The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1937-01-21

the full BENEFITS or those programs
and shall have at the same time a
balanced budget that will also in
i clude provision for reduction Sof the
! public debt.
"The fiscal plans for the Federal
Government for these four years
have been formulated with two OBJ
iectives in mind. Our first was to re-
store a successful economic life to
the country, by providing greater
employment and purchasing power
for the people, by stimulating more
balanced use Of our roductive capac-
ity, and by increasing the national
| income and distributing 1T on a wild
er base of roserity. Our second was
to gain new advantages OF perma-
nent value for the American people.
Both of these detectives can be ac-
complished under a sound financial
policy.
Business conditions have shown
each wear since 1888 a marked i'm
provement over the preceding year.
EMPLOYMENT in private industry is
increasing. Industrial production,
factory 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 increase
of $1,712,OOO,00 in Federal taxes for
the fiscal year 1887 as compared to
1896. This increase is, OF course, pre-
dictated on the maintenance OF pres
ent tax rates, and reenactment OF the
long list of excise and So-called null
sance taxes scheduled to expire in
June.
SPEAKING OF BUDGETS-While
there is tremendous interest in bud
get-balancing, few people realize that
the Federal Government operated
for more than century without a
budget. The Bureau of the Budget
was not created until 1921. Prior to
that time Federal agencies submitted
estimates of expenditures and Con-
gress raised or cut these estimates
| However, since the creation of the
Budget Bureau, it acts as coordin-
ating agency for assembling data on
required Federal expenditures. 1t 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
each Federal agency. Every reason
able effort is made to see that these
appropriations are based on the
needs of the people. Rigid adherence
to budget lines from 1888 to the
present has been, of course, impossi-
BILE in the light of public needs.
The real question is whether the
expenditures, dollar and dime, have
been wisely handled with the maxi
mum good for the greatest number.
CONGRESS RURAL MINDED
No better evidence of the fact that
the new Seventy fifth Congress is
rural-minded can be found than that
fifty-one members proudly proclaim
that they were "born on farm"
Still other were born on farms but
fail to record it in their biographies.
Small towns predominant in the list
of home residences of members of
Congress.
This rural-mindedness which an
ours well for those who till the soil
and deserve the most sympathetic
understanding of Congress in this
day of chains, mergers, and crowded
urban areas, partly explains why
nearly one-eighth of Federal expen-
ditures in 1896 were aimed at farm
relief and to improve rural condi-
tons.
FEDERAL REORGANIZATION
Perhaps the most significant devel-
opment in the recent Congress is the
wholesale Federal reorganization
program submitted by the President.
The primary purpose of the reorgan-
ization, which calls for two new
cabinet posts, is to promote efficien-
cy in the administration of govern
ment affairs. Congress, which is now
studying the various proposals, may
insist on economy as well. The out
look is favorable for some govern
ment reorganization, but there is
question whether the Congress will
permit the executive branch to alb
! sorb some agencies that were created
by and are responsible to Congress
The General Accounting Office ant
| tho Fodora1 Trade Commission ar