Evening star., 1942-01-01


It has not gone Frank 4. Kent.
far enough in reducing farm subsi-
dies. And he is right.
When the full significance Of Mr..
Morgenthau's position is grasped, its
importance will be clear. In the
first place, this is the first time since
1888 in which any administration
figure has made more than q ges-
ture in this direction Of economy.
Heretofore, administration weight
has been 80 heavily on the side Of
spending that men like Mr.. Nor
genthau were unable to stand
against it and made no effort to
do 80. Now, Mr.. Morgenthau Is
leading the fight for an economy
greater than any one ever sug-
gested before. He is not only on
the committee and with the commit
tee but he is ahead of the COM
mittee. Senator Byrd, the strongest
advocate OF retrenchment in Con-
gress, whose success in bringing the
legislative and executive officials
together In q common cause makes
. real cut possible, is trailing him.
The committee recommends a total
reduction of 1880, 900 900; If Mr..
Morgenthau's ideas had fully pre-
vailed, the total would be close to
5000, 900 900.
Takes Leadership.
In brief, Mr.. Morgenthau is out in
front. He becomes now the leader
In the great reduction drive. Though
agreeing completely with Mr.. Nor
genthau, Senator Byrd, as was in
telligent, did not insist upon going
as far as the Secretary in this
preliminary report because he prop
perly conceived it essential to
achieve for it support Of united
committee. Personally, he will sup
port the Morgenthau position. The
only dissenting vote came FROM Sen
ator La Toilette, who apparently is
opposed to economy in any form at
any time. Undeterred by the fact
that he momentarily stood alone on
the committee, Mr.. Morgenthau
emphatically took the position that
further reductions should be made.
Full credit should be given him
for his courage. 1t took courage
to take a position bound to antago-
nize the many New Deal agencies
which will be curtailed or abolished
II the recommendations 60 through
and which are certain to oppose
them most savagely. 1t took cour-
age to insist upon greater cuts in
farm subsidies. sure to be violently
resented by the farm lobby, of which
so many stand in fear. Above all,
it took courage to commit himself
publicly to the Byrd committee re-
port ahead Of the Presidents budget
message to be delivered within the
next two weeks.
President's Backing Problematical.
It is true that Mr.. Morgenthau is
Justified in assuming that his stand
Is in accord with the Presidents s
wishes, as year ago, when the ur-
gency was much less, Mr.. Roosevelt
insisted that every non-defense ex-
penditure should be pared to the
bone" But, notwithstanding that
promising pronouncement, the Pres
ident did no pairing. On the con-
trary, with no presidential resist
ance, the normal expenses have
increased alarmingly in the past
year.
The point has now been reached
where unless some real step toward
steadying the tottering financial
structure is taken, ruinous collapse
Is threatened. Better than any one
else, Mr.. Morgenthau is in position
to know the facts. and unquestion-
ably his conviction of the danger
dictated his course in this matter.
How far the President will back him
up, no one can tell. It has been re-
ported that Mr.. Roosevelt does not
want to 60 beyond a SAC, 900 900 cut,
which is relatively trivial and GER
tainly futile. If he supports Mr..
Morgenthau fully, the Byrd recon-
mendations will 90 through without
trouble.
Even though his support is quail
fled and feeble, the fight still can be
won if sufficient sentiment for re-
trenchment results from the pay
ment of the March IS taxes. That is
the calculation. In any event, the
President cannot well repudiate his
own Secretary Of the Treasury,
which Is what a mere $40, 900 900
Recommendation would mean.
May Compel Support.
The fact is that Mr. Morgenthau's
statement and the Byrd recommen-
dations put the President in posi-
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