Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1940-07-18
IMPROVEMENTS OFFSET MOST OF
BIS aassshiab~ DEBT Ra4s

To those critics Of the present national admin
istration who complain that the great in
crease in the national debt was money wasted,
should look at the records which reveal that four
years before Mr.. Roosevelt nominated, the
public debt was better than 16 billion dollars.
Many have the idea that our national debt was
all acquired under the present administration
On March 4, 1888, it was than 20 billion
dollars an increase of six billion dollars. During
the last three years of the Hoover adnnistra-
ton there was also deficit in the national treas
ury, and the local and private debts were way
above what they at present This increase in
public debt, and the deficit were not reflected in
a single improvement anywhere in the United
States-not school house, or court house, or
sewer system, or waterworks system, or play
ground street improvement pavement or
hospital additional highway system other
form of public improvement, can be found in the
United States, by the creation of these deficits,
while Hoover was president.
Let us look to what has taken place under the
present administration, that has caused an in
crease in the public debt Here is partial break
down. For streets and highways, more than four
billion dollars; sewers, waterworks and public
utilities. better than billion dollars educa-
tional buildings, almost one billion; public build
ings, practically the amount; conservation,
flood CONTROL reclamation rivers and harbors, I.
V. A., ETC., more than four billion dollars; parks
Fairgrounds and other recreational facilities,
than nine hundred Million rural electrical
ton 100 million national defense, more
than eight billion dollars Then there were mil
lions of dollars which show up in the national
debt that should not be considered since it is
money loaned to individuals, such as the home
owners loan, which is being paid back Another
paid out was the soldiers bonus of several
billion dollars.
What have the people gotten for their. money?
Here few of the things: $4,000 miles of new
highways; 265,000 miles of new streets and
county roads repaired 5000 new educational
buildings; ITO new hospitals; 1000 court
houses; 1,50O new sewer systems; 2,400 new wa
ter systems; 282 new city electric systems; 3,400
new Fairgrounds and athletic fields; $50 new
large bridges $4,000 new small bridges; T. v.
A. dams; 100000 miles of new rural electric
lines; 1000 new post Offices 27,700 new low
rent dwelling units completed and $4,000 under
construction; and the planting of 1,750,000,0 900
new trees in the denuded areas of the United
States.
We can't help but notice that locally those who
condemn the spending most bitterly often
the ones who scramble the hardest to get it for
localities and complain the loudest if it is not
Forthcoming. They go the theory that they
might Just as we'll have it as to have someone
else get it. But they keep yelling extrava-
gance, and that it is not we'll spent Here is a
thing that would call special attention to, and
that is if there is waste and inefficency in the
spending, whose fault is it? The answer is by
those in charge of the work. and those who have
the say as to where the money is to be spent The
records show that it is largely in the hands of
Republicans many of whom bitterly assail the
government for the New Deal. In private bus-
ness head of concern aims to choose en-
ployees who believe in his business, and give
their very best service to push it along-but in
the government affairs of which we speak, so Of
ten the reverse seems true,-that is find those
who administer these public funds, do not believe
in the system, and not at all anxious to it
succeed. Of course to take the administering of
the funds out of the hands of the enemies would
the howl to go out, that politics were being
played, but politics politics, more eff
cheney would be obtained, by having the govern
ment policies carried out by those who believe in
them. rather than by those who do not.