The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1935-09-26
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Checking on Spending
.I:S PRESS BLDG

Washington.-Wh hen President
Roosevelt entered the White House
March 4, 1888, every dollar of fed
eral money that was expended was
accounted for and the vouchers re-
viewed by the general accounting
offices. j. Raymond McCarl, comp
troller general of the United States,
occupied and still occupies an indie
pendent position in the accounting
he directed and the reviews that
were made under the budget and
accounting law. But with the arriv-
al of the New Deal and the crisis in
government and the nation arising
from the depression, scores of new
laws were enacted, new agencies of
government were created and bill
lions of dollars were appropriated,
the bulk of it being spent without
reference to the accounting act or
the bureau of the budget. Congress,
under White House direction, did
not make these new agencies or
their spending accountable to the
comptroller general. +
1t was almost two years before
President Roosevelt saw fit to make
any of the emergency agencies, the
alphabetical soup, amenable to the
general accounting office. Conse-
quently, millions upon millions of
dollars were spent and only the
spending agencies know whether
they were spent in accordance with
law. Now, however, things have
changed. Late last winter, the Pres
ident began extending the broad
wings of the general accounting Of
flee over emergency agencies and
has continued to do so until, only
the other day the last of these were
made responsible to the comptroller
general. Thus an independent gov
eminent unit-one with no axes to
grind again is in a position to say
whether federal money is being
spent as congress directed and in a
manner which the taxpayers have
the right to demand.
This spending of money in gigan-
tic amounts always breeds suspicion.
1t causes people to inquire, what
ever the form of government may
be or whatever political party may
be in control, whether there is waste
or graft, whether the then office
holders are feathering their own
nests, and many another question of
the like. It was true in the case Of
the New Deal. Observers here in
Washington constantly were receiv-
ing information alleging that this
individual or that had been display
ing signs of unusual prosperity;
that rumors were afloat concerning
graft and crookedness in one agency
or another and that somebody had
ought to expose" the goings-on with
respect to named department of
government. It was not an unusual
circumstance because in every adj
ministration we here in Washing
ton who attempt to see and to hear
as much as we can, get the same
kind of reaction. Only, it seemed to |
have been worse this time and well !
it might have been because the
amount of money made available to |
President Roosevelt and subodin-
ates was so much larger. It is my be-
lief, however, that there has not |
been more of this intangible thing |
called graft in government in the |
present administration than in most |
others. There has been some crook |
edness because there have been con-
victions of some officials but I ex-
pect when and if the future lays
bare all facts concerning the pres
emit administration and its handling
of the vast sums of money available
to it. it will be disclosed that most |
of the New Deal officials have been
honest in their disbursements Of |
funds.