer
able and certainly much more honest.
The American people undoubtedly will
back up the President in his determina-
ton to call halt on the mounting
public debt. They are the ones who
have to pay this debt. If there are
members of Congress-and there are
who wish to drive ahead piling up bill
lions upon billions Of expenditures and
of deficit and public debt, the budget
message of the President will serve to
arouse public sentiment and also senti-
ment among other members of Con-
greSS against such procedure.
The Presidents message has been
described as "brutally frank" 1t gives
a picture Of the cost Of the recovery
program, picture which has been
painted during recent months in various
publications. But the Presidents mes
sage has focused attention on this cost
as has nothing else. 1t is official.
Wisely the President has cast aside the
two-budget idea, advanced by some of
his advisers in the special session of the
Congress. He has Jumped all the
figures, the cost of the regular and
ordinary agencies and of the emergency
and extraordinary agencies of govern
ment. He properly gives the picture as
it is, for the money all comes out of the
same source, the pockets of the Ameri-
can people. He does, however set forth
just how much money goes for the
regular expenditures Of the Government,
and how much for the emergency
expenditures, which serves to make the
understanding of the situation even
more clear.
Another thing the President has wise
ly done. He has made the new agencies
of government, the N. R. A.. the A. A.
A., and all the rest of the alphabetical
array amenable to the control of the Bu-
real of the Budget and the General Ac-
counting Office of the United States.
All expenditures, whether for salaries or
for other expenditures, hereafter must
be estimated for in the regular way
through the Budget Bureau and must
be audited and accounted for through
the office of the controller general.
The huge expenditures already made
by the Government and still in contem-
plation for the recovery program will
be subject to attack by opponents of
the administration. The reply OF the
President is that the results are well
worth the cost. The President is as
suredly correct in his view that there
must be an end to such spending as
early possible, which means when
private employment and business are
able to take care Of the situation.
The professional psychologists may