Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-10-10
Landon on Spending.

Landon on Spending.
OF all the speeches made by "Candi-
date Roosevelt" in the 1882 campaign,
his Pittsburgh speech on the budget and
the evil of extravagant spending has
been turned against him most effectively.
Gov. Landon made good use of the speech
last night. The Presidents former words
and phrases are, in the first place, unusu-
ally we'll adapted to quotation. The senti-
ments then expressed as generalities
have an even more pertinent bearing on
principles of governmental finance today
than they had in 1882. And because they
represented views of Mr.. Roosevelt which
have been so thoroughly repudiated by the
record of his administration, they have
become one of the keenest weapons now
In the hands of his opponents.
The question of what might have
happened had President Roosevelt pur-
sued in office the PHILOSOPHERS of govern
ment finance that he expressed during
his campaign can never be settled to
the satisfaction Of anybody. Those
PHILOSOPHERS went out of the window,
along with Lewis Douglas and others
who, since, have become among the
most bitter of the administrations critics.
But everybody knows what happened
when Candidate Roosevelt's campaign
promises clashed with President Roose-
velts program The drastic economies
imposed at the outset of the administra-
ton stirred up hornets nest among the
special groups affected, chief among
these being the veterans. The doctrine
of spending, so attractive and so easy,
supplanted the doctrine of saving, no
dividual. And as government spending
feeds on itself, gathering power and force
as 1t continues, something was started
which is going to be very hard for any
man or party to stop. That is what
makes, in the words of Governor Landon.
"the question of balancing the budget
of vital Importance to every man, woman
and child in the country
Governor Landon would apply the
brakes to Government spending by
"cutting out waste and extravaganza;
by putting an end to the use of public
funds for political purposes: by restor-
ing Woodworking, painstaking, common
sense administration" But the process
Of budget balancing, Governor Landon
says, will be accomplished mot by de-
priving our needy of relief, not by refuS-
ing necessary aid to our farmers, not by
swapping the country with taxes"
The great drains on the Treasury to-
day are represented in relief, in cost of
payments to veterans, in bountieS to
farmers and in national defense. Gov
ernor Landon is not specific in stating
where he proposes to make his reduc-
lions, beyond references to improved ad-
ministration and ending "the use of
public funds for political purposes" This
last might be interpreted in several ways.
1t might mean that Governor Landon
would substitute direct relief for the
expensive program of w. p A. 1t might
mean the elimination of the hundred
and one schemes of providing work,
ranging from plain, ordinary boom
doggling to the Passamaquoddy tidal |
dams and the Florida ship canal.
But the important consideration now
Is that Governor Landon is committed
to a program of budget balancing while |
President Roosevelt, in his defense of |
Government spending at the base ball |
park in Pittsburgh recently, naturally
praised the spending program of the |
past and did not indicate that the time |
had come. to cut that program short. |
Every indication, as a matter of fact, is |
that the plan of the administration is |
for continued spending and more
spending.
If Governor Landon and his party |
are committed to program of Govern
ment economy and a policy that will |
permit balancing expenditures with in |
come, they will have a fight on their |
hands. That is taken for granted. The |
main thing is adoption of a policy of |
winning the support of the country to a |
difficult and even unpopular program.
That is what Governor Landon is set
ting out to do.