The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1945-11-29

#/IZ#3#% EHh|l3t4ZE u d1boS anu III JUL
:, er necessary gov
nc" IT. ""Hi"ie eminent eXpendi-
lures during the next few months
The Budget Bureau recently esti-
mated total Federal Expenditures
for the 1916 fiscal year at 1864 bill
lion, or 1897 billion below 1915. Re-
ceipts were estimated at $36 billion,
but these may be reduced somewhat
by the new tax bill. This leaves a
deficit of 1904 billion, which must be
met by Treasury borrowing. 1t is
in order to help meet this deficit that
the Treasury decided on the Victory
Loan, the last big public drive for
funds.
AS we enter this Victory Loan, I'd
like to review briefly the accom-
plishments of our war financing pro-
gram. From May l, 1941, when the
program started, to October l, 1915,
we raised the huge sum Of SPOT bill
lion. Furthermore, we raised this
money through a plan of voluntary
savings at the lowest interest cost Of
any nation engaged in the war, and
at the lowest selling expense ever
recorded
In the first seven war loan drives,
we set total quotas of $95 billion for
all investors, and sold $135, TAG ,000,-
900 in war loan bonds. Every loan
was oversubscribed. Billions more
were sold in the interim periods be-
tween drives. We have sold these
bonds to more than $4,000, 900 Amer
leans. By the time this loan is over,
we will have sold one billion individ-
ual pieces of the popular Series E
bonds alone.
Where did this money come from?
Our figures show that individuals
provided the Treasury with $40 bill
lion net out of the $98 billion in new
funds that has become available to
them since May l, 1941-and most
Of the remainder went into cash saw
ings or commercial bank accounts.
Insurance companies and savings
banks invested all of the S22 billion
in new funds that they received.
State and local governments invest
ed S. billion of the Sc billion avail
able. Private corporations had $50
billion of new funds from current
SURPRISES and we obtained S20 bill
lions Of it. Most of the remainder
was needed by them for expanded
wartime operations. Federal agen-
cies and trust funds invested all of
their SIT billion of new funds in gov
eminent securities.
In short, up to the end of the Sew
enth War Loan, non-bank investors
provided the government with $121
billion net Of the S207 billion it had
to borrow since May l, 1871, the ball
ance Of $85 billion being absorbed by
commercial Federal Reserve banks,
most Of it in open market purchases.
Except for the investment of a linn
tied portion of their savings depos-
its, we have net permitted the banks
to subscribe directly to war loan
securities in the last five war bond
drives, nor in the current Victory
Loan.
One. of the most significant
achievements of our program is the
widespread distribution of the public
debt. Millions Of people who never
before saved a penny in their lives,
now own savings bonds. 1t is esti-
mated that three-quarters of the
Series E bonds sold to individuals
were acquired by persons earning
$4,000 a year or less. Today, indi-
viduals hold almost one-fourth of the
total Federal debt outstanding. An
even larger proportion of the inter-
est paid out on this debt will go to
individuals. Obviously, this will
have tremendous impact on post
war purchasing power.
Investing in Victory Bonds will
build second economy for the flu
ture. We cannot afford to slump
back into Indifference and seIhshness
if we are to keep faith with those
who have paid most dearly so that
we could live in a free and peaceful
world. We can and should buy Vic
tory Bonds to the limit of our ability
if for no other reason than to ex-
press our gratitude to our fighting
men. They have done their job, and
have done it well. 1t is up to us to
finish ours. so that they may come
back to the kind of an America they
dreamed about-a land of opportu-
nifty with full employment, full pro-
duction and high income. The Vic
tory Loan is our opportunity to ex-