Henderson daily dispatch., 1937-01-20

the brighter economic skies that have
followed in the wake of depression
storms. However, there is every in
dication that the Congress will give
more than usual study to each recon-
mendation that may call for larger
expenditures, increased activity and
new functions of government.
Evidence of this is already avail
able in the form of the unprecedented
interest in the estimates of income
and expenditures-the Federal budget
submitted to the Congress by the
President Thus it is obvious that ex-
penditures must be justified on the
basis of the contribution they will
make to the public welfare.
Predictions of a 'rubber stamp"
Congress by reason of the sweeping
victory of the President last Novem-
Der, and the top-heavy Democratic
majorities in both Houses are not
borne out by developments to Date
THE BUDGET-The Federal bud
get for the fiscal year 1887, as SUBJ
mitted by the President, calls for ex-
penditures of roughly $65 for each
man, woman and child in the United
States. It also calls for taxes in a.
mount of $45, on the average, for
every individual, adults and young
sters. The difference of $40 represents
the deficit.
Let's look at the budget another
way. John Jones can maintain his
family budget and keep income and
expenditures ;3alanced so long as the
latter adhere rigidly to the budget
But if some mishaps befall the Jones
family, requiring unusual expenses
the head of the household has to Dor
row. From then on, income must be
increased or expenditures slashed,
else the budget loses caste.
That is what happened to the Fed
eral budget. In the absence of ade-
quate income to cover the emergency
outlay and in the face of mainten-
ance of regular expenditures, there
has been a deficit In other words,
mu%.ply ithe Jones problem about
three million times and you have
picture of the Federal situation,
which, however, is getting better as
regards increasing revenues.
The $4,000, 100000 budget for the
fiscal year 1887, is around $4,000 ,OOO,-
900 above the 1892 level, due to re-
lief expenditures, .farm-aid, adjusted
adjusted compensation for veterans,
social security, recovery programs
and so on. The 1887 total may be rails
ed or lowered by the Congress as
hearings are held on various appro-
priation bills. Have these increased
expenditures been justified. Congress
will decide. r.
PRESIDENTS. VIEWS President
Roosevelt's thoughts on the subject
can best be expressed in his own
words as follows:
'The programs inaugurated during
the last four years to combat the de-
preston and to initiate many needed
reforms have cost large sums of
money, but the benefits obtained from
them are far outweighting all their
COSTS We shall soon be reaping the
full benefits of those programs and
shall have at the same time a balanc-
ed budget that will also include pro-
vision for reduction of the public debt
"The fiscal plans of the Federal
been formulated with two detectives
in mind. Our first was to restore a
successful economic life to the coun-
try, by providing greater employment
and purchasing power for the people,
by stimulating a more balanced use
of our productive capacity, and by
increasing the national income and
distributing it on a wider base of
prosperity. Our second was to gain
new advantages of permanent value
for the American people. Both of
these detectives can be accomplished
under a sound financial policy.
tfBusiness conditions nave shown
each year since 1888 a marked i'm
provement over the preceding year
Employment in private industry is
increasing. Industrial production, fac
tory pay rolls, and farm prices have
steadily risen."
SURE RECOVERY SIGN-What-
ever may be the final appropriations
for Federal operations, one sure sign
OF recovery is the estimated increases
of $1,712,000,000 in Federal taxes for
the fiscal year 1887 as compared to
1886. This increase is, of course. pre-
Dictated on the maintenance of present
tax rates, and reenactment of the long
list OF excise and so-called nuisance
taxes scheduled to expire in June.
SPEAKING OF *BUDGETS-Wa
there is tremendous interest in bud
get balancing, few people realize that
the Federal government operated for
more than century without a
get. The bureau of the budget was not
created until 1921. Prior to that time
Federal agencies submitted estimates
of expenditures and Congress raised
or cut these estimates.
However, since the creation of the
Budget Bureau, it acts as a coordinat-
ing agency for assembling data on
required Federal expenditures It is
up to congressional committees to
hold hearings and recommend actual
expenditures to Congress. On the |
basis of committee reports, the Con-
gress appropriates the amounts for
oh EaIn