Evening star., 1936-10-10
stopped.

l24 years.
And what excuse does the Presi-
dent give for spending more than
all the Presidents from Washing
ton to Wilson?-for ignoring his
promises made at Pittsburgh four
years ago-or perhaps we should
say $25, ,00o, 900 900 ago? Speaking
last week at Pittsburgh, he said:
I'VE had to balance the budget Of
the American people before We could
balance the budget of the National
Government" And then he added:
That makes common sense, doesn't
it?" This is mighty melodious
phrase, but with 1900, 900 unem-
ployed. with almost 20,000, 900 peo-
pie on the relief rolls, with the
banks stuffed with Government
bonds, with the Government SPEND
ing double its income-this does
not make common sense.
In his last speech the President
overlooked this record. That Is not
surprising. At least 1t Is no more
surprising than the method of
bookkeeping adopted by this ad-
ministration.
For the first time in history--in
war or in peace-in prosperity or
in depression-the Treasury of the
United States is keeping two sets
Of books.
System Used in Face of
Bankruptcy or Imitation.
, This is the kind of bookkeeping
we find when countries. are faced
with imitation or bankruptcy-when
governments can stay in power
only by deceiving the public It
is the kind of bookkeeping. for
instance. from which the French
people suffered during the serious
imitation 10 years ago.
Under such a system, items are
transferred and retransferred, as
they are by this administration,
without rhyme or reason, from
one set of books to the other.
No definite line Is drawn between
ordinary expenditures and so-called
emergency expenditures. No one,
unless he is in the confidence of
those who juggle the figures, can
determine accurately what is 60
ing on. OF course, you can rely
on the daily Treasury statement
to present accurate figures. But
with the present mystery of the
two sets of books, the secrecy
surrounding the $4,000, 900 900
stabilization fund. and the Jug
Cling OF revenue and expenditure
items. not even an expert can
obtain a clear picture of the exact
condition of the United States
Treasury.
Bookkeeping Fails
to Hide Government Costs.
But in spite Of this system Of
bookkeeping, in spite of all this
juggling Of figures, there are GER
tain facts that 1t has been i'm
possible for this administration
to hide. One of these facts Is
the vast increase in the ordinary
routine cost of our Government.
In 1894, the first full year of
the present administration, the
ordinary activities of the Federal
Government, exclusive of debt re-
tirement, cost s2,505, 100000. For
the present year the estimated cost
is s3,407, 900, ,000-an increase of
$902,0 10000.
In order to place these figures
on a comparable basis, I have put
the cost of the veterans admins
tration in 1884 at the 1897 figure,
and I have eliminated all such new
items as the bonus, triple A,
Civilian Conservation Corps ana
social security.
In other words, this $9O2, ,OOO. 900
increase was purely and simply an
increase in the ordinary routine
expenses of the Federal Govern
ment-an increase of So per cent
in the expenses which the Demo-
cratic platform, and the Demo-
cratic candidate of 1882, pledged
to cut not less than 25 per cent. An
administration that boasts of that
record does not deserve another
chance.
IS New Bureaus
And Agencies Set Up.
Now consider the so-called
emergency expenditures.
In the name of emergency. this
administration has created no less
than rs new bureaus, agencies and
what-nots.
Certainly no one can seriously
maintain that all of these conflict
ing bureaus are necessary. Neither
can any one seriously maintain
that is is necessary for our Govern
ment to have hundreds upon hum
dreds Of press and publicity agents
hundreds upon hundreds of just
plain barkers carrying on party
propaganda at the expense of the
taxpayer.
There is still another set Of
figures connected with emergency
expenses that deserve attention.