Evening star., 1937-04-20
Government Expenditures.


On the eve Of President Roosevelt's
message to Congress dealing with the
appropriations for relief and the budget,
Senator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia has
called attention again to the vast in
crease in Government agencies, govern
ment personnel and Government expen-
ditureS. His statement was based on q
report by the Brookings Institution,
which undertook survey of the Federal
Government for the Select Committee
of the upper house to investigate Gov
Senator is chairman.
The huge expansion of the Govern
ment in recent years, Senator Byrd
pointed out, has been followed by excess
sive deficits and an increase of great
proportions in the public debt. The level
of Federal expenditures before the World
War was approximately one billion
dollars. After the war, this was raised
to three billion dollars, and during the
three years after the depression to seven
billion dollars, with expenditures during
the last years approximately one hundred
per cent greater than Government reve-
nues.
The question Is raised, Senator Byrd
pointed out, whether so-called emergency
expenditures are to be frozen into per-
manency. This will depend upon the
future policy of Congress. In this con-
nection, the forthcoming message of the
President regarding the relief appropria-
tions and the budget will be OF the great
est interest. If the President seeks
curtailment of these expenditures and
cutting of other agency costs, there will
be definite indication that the admins
tration is intent at last on reductions
which in the end may bring the Gov
eminent budget into balance.
Senator Byrd has taken the stand that
there must be pruning of governmental
expenditures and an elimination OF gov-
ernmental agencies, with consequent
great reduction IN the personnel en-
ployed. Only by such steps, In his
opinion, will 1T be possible to go forward.
He Is one Of those who do not believe
that emergency agencies should be now
frozen into the permanent Government
service.
Using the pruning knife is no easy
Job. If the President undertakes this
operation he should have the backing of
Congress. 1t will require not only vision
and fairness, but also great firmness. The
pay roll costs of the civil Government,
exclusive of relief, military and pension
rolls, is the greatest item of expense to-
day, totaling more than billion and
a half dollars annually. Between De-
cember, 1884, and September, 1886, ac-
cording to the figures of the Brookings
Institution, the civil personnel increased
more than thousand a month. Sixty
six per cent of the executive personnel
were under the civil service on June 30,
1884, but by June 3o 1896, this class had
fallen to sixty per cent. There is lesson
in this single item of the report.
With the increase in personnel has
come not only great additions to salary
needs, but also tremendous increase in
the housing requirements for the workers.
Eight buildings of the dimensions of the
Empire State Building would be required
to house Government activities in Wash
ington, and flfty-two more for those out
side the National Capital. And these re-
euirements do not include provisions for
the military and naval establishments,
veterans hospitals and public health
facilities.
The President and Congress necessarily
must set the pace on curtailment of
Government expenditures. The Chief
Executive has sent to Congress a plan for
executive reorganization and it is now
under consideration by joint COM
mittee. When the reorganization bill
eventually emerges from committee there
will be another indication of what the
trend is to be.