The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-03-06

, propriations balanced with the
total revenues. In the halcyon
days of the nineteenth century
when our revenues often exceed
ed our expnditurs, we could get
along without budget. But we
could not get along without a
budget now.
Nor can we now get along with
out budget, which is kept bal
anced, in our international trans
ACTIONS. It is no use talking about
how big a merchant marine, how
big exports We hope to have, insist
on having, unless we know where
the foreign customers are going to
get the American dollars to pay
for our goods and services.
Let us take one concrete ex-
ample. Just before this war, in
the year 1887, foreigners obtained
1866, 900, 900 by selling shipping
services to Americans. If we now
decide for reasons of national pol
icy not to buy this amount of
shipping service from foreigners,
then obviously they will not have
the 1886, 100000. If they haven't
got them, they must buy 1856, 000,-
900 less of something else that
we should like to sell them. Now,
maybe, it is better to sell them
shipping rather than automobiles
or wheat. The point is that we
cannot sell them the shipping and
the other things too. We cannot
sell them all the things because
they will not be able to buy them.
1t is nobody's duty today to
keep reminding the government
agencies, the Congressional COM
mittees, the business interests and
the country as a whole that We
cannot remain solvent unless the
budget of our international trans
actions is kept in balance. There
are excellent services within the
government, in the Department of
Commerce, the Treasury, the
Federal Reserve Board, and also
in private corporations and banks
which do watch this international
budget and are well equipped to
make the situation clear. But few
of the policy-makers ever pay
any attention to them, and no one
feels that he has to.
1t would be most useful, it
seems to me, if we could set up
now public institution which
had the duty of reporting regu-
larly upon our International &C.
counts, and the right to be con-
suited before the administration
or Congress adopted any import
ant measure affecting these ac-
counts. 1t ought not, I think, to
pass judgment on any policy to
propose policy or to veto it. It
ought only to keep the score. Then
we could begin to know what we
are doing when we decide for or
against this or that policy or pro-
lect. In effect, this would estab-
llsh a bureau of the budget of in
'ernational payments.
If the idea is correct, we can
easily devise the method of car.
rying it into effect. Speaking ten.
tatively, it would seem to me that
this agency should be set up by
law to be Independent both of |
Congress and the executive. Per-
aaps a good place to locate it |
would be in the handsome build
ng of the Board of Governors of |
he Federal reserve system. Per.
laps it should be set up by itself |
I1der trustees nominated by pan
lis of prominent citizens, appoint
ID by the President, and confirm
ID by the Senate.
In any event, it should have
Independence and a reputation or /
ilslnterestedness. It should .ot
egislate. 1t should not admins
er. It should rot judge. Its au-
hority should be only the moral
md intellectual authority it can
earn for itself by keeping the
v '1! government and the people
--V
Affacke Az DoxJ